Rudolph Fisher : An Annotated Bibliography

Abstract

This thesis project constitutes an exhaustive, annotated bibliography of an oft overlooked and too seldom referenced African American author of the Harlem Renaissance, Rudolph Fisher. This work is bibliographic in nature not biographic and careful note should be placed on the extensively researched source list. Prior to this project, “A Corrected Bibliography of Rudolph Fisher” by Leonard J. Deutsch in 1978 was the last attempt at correcting and updating the sources available regarding Fisher’s work. Since past attempts to gather substantiated and comprehensive bibliographic material have been rife with “errors, inaccuracies, inconsistencies, and omissions,” firsthand verification was utilized to accomplish the desired result - a bibliography that provides future researchers with an updated, accurate, and thorough listing of primary and secondary sources relating to Rudolph Fisher. The bibliography is divided into two major alphabetically arranged sections, primary and secondary sources. The primary source list includes long and short fiction, non-fiction, reviews (by Fisher), correspondence, and unpublished writings. The secondary source list includes critical articles, parts of books, unpublished criticism, reviews and notices, correspondence, biographies and death notices, and bibliographies. Annotations are designed to be as brief as possible while allowing for a user friendly aspect for future research. Of note, the researcher includes, aside from the bibliography proper, a chronology of Fisher’s publications as well as key events in his life and an outline of the bibliography itself.