what is the call number of the oldest copy of ellison's shadow and the act

Answer 1

Library of Congress or Dewey Decimal.

You'd have to go into different libraries' websites and look it up -- look at the date of publication to determine which is the oldest.

Here are some libraries to try:

Library of Congress
http://www.loc.gov/index.html

NY Public Library
http://www.nypl.org/

Chicago Public Library
http://www.chipublib.org/

Los Angeles Public Library
http://www.lapl.org/

Others:
http://www.publiclibraries.com/

Answer 2

The book's title is Shadow and Act. There is no "the" in the title.

Here are ISBN numbers for two early hardcover editions:

Author: Ellison, Ralph
Publisher: Random House
Format: Hardcover
ISBN-13: 9781111528164
ISBN-10: 1111528160

Author: Ralph Ellison
Publisher: Secker And Warburg
Date published: 1967
Format: Hardcover
ISBN-13: 9780436146008
ISBN-10: 0436146002

The original publication of the book, by Random House, was in 1964. A worn first edition with dust jacket sells for about $200 now.