Vietnam and The Sixties, The Sixties 2
443. BRESLIN, Jimmy. The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight. NY: Viking (1969). A novel by the columnist who once ran a notable campaign for Mayor of New York City. Fine in fine dust jacket.
444. BROWN, Norman O. Life Against Death. The Psychoanalytic Meaning of History. Middletown: Wesleyan (1959). The very scarce first edition of one of the most influential books of its time, which helped shape a generation's attitudes: "This book is addressed to all who are ready to call into question old assumptions and to entertain new possibilities. The aim is to open up a new point of view." The book certainly lived up to its intentions, and helped usher in a decade in which the most fundamental elements of received knowledge were challenged, and new ways of looking at old questions were found in virtually every field of human endeavor. Brown's bookread, discussed and passed around by readers in all disciplines and fieldswas at the very center of the cultural upheaval of the Sixties. Near fine in very good dust jacket with light chipping at extremities of spine and minor edgewear. An attractive copy of a profoundly important title.
445. BRUCE, Lenny. How to Talk Dirty and Influence People. (Chicago): Playboy Press (1965). Autobiography of the comedian who redefined standup comedy in the Sixties, giving it a social relevance it had previously shed. Fine in a dust jacket with a few short edge tears and modest wear to the upper rear panel; about near fine. A nice copy of an important book.
The Only Copy of an Unpublished Bukowski Book
446. BUKOWSKI, Charles. The Other. [Hamburg: Gingko Press, n.d.]. The only copy of this book, never published in this form. Published several years later in an illustrated edition. A story by Bukowski which was going to have been published by the Gingko Press in Hamburg, but the project was canceled. This is the printer's dummy (labeled #1/1) and is as close to publication as the book ever got. Attractively designed on sheets that would have been a mockup of the final design had the project gone forward. With a signed drawing by Bukowski tipped to the front cover. Soft covers, tenuously tapebound; otherwise fine. The earliest form of this title, and the unique, single example of this edition. A Bukowski rarity.
447. (BUKOWSKI, Charles). The Outsider 4/5. (Tucson): Loujon Press (1968-69). Special double issue, featuring Bukowski and many, many other writers: Ginsberg, Ferlinghetti, di Prima, Levertov, Henry Miller, William Wantling, Douglas Blazek, d.a. levy, Lenore Kandel, a.o. Fine in wrappers, in near fine dust jacket attached to front flyleaf.
448. BURROUGHS, William S. "LEE, William." Junkie. Confessions of an Unredeemed Drug Addict. NY: Ace (1953). Burroughs' pseudonymous first book, a paperback original bound back-to-back with Maurice Helbrant's Narcotic Agent. Pages browning with age but still very near fine in wrappers and signed by Burroughs. A very nice copy of a cheaply made and fragile book, which began one of the most influential literary careers of the postwar era.
449. BURROUGHS, William and GYSIN, Brion. The Exterminator. (San Francisco): Auerhahn, 1960. Collaboration between these longtime friends. Printed by Dave Haselwood, who later reissued this title under his own imprint in 1967. The edition is estimated by the bibliographer at 1000 copies. Covers and four illustrations by Gysin. Owner name front flyleaf; near fine in wrappers.
450. BURROUGHS, William S. Naked Lunch. London: Calder (1964). Advance copy of the first U.K. edition, consisting of unbound folded and gathered signatures. An exceptionally scarce prepublication state. The U.K. printing was 4000 copies, but only a handful would have been issued in this format. By consensus one of the most important books of the last 50 years.
451. BURROUGHS, William. The Soft Machine. NY: Grove (1966). The first American edition, revised from the true first edition published in Paris by Olympia in 1961. This edition was to have been published by Olympia in 1963, and was announced, but was not published until Grove brought it out in 1966. Fine in fine dust jacket with one 3/4" edge tear on the lower rear spine fold. An attractive copy.
452. (BURROUGHS, William). "Martin's Folly" in The Moving Times. (London): (Sigma) (n.d.) [1965]. A broadside, approximately 20" x 30", designed for display in London Underground stations but never issued as that proved to be too expensive to accomplish. This copy is signed by Burroughs. Folded in eighths, worn through at some fold points; still near fine.
