Journals
Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Embellished Manuscripts Collection
9781439781845
- Interior: Lined
- Closure: Wrap
- GSM (paper weight): 120 gsm
- Edge Printing: No
- Pouch Type: Memento Pouch
- Satin ribbon marker
- 100% recycled binder boards
- Decorative printed cover paper
- Endpaper with credit and copyright information as well as historical background for the original artwork
- Threaded stitching and glue, as needed
- Acid-free sustainable forest paper
- Memento pouch
Published in 1969, Maya Angelou’s coming-of-age memoir, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, was an immediate national bestseller and a critical success. The book, the first in a series that chronicled her early life through the 1960s, helped to establish Angelou (1928–2014) as a major figure in American letters.
On this manuscript page from the book, Angelou captures the moment when she and her brother, Bailey, arrived in Arkansas to be raised by their paternal grandmother and presages the personalities that she and Bailey would later develop. Today the manuscript is held at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, a part of The New York Public Library.
With connections to activist, literary and expat communities in the United States and Ghana, Angelou’s work encapsulates the Schomburg Center’s strongest holdings – stories of the struggles, triumphs and fortitude in the everyday vicissitudes of Black life. We are honoured to partner with The New York Public Library to bring this fascinating document to our Paperblanks collection.
Learn more about our exclusive collaboration with The New York Public Library.