"MY SOUL IS A WITNESS": FIRST EDITION OF EVIDENCE OF THINGS NOT SEEN, INSCRIBED BY JAMES BALDWIN

BALDWIN, James. The Evidence of Things Not Seen. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, (1985). Octavo, original half black cloth, original dust jacket. $1600.

First edition of Baldwin's provocative book about the 1980s Atlanta child murders, inscribed by him on the dedication page, "Peace, James Baldwin."

"The Atlanta child murders comprise the starting point for this virtuoso polemic against racism in America. Baldwin writes bluntly: 'Others may see American progress in economic, racial and social affairs—I do not.' It is this distinctive Baldwinian voice of outrage that powers his penetrating examination of why color still divides America. Baldwin thinks that Wayne Williams, the black man accused of the murders of 28 black children over a 22-month period, was railroaded… Baldwin has penetrated a sensational crime with his considerable novelist's skill for seeing things the rest of us don't. In the process, he's delivered a stinging indictment of racial stagnation" (Kirkus). Evidence of Things Not Seen "is a piercing examination of anti-black violence in the United States, why it persisted after the 'gains' of the civil rights era, and why it would likely continue… he offers an account of the American Dream that sees no innocent state to which we can return; the dream was toxic from the beginning. The sooner we recognize this, Baldwin implores, the better" (Boston Review). Blockson 10362.

Book with very slight wear to lower edges; dust jacket with short closed tear to front panel. A near-fine signed copy.