# Is "The Future of the American Negro" by Booker T. Washington a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Future of the American Negro by Booker T. Washington (Small, Maynard & Company, 1899) is identified by: The title page is dated 1899 and reads 'Boston: Small, Maynard & Company, Publishers.' The first edition collates x, 3-244 pages with a stub between pages 4 and 5 and one final blank leaf, illustrated with a portrait frontispiece of Washington.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The title page is dated 1899 and reads 'Boston: Small, Maynard & Company, Publishers.' The first edition collates x, 3-244 pages with a stub between pages 4 and 5 and one final blank leaf, illustrated with a portrait frontispiece of Washington
- It is bound in the publisher's maroon (red-brown) cloth stamped in gilt, top edge gilt with the other edges untrimmed
- Publisher imprint reads Small, Maynard & Company
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Booker T. Washington |
| Publisher | Small, Maynard & Company |
| Year | 1899 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The title page is dated 1899 and reads 'Boston: Small, Maynard & Company, Publishers.' The first edition collates x, 3-244 pages with a… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
The title page is dated 1899 and reads 'Boston: Small, Maynard & Company, Publishers.' The first edition collates x, 3-244 pages with a stub between pages 4 and 5 and one final blank leaf, illustrated with a portrait frontispiece of Washington. It is bound in the publisher's maroon (red-brown) cloth stamped in gilt, top edge gilt with the other edges untrimmed.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Small, Maynard issued the book in three issues after the 1899 first, with the entire run limited to roughly 5,000 copies total; Washington's far better-known Up from Slavery (Doubleday, Page & Co., 1901) is a different, later book and should not be mistaken for a reprint of this title.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Future of the American Negro* by Booker T. Washington a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-future-of-the-american-negro
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.