MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. INSCRIBES HIS BOOK ABOUT THE MONTGOMERY BUS BOYCOTT TO THE FAMOUS AUTHOR PEARL BUCK

DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. (1929-1968).  King was an American civil rights leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate in 1964.  The son of a Baptist minister, King received his B.D. from Crozier Theological Seminary and his Ph.D. from Boston University.  He first gained prominence by leading a year-long, non-violent boycott of the Montgomery bus system.  He later founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and became its first president.  He was named Time magazine’s Man of the Year in 1964, and the next year, led a march from Selma to Montgomery to secure voting rights.  He was assassinated on April 4, 1968 in Memphis, where he was assisting in a strike by city workers. 

PEARL BUCK (1892-1973).  Buck, an American writer, won both the Nobel Prize and Pulitzer Prize.  She was born in West Virginia, the daughter of missionaries, and lived in China until 1933. Many of her works discuss China and its people.  Her best known works are The Good Earth, Dragon Seed, My Several Worlds and A Bridge for Passing. 

Signed Book. No date. No place.  A copy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s book Stride Toward Freedom inscribed “To Pearl Buck In appreciation for your genuine good-will, and your great humanitarian concern.  With warm regards Martin L King Jr.”.  The book is King’s memoir of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the event that took him to national prominence.  The book was released in 1958, shortly after the resolution of the Boycott.  Buck was active throughout her life in the Civil Rights Movement; she wrote for the NAACP’s magazine Crisis, was on the board of Howard University, and promoted African-American writers.  The dust jacket is in fine condition with minor spotting on the verso and the price is clipped.  An outstanding association copy.