Beat Generation

NY: Grove Evergreen, 1966. First US edition, first prnt. Review copy with publisher's slip laid in. Signed by Burroughs on the title page. Very slight shelfwear; dustjacket with slight wear at spine ends. Review slip with one corner crease. Clean copy in Near Fine condition in a Very Good dustjacket with an archival cover. First book in Burroughs' Nova Trilogy.. Signed by Author. First Edition. Hardcovers. Near Fine/Very Good. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. Review Copy.

Paris: The Olympia Press, 1961. First edition, first prnt. 1st state with "15 N.F." printed price on rear wrap. No. 85 in the publisher's "The Traveller's Companion" series. Signed by Corso on the front free endpage. Perfect-bound printed wraps in pictoral dustjacket. Illustrations by Corso. Minimal shelfwear; dustjacket with minor shelfwear, mostly at the spine topedge, slight toning on spine and rear flap fold and small stain on spine. Tight and bright copy in Near Nine condition in a Very Good dustjacket. Corso's first novel.. Signed by Author. First Edition. Soft Cover. Near Fine/Very Good. 12mo - over 6¾" - 7¾" tall.

San Francisco: Ark, 1956. 1st edition. Soft cover. Very Good/No Jacket (as issued). VG. 8vo, 48pp, stapled wrappers. One of the most important postwar American underground literary magazines. This issue, co-edited with Michael McClure, contains early appearances by major Beat writers, as well as a range of exceptional contemporary writers. Unmarked copy from the library of Philip Lamantia; light sunning to wrappers and a little overall wear.

New York: The Floating Bear, 1963. 1st edition. Soft cover. Fair/No Jacket (as issued). Fair. 4to, 34pp (mimeographed), corner-stapled. (Last two leaves supplied in photocopy.) Addressed to poet Bill Deemer. This issue of the Floating Bear features input by Billy Linich (Billy Name) of Andy Warhol's Factory (Billy Linich's Party by John Daley ties into Warhol's first Haircut film from around this time, late 1963). Also contributions by Ray Johnson; an advertisement for the Fluxus Anthology (available from LaMonte Young) and a tape of Young with Angus MacLise, Tony Conrad, and Marian Zazeela; Fred Herko dance classes; C #4 for 25¢ from Ted Berrigan; etc. The first half of the issue (19pp) is devoted to "The Art of Literature" by Philip Whalen. Top leaf detached from staple; last two leaves are lacking and are supplied in photocopy. Horizontal publisher's fold, some general wear.

Layton, UT: Gibbs Smith, 1998. Signed on the title page by photographer Christopher Felver and poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti. First edition / First printing. Gray paper-covered boards. Very fine in very fine dust jacket.

San Francisco: Beatitude Magazine, 1960. 1st edition. Soft cover. Good /No Jacket (as issued). Good+. 4to, 23 leaves (printed one-side; one duplicated), stapled front wrapper. The rare final issue of the first phase of this central Beat Generation mimeo mag. Unmarked copy, tanning and some stains to front wrapper.

Cambridge, England: Prospect, 1961. 1st edition. Soft cover. Very Good/No Jacket (as issued). VG. 4to, 32pp, stapled wrappers. Scarce issue of this little magazine from 1961 Cambridge, with work by J.H. Prynne and others. Subscription slip bound in. Unmarked copy, outer stain to one corner, light outer soil.

New York: Tony Shafrazi Gallery, 1987; 1988. 1st edition. Soft cover. Very Good/No Jacket (as issued). VG. 8vo, 10pp (accordion-folded). Classic gallery publication, includes text "Entrance to the Museum of Lost Species" by Burroughs, plus an exhibition list and some halftone reproductions. Schottlaender B11.Unmarked copy, soft vertical bend, a little outer soil.

Berkeley: Synapse, 1965. 1st edition. Soft cover. Very Good/No Jacket (as issued). VG+. 4to, 34pp (mimeographed), stapled wrappers. Low-run mimeo revolution title from 1965 Berkeley. Includes poems by Robert Lax, Gary Snyder, Allen Ginsberg, Philip Whalen, Jackson Mac Low, Tom Clark, Denise Levertov, Robin Eichele, et al. Unmarked copy, light general wear.

New York: Yugen, 1960. 1st edition. Soft cover. Very Good/No Jacket (as issued). Near VG. 8vo, 40pp, stapled wrappers. The uncommon fifth issue of this seminal Beat-era little magazine edited by LeRoi and Hettie Jones. Includes excerpts from Ginsberg's Kaddish and writing by Kerouac and others. This copy, though unmarked, is from the collection of poet Bill Berkson. Light corner stain to later pages and back cover, a bit of general soil.

New York: The Macmillan Company, 1969. 1st edition. Hardcover. Very Good/Very Good. VG in VG+ dw. 8vo, [vi]+346pp, black cloth stamped in silver, printed dustwrapper. Humorously INSCRIBED by the author to George Litwin (presumably the Harvard associate of Timothy Leary) on the first page. An unusual experimental work heavily informed by the 1960s. Unmarked (aside from the inscription), a bit of spotting to top edge and boards. Jacket is not price-clipped and has a bit of soil and some sunning to rear panel.

San Francisco: Synaesthesia Press, 1997. 1st Edition 1st Printing. Soft cover. Fine. Chap book in which Barry Gifford recalls a visit to see Willlam S. Burroughs at the Bunker. Hand-sewn wrappers with die-cut cover, pp. 4, illustrated by Billy Childish. One of 26 lettered copies from a total edition of 176. Signed by both the author and artist at the title-page and includes three additional woodcuts created for the book by Billy Childish - these are enclosed in an envelope laid in. All presented in a larger, illustrated manilla envelope which shows minor creasing, the book itself and prints are in immaculate, Very Fine condition.

New York: Beatitude Press, Inc, 1961. 1st edition. Soft cover. Very Good/No Jacket (as issued). VG. 8vo, 40pp, stapled self-cover. INSCRIBED on the back cover by contributor Carol Berge in 1962. The scarce East Coast extension of the classic San Francisco Beat-era magazine Beatitude. This edition, printed offset in New York, includes a Joseph Byrd cover and writing by a range of significant contributors. Unmarked copy, light cover wear and toning.

San Francisco: Adler Press, 1960. 1st edition. Soft cover. Very Good/No Jacket (as issued). VG+. 8vo, 20pp, stapled wrappers. The rare first issue of this Beat-era underground review edited by Shigeyoshi Murao of City Lights Books. A bit of typical toning to wrappers; solid unmarked copy overall.

This is the real thing: the true first edition of Pictures of the Gone World by Lawrence Ferlinghetti. City Lights Pocket Poets #1.
Meets all first edition, first printing points according to "The City Lights Pocket Poets Series: A Descriptive Bibliography" by Ralph T. Cook: Saddle-stitched with two staples; stiff black paper wrapper printed in yellow, with a yellow hand-pasted wraparound paper label printed in black. This hand-pasted wraparound label is present only on the first printing.
Published in 1955, at 65 cents. Only 500 copies printed letterpress by David Ruff. No printing notice, meaning first printing.
Condition is a solid VG for this title. Only flaws are slightly soiled wrappers and somewhat rusted staples — but the pages are completely intact and not loose at all. (Even so, you'll want to be careful when turning pages of this historic book.) Wraparound is in excellent shape, firmly glued with no peeling or chipping. Kept in fresh plastic sleeve for archival storage.
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