PBA Galleries

Includes:

• 7 issues of: The Negro Review. Volume 1, No. 1 (Sept. 1953), No.3 (Nov. 1953), No. 4 (Dec. 1953), No. 7 (March 1954), No.9 (May 1954), No. 13 (Sept. 1954), No. 14 (Oct. 1954). 6x4", approximately 60 pp. each. Profusely illustrated
• 3 issues of: Brown. Volume 1, No. 2 (March 1954), No. 4 (May 1954), and No. 7 (Sept. 1954).  6x4", approximately 65 pp. each.

John Johnson’s fabulous success as Chicago publisher of mass media magazines for Black readers  - Negro Digest (launched in 1942), Ebony (1945-) and Jet (1951-) spawned dozens of emulators, almost all so unsuccessful that copies have now become rare collectors’ items. Published in Atlanta, the Negro Review, issued in the small Jet format and copying the Jet practice of featuring a beautiful Black woman on the front cover, struggled to find articles with eye-catching titles like Life in the heart of Harlem, the Strongest Man in the World, Do you want to be a model?, How to buy sex appeal, Our wife swapping problem, the President is a Negro [in Haiti], Are colored wrestlers inferior?, and Why fans hate Jackie Robinson. Apparently scarce, the Review is not listed in the Danky-Hady Bibliography and only four institutions have any holdings. Brown, published in New York, also in Jet format, tried a more racy approach, with overt appeals to sex interest and yellow press headlines (Is Kinsey prejudiced?, Exposed! TV’s Uncle Toms, Does dope kill musicians, Sex-dreams: what the mean!, and Why white actresses play Negro roles). Also missing from Danky-Hady and rare, with no issues appearing in American library catalogues.