Museum object · Books and Published Materials
The Marrow of Tradition
1901
Cambridge, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, North and Central America
Source catalog description
This description refers to material held by Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Visual details below describe the original material.
This hardcover book is a first edition, first printing of The Marrow of Tradition, a novel by Charles Chesnutt. The novel presents a fictional account of the Wilmington Race Riot of 1898. The book has a yellow cloth binding. The front cover features the title, [The Marrow / of / Tradition], printed in black in an inverted, black triangle at the top center with a silver floral design at the tip of the triangle. The author's name is in black text, [CHARLES W. CHESNUTT], centered at the base of the book cover. The spine text is all printed in black type. The text along the top third of the spine reads, [The / Marrow / of / Tradition]. The author's name [CHARLES W. / CHESNUTT], is embossed on the center of the spine and the name of the publishers [HOUGHTON / MIFFLIN CO] is printed across the bottom of the spine.
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Sources & collection details
Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture — original record ↗
Catalog metadata · CC0 · Source checked 2026-10-13
Catalog reference: 2014.165
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