Books

First edition, first printing of Baldwin's landmark second novel, noteworthy for bringing complex representations of homosexuality and bisexuality to a reading public with empathy and artistry. The novel makes "clear that Baldwin could work wonders with the light and shade of intimacy, that he could move easily and effortlessly into a whispered prose� then, with equal facility, evoke the excitement of a crowded bar filled with sexual expectation" (New Yorker). New York: The Dial Press, 1956. Publisher's original boards over black cloth spine, lettered in silver; pp. (viii), 248. A very good or better copy in a good, unclipped dust jacket. Binding remains sturdy and square with minimal wear to boards, top corners lightly bumped, minor stain to the foredge of the last handful of pages. Neat owner's inscription to the flyleaf and dedication page, else internally clean. Jacket shows some general shelfwear with chipping to spine tips, split along the flap folds with tape reinforcement to verso, toning to spine and back panel with a few minor stains. Protected in archival mylar.

Giovanni's Room is a 1956 novel by James Baldwin. The book focuses on the events in the life of an American man living in Paris and his feelings and frustrations with his relationships with other men in his life, particularly an Italian bartender named Giovanni whom he meets at a Parisian gay bar.