Vietnam and The Sixties, The Sixties 5

533. HOFFMAN, Abbie. Wake Up, America. NY: Big Toe (n.d.) [c. 1969]. LP recording of interviews with and speeches by Hoffman, with music by the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Fine. Uncommon.
534. HOFFMAN, Abbie. Woodstock Nation. NY: Vintage (1969). The softcover edition of Hoffman's homage to the Woodstock Festival, heavily illustrated with photographs and graphics. Near fine copy. Hoffman, who had earlier written Revolution for the Hell Of It, was a founder of the Yippies -- a politically active counterculture movement which favored direct action -- and one of the most prominent East Coast counterculture celebrities from 1967 on.
535. HOFFMAN, Abbie, RUBIN, Jerry and SANDERS, Ed. Vote! NY: Warner (1972). The leaders of the Yippie movement here abandon direct action politics and urge their constituents to act via the electoral process and vote against Richard Nixon -- who nonetheless won reelection in a landslide, but a landslide which featured the Watergate break-in and ultimately led to his political downfall. Paperback. Near fine.
536. HOFFMAN, Abbie & Anita. To America With Love: Letters From the Underground. NY: Stonehill (1976). Letters between Hoffman and his wife while he was underground. This is the hardcover issue, near fine in dust jacket and inscribed by the author and with an ALS laid in to Mark Jaffe, author and (apparently) publishing representative. The inscription reads: "To Mark Jaffe:/ one of the/ `Very Special People'/ the only jew in the/ publishing business/ with two khups!/ luv/ Abbie." The letter goes into detail about publication rights for this book and exhorts Jaffe to remember: "NO publisher ever lost money on a book I wrote. That's a fact you can ask Ed Doctorow or Jason Epstein or Barney Rosset. The publicity will be thrown in free. A press conference on the moon. Fingerprinting parties in Brentano's..." [For Hoffman's next book, the publisher did give "fingerprinting parties" at various bookstores where Hoffman gave readings and signed and fingerprinted his books.] The book is near fine in a very good dust jacket; the letter folded for mailing otherwise fine.
537. HOFFMAN, Abbie. Square Dancing in the Ice Age. NY: Putnam (1982). Uncorrected proof copy of a collection of essays Hoffman wrote while living underground for a number of years. Fine in wrappers.
538. (HOFFMAN, Abbie.) HOFFMAN, Jack and Daniel Simon. Run. The Lives of Abbie Hoffman. NY: Putnam (1994). Posthumous biography of Hoffman written by his younger brother. Fine in dust jacket.
539. (HOFFMAN, Abbie). PYES, Craig. "The Assassination and Persecution of Abbie Hoffman as Performed by the Movement, Rolling Stone, and the Inmates of the Asylum of Washington, D.C." in It, No. 132. (London): (Bloom) (1972). British underground magazine; also includes critique of the Isle of Wight III rock festival; review of Exiles on Main Street; more. Pages darkening and brittle with age; 3" edge tear to pages; only about good in wrappers.
540. HUXLEY, Aldous. The Doors of Perception. London: Chatto & Windus, 1954. Huxley's first small volume about his experiences with psychedelic drugs which took its title from a William Blake line which Huxley used as epigraph: "If the doors of perception were cleansed, every thing will appear to man as it is, infinite." Although written in the early Fifties, this book and its companion volume, Heaven and Hell, became cult classics during the Sixties, providing a means of placing the use of psychedelics in the mystical and religious context wherein the experiences they provided could be understood. Very good in mildly edgeworn dust jacket.
541. HUXLEY, Aldous. Heaven and Hell. London: Chatto & Windus, 1956. The companion volume to The Doors of Perception which, during the Sixties, was reprinted together with it in a single volume. Again, an exploration of the relationship between drug-induced states of consciousness and mystical experience. Fine in near fine dust jacket.
542. JODOROWSKY, Alexandro. El Topo. A Book of the Film. (n.p.): Douglas, 1971. A narrative of the landmark cult movie by its author and director, heavily illustrated with photographs from the film together with a lengthy interview with Jodorowsky. Scarce. Fine in near fine dust jacket with lamination separating on back panel.
