The Underground Railroad: Vermont and the Fugitive Slave de Kerson, Sam - 1993

Worcester, VT: Dragon Dance Theatre, 1993. Kerson, Sam. Folio. (15)ff. One of sixty copies, signed by the artist, Sam Kerson. Illustrated with fifteen linocuts, printed in black & white by the Montreal-based artist Sam Kerson. The linocuts depict scenes related to Vermont's involvement in the Underground Railroad. Vermont has a long history of opposition to slavery; the state was the first to abolish slavery, and its citizens were very active in assisting fugitive slaves. This book was published to commemorate the opening of a mural that Kerson painted at the Vermont Law School, which, Kerson writes, "celebrates the efforts of Black and white Americans in Vermont and throughout the United States to achieve freedom and justice." Kerson is a muralist, engraver, and the artistic director of the Dragon Dance Theatre, which focuses on puppetry and performance art with a social conscience. Stab-bound in black wrappers, with a black cloth chemise that ties around the book with blue ribbons and bears an additional woodcut on the front cover. Trace exterior rubbing, else fine.