Letter From Birmingham City Jail by Martin Luther King Jr., Printed Pamphlet in Original Illustrated Wrappers

Presented is one of the most important texts of the American Civil Rights movement, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from a Birmingham City Jail.” Printed as a stapled pamphlet, in its original illustrated wrappers, this copy was originally distributed and sold by the Division of Christian Social Concern, American Baptist Convention, in Valley Forge, PA.  A bright and well preserved copy of this truly historic document, it is now protected in an archival cloth-covered chemise and ¼ leather and cloth clamshell case.  Dated April 16, 1963, King’s famous open letter is considered a classic document of civil disobedience. He argues that people have a moral responsibility to break unjust laws and to take direct action to change them, rather than waiting for justice to come through the courts, if at all. "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere [...] Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed."  In the letter, King laments the "