The Adventures of Spider: West African Folk Tales

Boston and Toronto: Little, Brown and Company, (1964). First edition. 9-1/2 x 6-1/2. [6],58pp. Beige cloth stamped in olive green, in illustrated white dust jacket printed in green, black and orange. B&w and tri-tone illustrations throughout. Toning to board edges; slight bumping to spine ends and corners; minor spot/stain to front endpaper. Dust jacket toned, lightly stained, and edgeworn, with several short tears, small chips, and loss to the spine ends; front joint of spine panel split at foot. Very Good. Good dust jacket.

Scarce first edition of famed illustrator Jerry Pinkney's first book, with a warm inscription by Arkhurst on the front endpaper, dated "Christmas 1971". The book is a collection of West African folktales, which Arkhurst collected while traveling through Ghana and Liberia with her husband, Fred Arkhurst, a top Ghanian foreign service officer under Nkrumah.