453. CAGE, John. Silence. Middletown: Wesleyan University Press (1961). Lectures and writings by the leading avant-garde composer of his era, presented in an experimental format that uses prose, poetry and something approaching playscript. Several light pencil underlinings in text; near fine in rubbed, else near fine dust jacket.
454. CAMUS, Albert. Neither Victims Nor Executioners. (Berkeley): (World Without War Council) (1968). Reprint of Camus's post-World War II essay, which rejects nihilism in favor of a humanism and an attempt at moral coherence. Published as a critique of the anti-war movement and its tendency toward adopting both extreme positionsthat of victim and then, in revenge, that of executioner. Minor soiling to covers; very good in stapled wrappers.
455. CARPENTER, Edmund and HEYMAN, Ken. They Became What They Beheld. NY: Outerbridge & Dienstfrey (1970). McLuhanesque exposition with text by Carpenter and photographs by Heyman. Small, oblong quarto. Fine in reflective jacket with some rubbing; else fine.
456. CARROLL, Jim. Organic Trains. (n.p.): (n.p.)(n.d.) [Penny Press, 1967]. First book by the acclaimed teenage junkie-poet, about whom Jack Kerouac once wrote: "At 13 years of age, Jim Carroll writes better prose than 89% of the novelists working today. Author of The Basketball Diaries, recently made into a film. This small volume, a collection of poetry printed by mimeograph and bound in stapled wrappers, was published while Carroll was still attending high school. Covers darkening; a near fine copy of a scarce first book.
457. CARROLL, Jim. 4 Ups and 1 Down. (NY): Angel Hair Books (1970). Carroll's second book, after Organic Trains. One of 300 copies, mimeographed, in stapled wrappers. 8 1/2" x 11" sheets, with a photographic cover. A fine copy.
458. -. Same title, one of 13 numbered, signed copies with a lock of the author's hair laid in. A legendary rarity from this period of "underground," counterculture publishingone of the scarcest books of the era. A single scratch on the front cover, otherwise fine.
459. (CARROLL, Jim). The Trinity School Yearbook, 1968. [NY: Trinity, 1968]. The yearbook from Carroll's senior year in high school, at a prestigious New York prep school which he attended on a basketball scholarship. By the time he graduated, Organic Trains had already been published, as is indicated by the caption next to his class photo: "A surprise friendship with Beat poet Allen Ginsberg is the key to Jim's other life as a creative writer. The first of the class of '68 to be published, he will gladly sell you a copy of his slim volume of verse..." Carroll has signed this copy, next to his senior class photo. A revealing glimpse at the years he chronicled in The Basketball Diaries. A very good copy.
460. CARSON, Rachel. Silent Spring. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1962. Probably the single most important book ever published on environmental issues: Silent Spring single-handedly caused the banning of the pesticide DDT by documenting its deleterious side-effects on the natural food chain, and in so doing Rachel Carson engendered the consciousness that, today, has become a reflexive and pervasive concern. Owner name and address on half title; very near fine in a very good dust jacket with moderate rubbing, several small chips, and one open edge tear at the lower front spine fold. A modern classic.
461. CASSADY, Neal. The First Third. (SF): City Lights (1971). "A partial autobiography & other writings"the posthumous first book by the legendary friend/sidekick of Jack Kerouacmodel for "Dean Moriarty" of On the Roadand the driver of Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters' famous bus. Only issued in softcover. Near fine in wrappers.
462. CASSADY, Neal. Grace Beats Karma. NY: Blast (1993). A collection of Cassady's letters from prison, 1958-60. Cassady was sentenced to 5 years in San Quentin for selling three marijuana cigarettes to an undercover agent. This collection of letters bridges the gap between his days with Kerouac and the Beats in the late '40s and early '50s and his period as a counterculture icon in the early and mid-'60s. This is the issue in wrappers. Fine.
463. (Civil Disobedience). Days of Civil Disobedience. NY: War Resisters League, 1970. A calendar for the year 1970 which intersperses the text of Thoreau's On the Duty of Civil Disobedience with photographs of acts of civil disobedience in the 1960s. Proceeds were used for the work of the War Resisters League. Spiralbound. Pencil name and address inside front cover, which is slightly rubbed, else near fine. An interesting and telling memento of a particularly volatile moment in our nation's recent history.
