Books

New York: The Dial Press, 1963. First edition of one of the most influential works on race relations published in the twentieth century. Octavo, original cloth. Boldly signed by James Baldwin on the dedication page. Fine in a near fine dust jacket with a touch of shelfwear. Jacket design by Paul Bacon. Jacket photograph by Mottke Weissman. Rare and desirable, especially signed and in this condition. A national bestseller when it first appeared in 1963, The Fire Next Time galvanized the nation and gave passionate voice to the emerging civil rights movement. At once a powerful evocation of James Baldwin's early life in Harlem and a disturbing examination of the consequences of racial injustice, the book is an intensely personal and provocative document. It consists of two "letters," written on the occasion of the centennial of the Emancipation Proclamation, that exhort Americans, both black and white, to attack the terrible legacy of racism. Described by The New York Times Book…

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.'