CARBONDALE - John LaPine, owner of Printers Row Fine & Rare Books in Chicago, will present a copy of the first book of poetry published by an African American to David Carlson, dean of Library Affairs, at noon Friday, April 11, in a brief ceremony at Morris Library.

Appearing in 1773, this copy of "Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral" by Phillis Wheatley is a first printing of the first edition of the first book published by an African American. Carlson said, "We are delighted to add this exceedingly rare volume to our collection of Black Studies material."

LaPine characterized the book as, "A spectacular copy of the first literary work ever published by an African American-a landmark in the history of both African American and world literature."

Born in the Senegal-Gambia region of Africa, Phillis Wheatley came as a slave to Boston in 1761 at the age of 7 as an attendant to the wife of John Wheatley, a prominent tailor. She displayed remarkable language skills, and at the age of 13 she wrote her first poem. She was first published in a Newport, R.I., newspaper in 1767, but no Boston printer would publish her work so Phillis and the Wheatleys sought the assistance of a London printer. In 1773 "Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral" was published. A subsequent volume was planned, but no copies are known to exist, and she died in 1784.

John LaPine , a book collector since the age of 8, has been the proprietor of Printers Row Fine & Rare Books since 2003. He earned Bachelor of Arts degrees in political science and German from SIUC in 1988. LaPine has been a Polish-German-Russian interrogator for the military and an attorney in Chicago.