September Quote of the Month: Africa is at once the most romantic and the most tragic of continents - W.E.B. Du Bois

A new month means a new inspirational quote! This September's comes from our Classic of the Month author:

"Africa is at once the most romantic and the most tragic of continents"

- W.E.B. Du Bois, 1915

Originally published in 1899, The Philadelphia Negro is a sociological study of the blacks living in Philadelphia in 1896-7. DuBois was hired by the University of Pennsylvania to conduct the study, under what some believe to be false pretenses. Some suspect that the study was meant, by those funding it, to show how the black community was responsible for a number of problems within the city. The report they received, however, was of quite a different nature.

The Philadelphia Negro was the first sociological study of black urban Americans ever conducted. It detailed their lives, their social structures, their education, their marriages, and their jobs. The study sought to illuminate ways in which philanthropy could help the people living in Philadelphia's Seventh Ward. It did not presume, as many people did at the time, that blacks lived in poor conditions due to an innate weakness in their race. This scholarly work serves as an excellent reference for students of history and sociology.


About the Author

American writer, civil rights activist, and scholar William Edward Burghardt Du Bois (1868-1963) was the first black man to receive a PhD from Harvard University. A cofounder of the NAACP, he wrote a number of important books, including The Negro (1915) and Black Folk, Then and Now (1899).

September Book of the Month: The African Unconscious by Edward Bruce Bynum

 

This September, we are highlighting The African Unconscious by Edward Bruce Bynum as our Book of the Month!

The African Unconscious, originally published in 1999, is an Afro-centric look at human history based on archaeology, genetics, and the biospiritual roots of religion and science. Author Edward Bruce Bynum offers a captivating and controversial viewpoint on the roots of our human existence, positing that all humans at their deepest core are variations on the African template, creating a shared identity and collective unconscious in all. He looks at both phenotypical types and psychic structures that form and identify us as human beings. Ideal for humanistic and transpersonal psychologists and those interested in African American art and culture, The African Unconscious is a blend of modern and ancient psychology that provides a relevant backdrop to humanity and our daily life.

Praise for The African Unconscious:

"What Bynum has accomplished in pulling together such a mammoth body of knowledge and research into one cogent volume and theme is remarkable.... A contribution of this magnitude seldom comes once in a decade." - Linda James Myers, Ph.D., author of Understanding an Afrocentric World View

"I read with awe this passionate, brilliant, epic work. It is one of the most exhaustive and revealing studies of Black and human origins I have ever seen." - Lee S. Sannella, M.D., author of The Kundalini Experience 

"The African Unconscious is indeed a daring work, and a unique contribution to African diasporic studies. It is a must for all students of human psychology."" - Rowland O. Abiodun, author of Yoruba: Nine Centuries of African Art and Thought 

"The scope of the author's knowledge is simply awesome, and that, coupled with his engaging writing style, makes not for an 'easy' ready, but an adventuresome one.... For those who entertain notions of collective unconscious and deep structure racial messages, I cannot think of a better text that navigates such thinking." - William E. Cross, Jr., Ph.D., author of Shades of Black

September Series of the Month: Bibliography of Forbidden Books

In these scary Orwell-like times, Cosimo is celebrating Banned Books Week with Bibliography of Forbidden Books by Henry Spencer Ashbee as our Series of the Month for September!

In this three-volume work that established Henry Spencer Ashbee, British book collector, travel writer and bibliographer, as England's leading authority on pornography, Ashbee describes scores of "curious, uncommon and erotic books" that were banned or otherwise prohibited from legitimate sale during the Victorian era... and some even until the 1960s. This catalog of mostly forgotten works is an invaluable (and highly entertaining) resource for bibliophiles, students of erotica, and collectors of Victoriana.

This series contains "gentlemen only" titles such as: Intrigues and Confessions of a Ballet Girl, The Pleasures of Kissing and Being Kissed, the infamous Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure, the Cloisters Laid Open, Memoirs of Miss Mary-Catherine Cadiere, and Pretty Little Games for Young Ladies and Gentlemen.

About the Author
British book collector, travel writer, and bibliographer Henry Spencer Ashbee (1834-1900), aka Pisanus Fraxi, is thought by some to have authored the notorious Victorian sexual memoir My Secret Life.

About the Organization

Banned Books Week was launched in 1982 in response to a sudden surge in the number of challenges to books in schools, bookstores and libraries. The 2019 celebration will be held September 22  -September 28, the theme this year is Censorship Leaves Us in the Dark. To find an event near you, please visit the Banned Books website.


The hardcover retail list price for the series is $101.97, but now: our price: $79.99 (you save $22 or a 27 percent discount)

The paperback retail list price for the series is $74.97, but now: our price: $59.99 (you save $15 or a 26 percent discount)

Walt Whitman at The Morgan Library & Museum

Attention New Yorkers: through September 15, the Walt Whitman: Bard of Democracy exhibit will be running at The Morgan Library & Museum. Walt Whitman has been claimed as America's first "poet of democracy" and is one of the most influential writers of all time.

As a native New Yorker, Whitman's childhood home is available for tours and visits, and now you can also see his work (including a copy of Leaves of Grass) at the Morgan Library until next week.

To read more of his work, visit cosimo.com. 

September Classic of the Month: The Negro by W.E.B. Du Bois

We are celebrating back to school this September with our Classic of the Month, The Negro by W.E.B. Du Bois.

This is the classic history of the African peoples in Africa and the New World, a repudiation of the absurd belief, widely held in the post-Civil War period, that Africans had no civilization but the one foisted upon them by their slavetrading captors.

Writing for a popular audience in 1915, DuBois, one of America's greatest writers, lays out in easy-to-read, nonacademic prose the striking and illustrious story of the complex history and varied cultures of Africa, from the art and industry of the peoples of the continent to the dramatic impact the slave trade had both in Africa and on her descendents in the Western Hemisphere. 

Boldly proud and beautifully written, this essential work will delight readers of American and African history as well as students of great American literature. 

About the Author

American writer, civil rights activist, and scholar William Edward Burghardt Du Bois (1868-1963) was the first black man to receive a PhD from Harvard University. A cofounder of the NAACP, he wrote a number of important books, including The Philadelphia Negro (1899) and Black Folk, Then and Now (1899).

International UFO Conference this Weekend

The out of this world conference is happening this weekend!

Held this year in Phoenix, Arizona, 28th Annual International UFO Congress will be happening September 4th to 8th. Visitors will be able to listen to speakers, go to panels, listen to music, and attend a film festival. Speakers include David Hatcher Childress, George Knapp, Richard Dolan, Chuck Zukowski, and many more!

For more information on registering for the event, purchasing tickets, and hotel bookings, please visit ufocongress.com. 

To read up before International UFO Congress, be sure to check out our vast collection of titles on the unknown and extraterrestrials here.