Books

Octavo, 120pp, [4]. Publisher's beige cloth, title in red on spine. The first printing, with no additional printings listed. Light red top stain. Solid text block, extraneous numbers in ballpoint pen on front endpaper, internally near fine. In the publisher's first state dust jacket, $3.50 retail price on front flap, small tissue repair at head and heel of spine, with black ink touchup to wear, offsetting to verso. (Blockson 2829) Housed in a custom red clamshell, title in gilt on morocco label on spine. Signed by James Baldwin on the half-title page: "Peace. James Baldwin." An attractive copy of this important work on racial injustice. James Baldwin (1924-1987) was a prolific writer and activist whose works often explored themes of race, sexuality, and identity in America. His novels and essays, including Go Tell It on the Mountain, Giovanni's Room, and this book, The Fire Next Time, delve deep into the complexities of societal injustice. This first edition of The Fire Next Time features the first appearance in book form of Down at the Cross and My Dungeon Shook, previously serialized in The New Yorker and The Progressive.

A classic of the civil rights movement, 'The Fire Next Time' is a powerful evocation of James Baldwin's early life in Harlem and a disturbing examination of the consequences of racial injustice which consists of two essays: 'My Dungeon Shook — Letter to my Nephew on the One Hundredth Anniversary of Emancipation,' and 'Down At The Cross — Letter from a Region of My Mind.'