543. KEROUAC, Jack. Rimbaud. (SF): City Lights (1960). Broadside poem, 5"x25", printed on two sides and folded in fifths to make a 5"x5" book. The first printing, printed in black, one of 2000 copies. Kerouac's books in the Fifties, particularly On the Road and The Dharma Bums, provided the model for the generation that followed in the Sixties as well as introducing some of the most prominent characters to bridge the gap between the Beat generation and the later counterculture.
Remarkable Kerouac Letter with Original Poems
544. KEROUAC, Jack. TYPED LETTER SIGNED. January, 1960. Two pages, 5" x 8", on a single quarto sheet which has been folded to make four pages. Kerouac typed on "page 1" and "page 4," so all his text is visible at once when the sheet is unfolded. Addressed to his girlfriend at the time, this is a lengthy, astonishing, warm, revealing letter, which exhibits Kerouac's unique writing style, which was influenced by the complex rhythms and free associations of the bebop jazz that characterized the era of the beat generation. He writes of his dreams and his attempt to re-impose his will on his life, rather than be buffeted by events: "Just woke up from big 12 hour sleep feeling happy because I had dreamed of giant blue men hugging skyscrapers and turning into statues, a new kind of dream for me possibly presaging my new decision to exert my own will from now on and not just follow everybody like I been doing since I was caught so by surprise in 1957 with on the road book success--I am now a giant blue man hugging my will..." He comments on her writing, advising her on how to get one of her poems included in a Beat anthology currently in preparation and responds to her writing with his own haiku: "And just now as I was pondering your new poem idea I SAW a haiku, out the window:-
A big fat flake
of snow
Falling alone"
He reminisces of romantic encounters together -- "Yes, I yearn for last summer too, that rainy midnight football field, that wonderful double mattress on the floor, the shower upstairs, the big empty dark house..." He goes on at length to discuss his plans to get a car, buy a cottage in the country to write in, and arrange for her to come up every weekend. "That will be the beginning..." He talks further about how the success of On the Road threw him off-balance and he has had to resort to games and deception to insulate himself from the consequences of his celebrity. At one point he informs her that she is one of only three people who are allowed to know where he is currently living. The letter ends with another haiku:
"Standing on end
on top of the tree,
The Big Dipper"
He concludes by saying "I start my new novel Wed. (tomorrow) or so, in fact probably tonight, will see you in NY in at least 2 weeks, or, if youcome [sic] here, anytime you come..... See you soon, kissy one As ever, [signed] Jack XXX" [in holograph]. A frank, intimate letter, showing Kerouac as both the accomplished, imaginative writer he was and also as a vulnerable human being, nearly overwhelmed by his success, and struggling to cope with it. An interesting letter touching on a number of important facets of the life of one of the most influential postwar American writers and with original poetry, a rarity in Kerouac's letters. Creased from folding; lightly soiled overall, and with a small stain, approx 1", on the first page. Very good.
545. KEROUAC, Jack. Visions of Gerard. NY: Farrar Straus (1963). Advance review copy with slip laid in. A volume in Kerouac's fictionalized autobiography -- the Legend of Duluoz Series. Corners slightly bumped; very good in very good, slightly spine-sunned dust jacket. Scarce in an advance state.
Rare Kerouac Broadside, Signed
546. KEROUAC, Jack. A Pun for Al Gelpi. Harvard Yard: Lowell House, 1966. Broadside, one of 100 numbered copies, measuring approximately 6" x 19". Although not called for in the bibliography (which lists the dimensions as 6" x 9"), this copy is signed by Kerouac. The first appearance of this poem, and the only appearance of it during Kerouac's lifetime. A fine copy of a rare Kerouac piece, signed by the author and attractively framed. An extraordinary rarity: we have only heard of two other copies in private collections and have seen no others on the market.
