Vietnam/The Sixties 2, Sixties Literature 5
183. (MANSON, Charles). SANDERS, Ed. The Family. The Story of Charles Manson's Dune Buggy Attack Battalion. NY: Dutton (1971). Poet Sanders' chilling account of the Manson "family" murders, and the events that accompanied his investigation of them. Sanders was an underground poet in the early Sixties, an original member of the Fugs rock band, proprietor of the Peace Eye Bookstore in New York's East Village and publisher of Fuck You Press. The Manson family murders--engineered by Charles Manson and committed by his followers--revealed the dark side of the psychedelic counterculture: Manson's charisma, and his followers' use of LSD and other psychedelics, combined to translate into the horrific killings of pregnant movie star Sharon Tate and a number of other wealthy Los Angelenos, done in the name of a transcendent mystical/political vision that Manson claimed. The term "acid fascism" was coined to describe the susceptibility of psychedelics users to suggestion, and the propensity for some unethical individuals to exploit it. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket. This is the first issue, without the legal disclaimer that was required to be tipped into the book later.
A Group of Underground Marijuana Cultivation Guides
184. (Marijuana). The Marijuana Consumer's and Dealer's Guide. San Rafael: Stone Kingdom Syndicate, 1968. Includes instructions for extracting LSD from morning glory seeds, hashish from marijuana, mescaline from peyote, etc. Front cover creased; near fine in stapled wrappers. One of a large number of such guides produced by small, underground presses in the late 1960s and early 1970s, a time when the black market in drugs was still largely in the hands of small dealers and entrepreneurs.
185. -. Same title, a later printing. Fine in stapled wrappers.
186. (Marijuana). The Complete Cannabis Cultivator. (San Francisco): Stone Kingdom Syndicate, 1969. A guide to growing pot, dedicated to "our beloved leader Mr. R. M. Nixon without whose Mexican-American policy this book might not have been necessary." A few spots to front cover; near fine in stapled wrappers.
187. -. Same title, a later printing, with nontextured wrappers, more publications listed on the rear cover, no "Statement to the People," and a $1.50 price.
188. (Marijuana). The Super Grass Growers Guide. (San Francisco): Stone Kingdom Syndicate, 1970. A guide to hydroponic growing of marijuana, and creating more powerful strains of the plant. Fine in stapled wrappers.
189. (Marijuana). FLEMING, Dave. The Complete Guide to Growing Marihuana. San Diego: (Peace Press), 1970. Fourth printing. Stains to rear cover; "crop log" filled in. Very good in stapled wrappers.
190. (Marijuana). DRAKE, William Daniel, Jr. The Connoisseur's Handbook of Marijuana. (San Francisco): (Straight Arrow) (1971). Small oblong quarto, heavily illustrated, published by Rolling Stone magazine's publishing arm. Contains a history of marijuana use, anecdotes, articles and how-to, from cultivation to cooking with pot. Heavily illustrated with drawings, photographs, comics, old anti-marijuana posters, etc. Red ink "X" on verso of half-title, otherwise fine in a near fine dust jacket worn at the spine extremities.
191. (Marijuana). The Pot Book. San Rafael: Flash Mail Order, "1968." Probably a later printing, circa 1969-70. A small pamphlet printing the "history, cultivation, preparation and other useful facts on marijuana." Fine in stapled wrappers.
192. (Marijuana). Pot. Stockton: Lord Buckley Productions, 1968. Second printing, another small pamphlet on growing and preparing marijuana. Two pages stained; very good in stapled wrappers.
193. (Marijuana). Supermother's Cooking with Grass. San Rafael: Flash Mail Order, 1971. A cookbook, 15 pages of recipes using pot. Fine in stapled wrappers.
194. (Marijuana). MOUNTAIN GIRL. The Primo Plant. Growing Sinsemilla Marijuana. Berkeley: Leaves of Grass/Wingbow Press (1977). A guide to growing a highly potent strain of marijuana--sinsemilla (Spanish for "without seeds") --written by the longtime girlfriend and later common-law wife of Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia. Very near fine in wrappers, with publisher's postcard prospectus laid in.
195. McCLURE, Michael. The Mad Cub. NY: Bantam (1970). Paperback original, a novel by the Beat poet, who also co-authored Hell's Angel Freewheeling Frank's autobiography [see above]. Near fine in wrappers.
Handbills for a Play at the Fillmore by a Beat Poet
196. (McCLURE, Michael). Handbills for The Beard. (San Francisco/NY): [1966]. Three handbills, for three separate performances of McClure's play at the Fillmore. 5 1/2" x 8 1/2", purple on white, fine; black on beige, 7 1/2" x 11", at the Wharf Theatre (taped corners and edge tears, very good); and 8 1/2" x 11", brown on white, reprinting a review and advertising two performances at the Committee. One corner chip; near fine. For the three:
Early Volume in the Development of Alternative Media
197. (Media). Radical Software, No. 3. (NY): (Radical Software) (1971). Includes Gregory Bateson's "Restructuring the Ecology of a Great City" and much on alternative and leading edge media, including video cassettes, cable television, etc. In large part, the growth of new media was fueled by the counterculture's efforts to bypass traditional media outlets and find small-scale technologies that could be used by individuals and small groups to communicate and promote ideas about alternative lifestyles, politics, etc. Edges and folds sunned and worn; otherwise about near fine.
