The Best of Simple.

First edition of the fourth book in Hughes' "Simple" series. Octavo, original cloth, illustrated by Bernhard Nast. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, "Especially for Art ~ whose Village Gate is full of "simple" fun ~ Sincerely, Langston Harlem, U.S.A., 1962." The recipient, Art D'Lugoff was an American jazz impresario. He opened The Village Gate, a jazz club in New York City's Greenwich Village, in 1958 where he booked only the hottest and most prominent jazz artists, including Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Aretha Franklin, and Miles Davis, as well as the best in comedy, including Bill Cosby, Mort Sahl, Woody Allen, and John Belushi. Near fine in a very good dust jacket. An exceptional association.