Long Lance: The Autobiography of a Blackfoot Indian Chief
- London: Faber and Faber, 1956
London: Faber and Faber, 1956. Reissue (first published 1928). Octavo. Blue cloth hardcover; dustjacket; 241pp; illus. Spots of fading to cloth at spine ends, else Fine. In the original dustwrapper, price-clipped, else bright and crisp, Near Fine.
One of the more noteworthy (and tragic) literary hoaxes of the 20th century. "Chief Long Lance," who achieved celebrity through this autobiography recounting his Cherokee boyhood in Oklahoma, was in fact an African-American man named Sylvester Clark Long, born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. In 1932, with his identity in danger of being exposed, Long committed suicide in a Los Angeles mansion. Originally published in both the U.S. and England in 1928; this is a nice copy of the atrractive 1956 Faber reissue.
One of the more noteworthy (and tragic) literary hoaxes of the 20th century. "Chief Long Lance," who achieved celebrity through this autobiography recounting his Cherokee boyhood in Oklahoma, was in fact an African-American man named Sylvester Clark Long, born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. In 1932, with his identity in danger of being exposed, Long committed suicide in a Los Angeles mansion. Originally published in both the U.S. and England in 1928; this is a nice copy of the atrractive 1956 Faber reissue.