Gather Out of Star-Dust

Gather out of Star-Dust: A Harlem Renaissance Album is a tribute to the Harlem Renaissance, a period of tremendous artistic and cultural achievement among African Americans in the 1920s and 1930s, with New York City's Harlem neighborhood at its epicenter. The book is also based on a current exhibit of the James Weldon Johnson Memorial Collection of African American Arts and Letters in the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library of Yale University. Made up of five sections, the book features 50 magnificent items from the James Weldon Johnson collection, including letters, photos, illustrations, prints, and sketches created by writers, artists, and performers from the Harlem Renaissance. Favorite items include the Langston Hughes collection of “rent party cards,” a collection of first editions from prominent Harlem Renaissance authors such as Claude McKay and Nella Larsen, a 1923-1931 guest book from the home of James Weldon and Grace Nail Johnson, and postcards from 1925-1935 with photos of dancer Josephine Baker. Almost all items featured in Gather Out of Star-Dust are curated with short essays, making the book not only a remarkable tribute to the Harlem Renaissance, but also a superb companion to the exhibit.