Civil Rights Newsletter from the early '60s
464. (Civil Rights). Mississippi Free Press. Jackson, MS: February 22 - August 1, 1964. Newspaper-format newsletter of the early-'60s civil rights movement. Sixteen issues (out of a sequence of 23). Pages acidifying; still near fine. An extraordinary look, as it was happening, at the civil rights movement, which rewrote the political map of the U.S. in the early Sixties. In its combination of hopeful idealism and righteous outrage at injusticetogether with a healthy dose of local politics ("112 Garbage Men Write to Mayor")this paper provides a grass-roots perspective on the movement to overhaul the entrenched legal barriers to racial equality as well as the prejudice that fostered such racial discrimination. An important document of the era.
465. COHEN, Leonard. Beautiful Losers. Toronto: McLelland & Stewart (1966). The landmark second novel by this Canadian writer-folksinger, and one of the defining books of the Sixties which, in its paperback reprint edition, was ubiquitous on college campuses. The first edition, however, published in hardcover in Canada, is quite scarce. This copy has tape marks on the rear pastedown where the jacket flap had been affixed, otherwise very good in very good dust jacket rubbed along edges and folds.
466. (Comics). Zap Comics. (n.p.): (Apex) (1967-1974). The archetypal underground comics of the Sixties, featuring the most noted comic artistsR. Crumb, S. Clay Wilson, Rick Griffin, and a host of othersand some of the most memorable characters: Mr. Natural, the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers, Wonder Wart Hog, and others.
a. Zap Comix No. 1. 1967. Later printing. Very near fine in stapled wrappers.
b. Zap Comix No. 2. 1968. First printing of what some consider the best example of the series, featuring numerous psychedelic Rick Griffin vignettes (from the period of Aoxomoxoa), Victor Moscoso's Mickey Mouse derivatives, S. Clay Wilson, Crumb ("Mr. Natural," "Angel Food McSpade," "Biceps Bunny and Mr. Snoid," etc.) and ore. Fine in stapled wrappers.
c. Zap Comix No. 3. 1969. Rick Griffin and S. Clay Wilson back-to-back covers; Crumb, Moscoso, Wilson; Wonder Wart-Hog; more. Fine.
d. Zap Comix No. 4. (n.d.) [1968]. Includes Mr. Natural, much sex-and-violence from S. Clay Wilson, Moscoso, Wonder Wart-Hog and more. Small stain lower margin of front cover, else near fine in stapled wrappers.
e. Zap Comix No. 5. (n.d.) [1970]. Furry freak brothers, Robert and Charles Crumb comic story, Wilson, et al. Near fine in wrappers.
f. Zap Comics No. 6. 1973. Includes a collaborative strip by Crumb, Wilson, Moscoso, Spain Rodriguez, Gilbert Shelton, Rick Griffin and Robert Williams. Mr. Natural & Flakey Foont; others. Near fine in stapled wrappers.
g. Zap No. 7. 1974. Pages browning slightly with age. Near fine in stapled wrappers.
467. (Comics). Snatch Comics No. 2. (n.p.): Apex (1969). Digest-size comic with artwork by R. Crumb, S. Clay Wilson, Moscoso, others. Near fine.
468. (Comics). Motor City Comics. (SF): (Rip Off) (1969-70). Issues number 1 & 2, all published, of this underground comic entirely by R. Crumb. Features Lenore Goldberg and her Girl Commandos; Mr. Snoid; Schumann the Human; and others. Both issues fine. For the two:
469. (Comics). Big Ass Comics. (SF): (Rip Off) (1969-71). Issues number 1 & 2, all published. Entirely by R. Crumb. Near fine. For both:
470. (Comics). Your Hytone Comix. (SF): Apex (1971). The only issue of this title, entirely done by R. Crumb. Near fine copy.
471. (Comics). Snoid Comics. (Princeton): (Krupp) (1980). All R. Crumb, mostly featuring Mr. Snoid. Rubbed; near fine in stapled wrappers.