One of 7 Copies Signed by Kesey, et al
547. (KEROUAC, Jack). Poster Promoting a Benefit for Jan Kerouac -- "Jack Kerouac - The Legacy." An attractive poster, approx. 18" x 26", designed and printed by noted San Francisco poster artist Alton Kelley -- who designed many of the famous psychedelic posters of the 1960s in San Francisco. This poster was prepared to promote a series of benefits for Kerouac's daughter Jan, who, besides being quite ill and without health care benefits, is contesting the disposition of Kerouac's literary estate. A series of fundraising events were organized in San Francisco this past month, which included appearances and performances by a number of people who had been closely connected to Kerouac and the poets and artists of the Beat generation and later the Sixties counterculture. There were two versions of the poster created: a general print run of 1000 copies and a limited edition of 135 numbered copies signed by Kelley and Jan Kerouac. We are pleased to offer the limited edition, which has been additionally signed by a number of the participants, including Ken Kesey, Ken Babbs, Paul Krassner, Hubert Selby, Jr., Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Jack Micheline, Allen Cohen, Harold Norse, Piri Thomas, John Cassady (son of legendary hipster/prankster Neal Cassady), and others. A remarkable congregation of individuals associated both with Jack Kerouac in the Fifties and Sixties and with the active effort to preserve his literary legacy and support his daughter in the Nineties. Of the 135 special copies of this poster, only a tiny handful (reportedly 7 copies only) were signed by these extra contributors. An attractive and significant memento, well suited for mounting and framing.
548. -. Another copy, this being one of 135 copies signed by Kelley and Jan Kerouac, as called for, but not by the other participants. Fine.
549. -. Another copy, one of one thousand copies, unsigned. Fine.
550. KESEY, Ken. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. NY: Viking (1962). First edition of his landmark first book, a pivotal novel of the literature of the Sixties, which helped to shape a generation's attitudes on issues of authority, power, madness and, finally, individuality. The early printings of the U.S. edition contain text that was later excised and changed after a lawsuit brought against Kesey and his publisher by a woman who was a nurse at the institution which Kesey used as a model for the novel. (In a too-unbelievable-for-fiction twist to the story, the woman herself later became a novelist and was sued by a southern California psychotherapist for a derogatory portrayal in one of her novels; and in a first for this kind of lawsuit, her publisher reportedly considered joining the plaintiffs in the suit, charging her with breach of contract. What goes around comes around.) This copy has some very light spotting to the bottom page edges, otherwise near fine in a very good dust jacket, with a little rubbing at head and tail of spine and at flap folds and slight spine fading but much less than usual for this title. Signed by the author in multi-colored ink in 1995. An attractive copy of an important book.
551. -. Same title, the first British edition (London: Methuen, 1962). A bibliographically significant edition in that only two of the three sections which were to be changed in response to the lawsuit were incorporated, leaving this as a mixed state -- with references to the original character, "Red Cross Nurse," as well as references to the character that replaced her, "Public Relations." Copyright information blacked out on verso of title page, as is often the case with British editions in the U.S., otherwise a very good copy in dust jacket.
552. KESEY, Ken. Sometimes a Great Notion. NY: Viking (1964). Uncorrected proof copy of Kesey's second and most ambitious novel, about a logging family in Oregon, and embodying the individualistic values that led Kesey to become a counterculture leader and icon. Two volumes, ringbound, with publisher's label pasted to front of Volume I and summary sheet laid in. An extremely scarce proof: this is only the second complete copy we have seen offered on the market in over 15 years, although single odd volumes occasionally turn up. An extremely scarce state of an important book, and Kesey's last novel for a period of over 20 years, during which time he helped shape the direction of the counterculture and its aftermath. Both volumes very good.
553. -. Same title, first edition. This is the state with the Viking ship on the second half-title rather than the first, by far the scarcer of the two states. In first issue dust jacket, with photo credited to "Hank Krangler" rather than "Hank Kranzler." Near fine in dust jacket with minor rubbing.
554. KESEY, Ken. Kesey's Garage Sale. (NY): (Viking) (1973). The hardcover edition of this collection of shorter pieces, heavily illustrated in collage-like fashion. Inscribed by the author and by cohort-collaborator, Ken Babbs. Fine in fine dust jacket.
555. -. Another copy, an advance review copy with publisher's photocopy promotional sheet laid in. Fine in fine, price-clipped dust jacket. Laid in is a postcard from Faye Kesey stating Kesey's willingness to sign a book.
