As a child in Harlem, James Baldwin (1924-1987) hewed to his family’s strict Baptist beliefs and would have known I Corinthians 13, the New Testament’s famous “love chapter,” verse by verse.

Nicholas Boggs’ magisterial “Baldwin,” the first biography of the author in 30 years, employs love as the organizing principle, depicting his métier through the prism of intimate (mostly non-sexual) relationships with four men — queer Black artist Beauford Delaney; Lucien Happersberger, a perennial muse; Engin Cezzar, a Turkish actor; and Yoran Cazac, a French painter. They grounded him emotionally and powered his literary work.

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