James Baldwin's "Five Years" poetry manuscript

Description data TOP

unitid

{"value"=>"25681", "type"=>"local_mss"}

{"value"=>"Sc MG 934", "type"=>"local_call"}

{"value"=>"b21170586x", "type"=>"local_b"}

unitdate

{"value"=>"1942-1948", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1942/1948"}

unittitle

{"value"=>"James Baldwin's \"Five Years\" poetry manuscript"}

physdesc

{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"1 folder", "unit"=>"containers"}, {"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"0.01 linear feet", "unit"=>"linear_feet"}]}

repository

{"value"=>"<span class=\"corpname\">Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division</span>"}

langmaterial

{"value"=>"English"}

origination

{"value"=>"Baldwin, James, 1924-1987", "type"=>"persname"}

bioghist

{"value"=>"<p>James Baldwin (1924-1987) was the premiere African American writer and public intellectual of the post-War period. He authored six novels, three plays, dozens of short stories, a book-length work of non-fiction, a children's book, scores of essays and reviews, and a book of poems. Baldwin won renown in the U.S. and internationally for his writing, his leadership in the civil rights movement, and for championing human rights around the world. His essays and reviews, especially, are remarkable not just for their mastery of literary technique - their marriage of music and sharp analysis - but for the breadth of the African American experience which they interpret, dramatize, honor, and lament. These prose masterpieces are unique in the history of American literature for the depth, subtlety, and daring with which they explore the psycho-political causes and consequences of racism and other ideologies of political exploitation. His best known works include <span class=\"title\">Go Tell It on the Mountain</span>(1953), <span class=\"title\">Notes of a Native Son</span>(1955), <span class=\"title\">Giovanni's Room</span>(1956), <span class=\"title\">The Fire Next Time</span>(1963), and <span class=\"title\">If Beale Street Could Talk</span>(1974).</p>", "supress_display"=>true}

scopecontent

{"value"=>"<p>\"Five Years\" is an 18-page typescript of sixteen unpublished poems (the last two being carbons) written by Baldwin between 1942 and 1948 prior to the publication of his first novel, <span class=\"title\">Go Tell It on the Mountain</span>. The poems, which are dated, explore themes of love, fear and mortality, lifelong preoccupations of the author best known for his insightful essays and probing fiction.</p> <p>The typescript contains a small number of minor corrections, which might be Baldwin's. The title leaf bears the following inscription in the author's hand: \"These are my only copies - bit by bit I'd like you to send me copies - and I'll send the things I have back to you -- Jimmy\". Poems include: \"Epitaph\"; \"On the Subway\"; \"Eighth Street\"; \"Song (1)\"; \"Song (2)\"; \"Wastrel Song\"; \"Sonnet\"; \"Song\"; \"Duel in the Tavern\"; \"Portrait\"; \"For Chris\"; \"Devotional\"; and untitled poems.</p>"}

acqinfo

{"value"=>"<p>Purchased from Locus Solus Rare Books, December 2016.</p>"}

accessrestrict

{"value"=>"<p>Researchers are restricted to a facsimile of the manuscript.</p>"}

relatedmaterial

{"value"=>"Also found in the Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division, Schombur Center for Research in Black Culture: <p>James Baldwin papers, Sc MG 936</p> <p>James Baldwin: The Price of the Ticket documentary film collection, Sc MG 851</p> <p>Ten Screenplays for Malcolm X Film collection, Sc MG 969</p>"}

revisiondesc

{"value"=>"Finding aid updated by Lauren Stark.", "date"=>"2021 January 8"}

date_start

1942

keydate

1942

date_end

1948

date_inclusive_start

1942

date_inclusive_end

1948

extent_statement

0.01 linear feet (1 folder)

prefercite

{"value"=>"[Item], James Baldwin's \"Five Years\" poetry manuscript, Sc MG 934, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division, The New York Public Library"}

abstract

{"value"=>"James Baldwin (1924-1987) was the premiere African American writer and public intellectual of the post-War period. He authored six novels, three plays, dozens of short stories, a book-length work of non-fiction, a children's book, scores of essays and reviews, and a book of poems. Baldwin won renown in the U.S. and internationally for his writing, his leadership in the civil rights movement, and for championing human rights around the world. His essays and reviews, especially, are remarkable not just for their mastery of literary technique - their marriage of music and sharp analysis - but for the breadth of the African American experience which they interpret, dramatize, honor, and lament. These prose masterpieces are unique in the history of American literature for the depth, subtlety, and daring with which they explore the psycho-political causes and consequences of racism and other ideologies of political exploitation. His best known works include <span class=\"title\">Go Tell It on the Mountain</span>(1953), <span class=\"title\">Notes of a Native Son</span>(1955), <span class=\"title\">Giovanni's Room</span>(1956), <span class=\"title\">The Fire Next Time</span>(1963), and <span class=\"title\">If Beale Street Could Talk</span>(1974). \"Five Years\" is an 18-page typescript of sixteen unpublished poems (the last two being carbons) written by Baldwin between 1942 and 1948 prior to the publication of his first novel, <span class=\"title\">Go Tell It on the Mountain</span>. The poems, which are dated, explore themes of love, fear and mortality, lifelong preoccupations of the author best known for his insightful essays and probing fiction.", "generated"=>true}

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