556. KESEY, Ken. The Further Inquiry. (NY): Viking (1990). An account of Kesey's famous bus trip with the Merry Pranksters in 1964, written in the form of an imaginary "trial" of the spirit of Neal Cassady. Small quarto, multi-colored pages, heavily illustrated with photographs including many of Cassady, and a "flip-book" moving picture of Cassady at the lower corner of the pages. Fine in fine dust jacket.
557. (KESEY, Ken). "Wait!" in The Free You, Vol. 4, Number 2, February 1970. The magazine of the Midpeninsula Free University, on the San Francisco peninsula, one of the early experiments in alternative education in the Sixties. Edited by Fred Nelson and Ed McClanahan. The piece by Kesey is an excerpt from the "Exercises in Creation" section of Kesey's Mexico journals, written while he was a fugitive from a drug bust; the pieces were later published in Kesey's Garage Sale. Some soiling and edgewear; still about very good in stapled wrappers. Scarce.
558. (KESEY, Ken). The Last Supplement to the Whole Earth Catalog. (Menlo Park): (Whole Earth Catalog) (1971). Kesey co-edited this supplement and contributed "The Bible," "The I Ching," and "Tools from my Chest," some of the tools being Dope, Lord Buckley, Ashley Automatics, Larry McMurtry, Wendell Berry, Ginseng, Faulkner, Woody Guthrie, The Grateful Dead and more. An interesting collection of short pieces by a countercultural icon who is also a good writer. Cover, with an R. Crumb interpretation of "The Last Supper" is detaching; only good.
559. (KESEY, Ken). WAVY GRAVY. The Hog Farm and Friends. NY: Links (1974). Kesey provides the foreword to this book about his close friend's alternative farm/commune. Near fine in tall wrappers with a Rick Griffin cover.
Five Drafts of the Screenplay for Cuckoo's Nest
560. (KESEY, Ken). Screenplays for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. (Berkeley): (Fantasy Films) [1974]. Screenplays based on the author's first book, a pivotal novel of the Sixties. Kesey's iconoclastic hero, McMurphy, who is confined to a mental institution, is clearly more sane than his captors -- who wear down his spirit in a relentless campaign to undermine and discredit him. His humor and will to life, in the face of the efforts of "The Combine" to destroy him, tapped a youthful generation's spirit of rebellion, and helped shape the counterculture of the Sixties. Five drafts of the screenplay, as follows:
a. Cover page missing, no date or screenwriter, but apparently an early draft as McMurphy's lines are under MACK; all later versions have MCMURPHY. 167 pages, with several ink and penciled corrections. Claspbound; last page detaching and repaired; very good.
b. Screenplay by Howard B. Kreitsek; no date, but one of the first and rejected versions. The name Merritt Blake in ink at the upper corner. 158 pages. First few pages stained along bottom; pages detaching from brass fasteners; about very good.
c. Screenplay by Lawrence Hauben. "Second Draft." December 12, 1973. Revised January 3, 1974. 146 pages. Claspbound; near fine.
d. Screenplay by Lawrence Hauben. "Final Draft/ March 18, 1974." Claspbound in cardstock covers; staining to lower edge of front cover; near fine.
e. Screenplay by Lawrence Hauben and Bo Goldman. "Final Draft/ Revised: July 26, 1974;" date crossed out and, in ink, "Dec. 5, 1974." 110 numbered pages (and some lettered additions), without punched holes. A photocopy of another script, but with changes written in or typed in. Missing the last page or two, but including the first 30 pages of another unidentified draft, paper-clipped. About near fine.
A remarkable glimpse of the process of converting one of the landmark novels of the Sixties into one of the most acclaimed films of our time, the first movie since It Happened One Night, in 1934, to win all five of the major Oscars -- Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director and Best Screenplay, for the Hauben and Goldman screenplay. For the set:
561. (KESEY, Ken). STRELOW, Michael, ed. Kesey. Eugene: Northwest Review Books (1977). Introductory essays by Malcolm Cowley and John Clark Pratt (editor of the Viking Critical Library edition of Cuckoo's Nest) and selections from Kesey's manuscript notes for Cuckoo's Nest and Sometimes a Great Notion as well as a number of other previously unpublished writings and drawings by Kesey. This is an advance review copy of the very scarce hardcover edition. Fine in fine dust jacket.