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James Baldwin Illustration

James Baldwin Centenary

Celebrate 100 years of James Baldwin, the literary legend and civil rights champion.

James Baldwin, an iconic writer and activist, explored the complexities of race, identity, love, and class with searing insight. Join us as we celebrate 100 years of Baldwin--one of the most important writers of the 20th century. Baldwin’s legacy as a writer and civil rights activist has left an indelible mark on history, and his wisdom and courage continue to inspire generations. 

Artwork by Ernesto Yerena based on the original photo by Allan Warren. Logo includes "James Baldwin on the Galata Bridge," Istanbul, Turkey 1964 © Sedat Pakay | www.sedatpakay.com, used with permission.

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James Baldwin Box Set by James Baldwin

James Baldwin Box Set

James Baldwin

A box set of James Baldwin's principal novels, featuring Go Tell It on the Mountain, Giovanni's Room, and If Beale Street Could Talk.

Originally published in 1953, Go Tell It on the Mountain was James Baldwin's first major work, based in part on his own childhood. With lyrical precision and a rage that is at once unrelenting and compassionate, Baldwin chronicles a fourteen-year-old boy's discovery of the terms of his identity as the stepson of the minister of a Pentecostal storefront church in Harlem.

Giovanni's Room is set in the Paris of the 1950s, where a young American expatriate finds himself caught between his repressed desires and conventional morality. One of the first novels to openly explore the theme of homosexuality, it paved the way for generations of gay and lesbian novelists.

And If Beale Street Could Talk is a stunning love story about a young Black woman whose life is torn apart when her lover is wrongly accused of a crime--a profoundly moving novel about love in the face of injustice that is as socially resonant today as it was when it was first published.

This stunningly designed slipcase with art by Baldwin's friend and contemporary Beauford Delaney will make the perfect perennial gift and keepsake.

Individual Deluxe Editions

Giovanni's Room (Deluxe Edition) by James Baldwin

Giovanni's Room (Deluxe Edition)

James Baldwin

Go Tell It on the Mountain (Deluxe Edition) by James Baldwin, Roxane Gay

Go Tell It on the Mountain (Deluxe Edition)

James Baldwin, Roxane Gay

If Beale Street Could Talk (Deluxe Edition) by James Baldwin, Brit Bennett

If Beale Street Could Talk (Deluxe Edition)

James Baldwin, Brit Bennett

About the Author

James Baldwin
Photo: © The Granger Collection

James Baldwin

James Baldwin (1924–1987) was a novelist, essayist, playwright, poet, and social critic. His first novel, Go Tell It on the Mountain, appeared in 1953 to excellent reviews, and his essay collections Notes of a Native Son and The Fire Next Time were bestsellers that made him an influential figure in the growing civil rights movement. Baldwin spent much of his life in France, where he moved to escape the racism and homophobia of the United States. He died in France in 1987, a year after being made a Commander of the French Legion of Honor.

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