The Weary Blues: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A hardback, fifth edition printing of The Weary Blues by Langston Hughes, inscribed to William H. Johnson. The volume has a paper dustjacket featuring artwork by Miguel Covarrubias of a silhouette illustration of a man playing a piano in black against a red and yellow background. At the top is printed [THE WEARY / BLUES] in black text. At bottom is printed [By / LANGSTON HUGHES] in yellow text. The front endpage has a handwritten inscription in black ink to William H. Johnson from Langston Hughes reading [To William H. Johnson - / creator of beauty - / my poems, / Sincerely, / Langston Hughes / New York, April 25, 1930].

The volume includes an introduction written by Carl Van Vechten titled [Introducing Langston Hughes to the Reader] and includes the poems "The Negro Speaks of Rivers," "Dream Variation," "Mother to Son," and "Weary Blues," among others. There are 109 pages.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1926; published 1929
• Written by: Langston Hughes, American, 1902 - 1967
• Published by: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., American, founded 1915
• Written by: Carl Van Vechten, American, 1880 - 1964
• Illustrated by: Miguel Covarrubias, Mexican, 1904 - 1957
• Owned by: William H. Johnson, American, 1901 - 1970
• Signed by: Langston Hughes, American, 1902 - 1967
• Type: hardcover books
• Medium: ink on paper, cardboard
• Dimensions: H x W x D: 7 1/2 × 5 1/2 × 1/2 in. (19.1 × 14 × 1.3 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W x D (book closed): 7 5/8 × 5 3/8 × 9/16 in. (19.4 × 13.7 × 1.4 cm)
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Art
• Topic: Blues (Music)
• Topic: Identity
• Topic: Jazz (Music)
• Topic: Literature
• Topic: Men
• Topic: Poetry
• Object number: 2012.10ab
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Gerta Harriton in memory of Helen and David Harriton
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The displayed image also has an explicit CC0 designation. The underlying object's rights statement is: Public Domain Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.