Content note: An American book of 1903 that uses the racial terms of its day, describes slavery, lynching and racial violence, and includes the death of a child. Shown as printed. This object is shown as it was published. Why
Hear my cry, O God the Reader; vouchsafe that this my book fall not still-born into the world wilderness. Let there spring, Gentle One, from out its leaves vigor of thought and thoughtful deed to reap the harvest wonderful. Let the ears of a guilty people tingle with truth, and seventy millions sigh for the righteousness which exalteth nations, in this drear day when human brotherhood is mockery and a snare. Thus in Thy good time may infinite reason turn the tangle straight, and these crooked marks on a fragile leaf be not indeed
THE END
The Souls of Black Folk, W. E. B. Du Bois. Published in the United States in 1903, so in the public domain in the United States; Project Gutenberg marks it "Public domain in the USA". Du Bois died in 1963, so in countries that use life plus 70 years the work stays protected until the end of 2033. Provenance and rights.