Hales, A.G. – Black Prince Peter

Description

Hales, A.G. ‘Black Prince Peter'(Concerning the life and career of the great black fighter Peter Jackson). 1930 1st edition hardcover in very good condition with brightly colored covers. 352-pages. Published by Wright & Brown 12-14 Red Lion Court, Fleet Street, E.C. 4. Great Britain. Straight with tight binding. It has the small handwritten name of a former owner George E. Georgalos’ on the blank frontispiece, else very clean internally. VG with the very scarce dust jacket that is complete, non-price clipped in good condition and mylar protected.

Black Prince Peter by A.G. Hales is a romanticized, biographical novel based on the life of Peter Jackson, the legendary 19th-century Afro-Australian heavyweight boxer.

The story follows Jackson’s rise from his early life in the West Indies and Australia to becoming one of the most celebrated and technically proficient prizefighters of the bare-knuckle and early Queensberry rules eras. Hales portrays Jackson not just as a fierce athlete, but as a deeply honorable, chivalrous, and cultured man who earned the moniker “Gentleman Peter.”

The book highlights the immense racial barriers Jackson faced, most notably his famous 61-round draw against future champion James J. Corbett and the refusal of reigning champion John L. Sullivan to defend the heavyweight title against a Black contender. Written with a blend of historical fact and dramatic fiction, it serves as both a thrilling sports narrative and a passionate tribute to Jackson’s character and legacy.

AI Overview:
An exceptionally rare 1st edition copy of ‘Black Prince Peter’ by A.G. Hales (Wright & Brown, 1931/1930) in very good condition with a complete, non-price-clipped dust jacket has an estimated market value of $1,500 to $3,500 USD. This book is a highly sought-after “highspot” of historical boxing fiction and biography, detailing the life of the legendary Australian heavyweight boxer Peter Jackson. Because copies featuring the original dust jacket are nearly nonexistent, the dust jacket itself carries the vast majority of the book’s total appraisal value.

Historical market data highlights how drastically the price shifts depending on the presence and condition of the jacket: With an Original Dust Jacket: A premium 1st edition copy in a Very Good+ original dust jacket was famously cataloged by a rare book specialist (Between the Covers) for $3,500 USD, noting it as the only jacketed copy they had ever encountered. A copy that was professionally rebound but preserved a Good/Very Good original dust jacket was valued at $500 USD.

Without a Dust Jacket: Copies of the hardcover alone typically fetch between $218 and $650 USD depending on the state of the blue cloth binding and page foxing.