James Baldwin (1924–1987)
“Author’s 1st Proof,” Go Tell It on the Mountain
October–November 1952
James Baldwin Papers, Manuscripts, Archives, and Rare Books Division, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
“Author’s 1st Proof,” Go Tell It on the Mountain
Formerly called Crying Holy, and before that, In My Father’s House, Baldwin’s first novel acquired its final title—appropriately—at high altitude. Baldwin completed it in February 1952 while staying at the mountain chalet of Lucien Happersberger in the Swiss Alps. Baldwin and Happersberger, the Swiss painter whom he later considered the love of his life, brought the finished manuscript—which he had worked on for the past 10 years—down the mountain to a post office and mailed it to New York.
Within months, the publisher Alfred A. Knopf expressed interest, and Baldwin returned to New York—the first time in three-and-a-half years—to meet the publisher and visit his family. By the time he received these galley proofs in the fall, he had returned to Europe.
: Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division, Schomburg Center for Research in…
Currently on View at Stephen A. Schwarzman Building
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