In my essay for the 2019 ASA convention, I want to try to draw together knowledge related to a series of disparate investigations I have recently undertaken, knowledge that will help us understand better James Baldwin’s connections to Denmark during his time in Europe and, more important, a better understanding of what Baldwin’s early novel, Giovanni’s Room, has meant in a Danish context. I begin then with consideration of a bust of James Baldwin made by a Danish artist in the early 50s. From my research I’ve deduced that Baldwin and the artist must have crossed paths shortly after Baldwin arrived in Paris in 1948. Baldwin and he, I have learned, sympathized with one another over their relations to their respective fathers. The discovery of the bust provides a tantalizing (and obscure) clue about Baldwin’s connection to Denmark. The first Danish translation of Giovanni's Room was produced shortly after the publication of the novel in the 50s. It includes a preface written by a police official (!) who proceeds to discuss homosexuality as if it is a crime and introduces the novel accordingly. Even the cover and presentation of the book makes its content seem dark and ominous. The latest translation, which appeared in January 2019, is very different. It is a beautifully rendered, color edition. I propose to look at both textual and paratextual details in these translations to gain a fuller understanding the evolution of ideas about homosexuality in Denmark and how Baldwin’s may have helped change them