KING, Martin Luther, Jr. (1929-1968). Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1958.

King inscribes a copy of his account of the Montgomery Bus Boycott to one of the nurses who attended to the Civil Rights leader following his September 1958 stabbing in Harlem. King inscribes the volume, "To: Mrs. Gwen Brown With best wishes and genuine appreciation for the attention you gave me as one of my nurses while I recuperated at Harlem Hospital. Martin L. King Jr." On 20 September 1958 Izola Ware Curry, a mentally unstable Harlem woman, stabbed King with a metal letter-opener at a department store where he was signing copies of Stride Toward Freedom—as part of tour promoting the book. King underwent surgery to remove the letter-opener and spent the next several weeks recuperating there before his release. After the stabbing, Curry was quoted as saying "I've been after you for six years. I'm glad I've done it," and then made derogatory comments about the N.A.A.C.P. (see "Dr. King Stabbed in Harlem Store," The New York Times, 21 September 1958, pp. 1 & 40). Curry was later found mentally incompetent to stand trial and was committed to mental institutions for much of the remainder of her life. On King's release from the hospital on 3 October, he commented on his attacker: "Our society needs to be more concerned about mental health and social problems which contribute to his matter. We should go out with determination to solve the social problems which contribute to conditions that lead up to incidents like this." (Ibid, 4 October 1958, p. 12)

Octavo (206 x 134mm), signed and inscribed by King on the front blank flyleaf to Gwen Brown (light toning to flyleaf and fore edges). Original cloth (mild soiling and bumps to edges and corners). First edition, second printing (publisher's code ""I-H"" on the copyright page). Provenance: Gwen Brown – by descent to the consignor.