Baldwin, James, 1924-1987

Scope and Contents:

Essay, holograph, on Edmund Wilson, signed at Nice. With typed transcript.

Abstract:

Photographs prints created and collected by Harry Adams, 1943-1985, that chiefly document events, activities, and individuals related to the African American community in the Los Angeles metropolitan area of California and his career as a professional photographer as well as his work for African American newspapers including the California Eagle and Los Angeles Sentinel.

Scope and Contents:

Draft, typescript, corrected, of essay. Differs from version published in The New York Review of Books (January 7, 1971 issue). Signed "Brother James".

Abstract: An early group of materials by Baldwin, including manuscripts, correspondence, artworks and personal papers. Among the manuscripts are drafts of a novel, "Crying Holy", which evolved much later into Baldwin's first published novel, "Go Tell It On the Mountain." The correspondence includes letters from Baldwin's friends in the military, including Tom Martin. Some of the artwork, mostly pencil sketches, is by Baldwin while a number of other items are by a high school friend of his, Martin...

Scope and Contents: Correspondence regarding a proposed stage adaptation of Baldwin's novel, Giovanni's Room (New York: Dial Press, 1956). Correspondence includes one typescript letter, signed, from Baldwin to Wilson, and one typescript carbon letter from Wilson to Baldwin. Accompanied by 15 letters between between Wilson and others, including Albert I. Da Silva of Reinheimer & Cohen, Frederick L. Keefe of The New Yorker, and representatives of the...

Summary:

The Dial Press Records contain publicity files, catalogs, photographs, and other materials that document the workings of this twentieth-century press.

Scope and Contents: The papers contain audiocassettes, videocassettes, photographs, correspondence, and printed material related to David Leeming's biography of James Baldwin, James Baldwin: A Biography. The audiocassettes contain interviews with various family, friends, and colleagues of James Baldwin and his close friend and mentor, Beauford Delaney. The videocassettes contain television programs and an anthology of films on Baldwin. The photographs depict portraits of Baldwin and...

Scope and Contents:

One TLS in which Baldwin announces his intention to finish "Letter for My Younger Brother," describes his thoughts on newly begun novel ("Giovanni's Room"), and requests a loan of twenty dollars. The letter includes a clipping of an article on James Baldwin from the Herald Tribune Book Review (1953 May 31).

Scope and Contents:

One TLS to Samuel L. Blumenfeld written in Paris roughly one month after Baldwin's first book was published.

Scope and Contents:

One TLS to Samuel L. Blumenfeld, written in Cannes, discussing various writing projects, including Baldwin's new work on a "primer" based on correspondence with his younger brother, completion of "The Amen Corner," and work towards his second novel, Giovanni's Room.

Scope and Contents:

One TLS to Samuel L. Blumenfeld, written in Corsica, and one TL to Baldwin from Blumenfeld. Baldwin mentions a new novel (possibly "Another Country"), the reception of "Giovanni's Room," and discusses returning to New York in the Spring of 1957. In his letter Blumenfeld discusses reading "Giovanni's Room" and compliments Baldwin's writing.

Scope and Contents:

One ALS and two TLS to Edward Parone. Baldwin discusses his play "The Amen Corner"as well as his personal life (such as his financial situation and partner Lucien Happersberger). Includes letter written while Baldwin was at Yaddo and in New York and Washington, D.C.

Scope and Contents:

Correspondence, with accompanying envelopes, includes three autograph letters, signed, two autograph notes, signed, and one page with notes and sketches. Letters discuss writing, books, travel, and other engagements.

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Draft, typescript mimeograph, of Baldwin's screenplay based on Alex Haley's The Autobiography of Malcolm X. Differs substantially from version published in 1973 as One Day, When I Was Lost; possibly an earlier draft.

Inscribed "Background material for screenplay on Malcolm X. Calder Willingham."

Abstract:

The collection consists of writings, correspondence, project files, teaching materials, journals, photographs, printed material, personal papers, and audiovisual and computer media documenting the life and career of French-Tunisian author, critic, and philosopher Albert Memmi.

Abstract: The records date from the organization's founding in 1949 and include administrative correspondence, application files, financial and fund-raising records, internal reports, audio recordings and transcripts of guest lectures and craft discussions, audio recordings of board meetings and play readings, photographs, scrapbooks holding clippings about the organization, artwork and production materials for New Dramatists newsletters and publications, and other files related to the group's...

Abstract: The collection documents all aspects of the production and promotion of the literary magazine New World Writing from its first issue in 1952 to its last issue in 1959. Correspondence, including letters by and about various authors whose work was published in the magazine, and manuscripts, including corrected typescripts of published works, shed light on the selection and editorial process. Highlights include the corrected typescript of "Catch-18" by Joseph Heller, originally published in...

Scope and Contents:

Manuscript, typed and signed, discussing a book project.

Abstract: The collection contains material compiled by Father Peter F. O'Brien on twentieth century African American cultural figures. The collection consists chiefly of subject files on prominent mid-century artists, authors, and performers, including stage and screen actors, singers, and dancers. Individuals covered include: James Baldwin, Paul Robeson, Antonio Salemme, Ethel Waters, Mabel Mercer, and Thelma Carpenter, among others. Files contain printed materials, such as newspaper clippings and...

Scope and Contents:

Draft, typescript, of article for The Reporter. Accompanied by three TLS, dating from 1952, to "Mr. Rodman" of The Reporter, all regarding the article, and one ANS to an unidentified recipient.