Only Book by a Legendary Street Performer
198. "MOONDOG." The Milleniad. Book 1. NY: Louis Hardin (1959). The only book written by the legendary street-corner musician whose ubiquitous presence in the New York of the 1960s helped define the era. Moondog disappeared suddenly in the late Sixties and his whereabouts were unknown, and much speculated upon, for years. He recently resurfaced in Europe, where he had been living for the last few decades, and released a CD of his saxophone compositions that has received high praise in contemporary jazz circles. His compositions have been recorded by such diverse performers as Janis Joplin and Stereolab. This book, written in the form of numbered verse, was produced by mimeograph and bound in tapebound boards. Slightly edge-sunned, slightly wavy; near fine. Extremely scarce: we know of no other copies appearing on the market. This copy is signed by Moondog.
199. MUIR, John. The Velvet Monkey Wrench. Santa Fe: John Muir Publications (1973). A utopian social tract by the author of the ubiquitous "Volkswagen Idiot Book," the Bible for a generation of self-help mechanics for maintaining their Volkswagen bugs and busses--the vehicles of choice for the counterculture. Rubbing to front spine fold; else fine in wrappers.
200. -. Another copy. Name stamped to page edges; cover creased; very good.
201. MURPHY, Michael E. Friends of Frobisher. Chicago: Harvester-Hall, 1964. An early publication by Murphy, one of the mainstays at Esalen Institute in the late Sixties/early Seventies, and the author Golf in the Kingdom, among others. One of 500 copies. Light crease to front cover; else fine in stapled wrappers. This is the earliest publication we have seen by Murphy.
202. NEARING, Helen and Scott. Living the Good Life. Harborside: Social Science Institute (1954). A book about the authors' experiences living on a self-subsistent homestead in rural Vermont, along with their comments on "how to live simply and sanely in a troubled world." The Nearings were longtime iconoclasts--he had been an advocate of eugenics in the early part of the century and they had been associated with the Communist party in the 1930s, from which they were expelled. Their volume on self-sufficiency was rediscovered in the 1960s and became the Bible of the back-to-the-land movement. This copy is signed by the authors. Offsetting to endpages; edgewear to boards; sunning to spine; a good copy, lacking the dust jacket. An important book for understanding the underpinnings of the ecology, back-to-the-land, and "voluntary simplicity" movements of the Sixties and early Seventies, and very scarce in the original edition.
203. NEVILLE, Richard. Play Power. NY: Random House (1970). The first American edition of this collection of essays about the counterculture by the former publisher of OZ magazine, who was sentenced to jail for obscenity in one of the most celebrated free press cases of the time. Unlike the British edition, the American was issued without the inserted game "Headopoly." Fine in a near fine dust jacket.
204. (NIXON, Richard). JOHNSON, George. Richard Nixon. Derby: Monarch Books (1961). The early Nixon. A paperback original. An admiring look at the man who had just lost the Presidential election of 1960 to John F. Kennedy and who, according to the book's cover copy, "may someday prove that 34 million Americans can't be wrong." Hint of a disrespectful ink line on Nixon's teeth; creasing to rear cover; very good in wrappers.
205. (NIXON, Richard). The Almanack of Poor Richard Nixon. Cleveland: World Publishing (1968). Two decades of Nixon quotes, published the year he ran for the Presidency a second time, and won. Portable size. 3 1/2" x 5 1/4". Wrappers splitting along front spine fold; holding out at very good.
206. (NIXON, Richard). MERRIAM, Eve. The Nixon Poems. NY: Atheneum, 1970. Quarto. With illustrations by John Gerbino. Biting, acerbic poetry--"a one-woman revolution against the sensibilities of the man in the White House," according to the publisher. This is the hardcover edition; there was also a simultaneous paperback. Light soiling to a couple pages; near fine in a rubbed, near fine dust jacket.
207. NORMAN, Gurney. Divine Right's Trip. NY: Dial, 1972. Norman's first novel, a countercultural "folktale" about a young man named Divine Right and his cross-country trip in a '63 VW bus named Urge. Serialized in The Last Whole Earth Catalogue. Small "S" front flyleaf; else fine in a near fine dust jacket. Norman, a Kentucky native and friend of Wendell Berry, was a Wallace Stegner Fellow at Stanford University, where he became friends with Ken Kesey, Ed McClanahan and others of the Perry Lane crowd. McClanahan provides a dust jacket blurb. Kesey, Berry, McClanahan, Stewart Brand and several others receive acknowledgements.
208. -. Another copy. Sunning to spine cloth; near fine in a very good jacket.
209. (Peace Corps). THOMSEN, Moritz. Living Poor: A Peace Corps Chronicle. Seattle: U. of Washington Press (1969). Personal account by a farmer who gave up his farm to join the Peace Corps. Large owner name front flyleaf; else near fine in a very good dust jacket with one large chip.
210. (People's Park). Berkeley Street Poems. May 1969. Berkeley: Other Ways, 1969. A collection of poems "by students and other citizens of Berkeley" in response to the police crackdown at People's Park. Inscribed by Josephine Miles, the editor and also a contributor, to poet Denise Levertov, who was closely associated with the counterculture and radical political movements in the Sixties and Seventies. Levertov was a member of the first contingent of Western artists to visit Hanoi during the Vietnam war. Laid in is an additional typescript poem of Miles', also inscribed to Levertov. An excellent association copy. Fine in stapled wrappers.
211. (People's Park). Poems. (n.p.): Cloud Marauder Press, 1969. One of 350 copies. Produced by members of Denise Levertov's Poetry Workshop at the University of California, in Berkeley and dedicated to a young man who was blinded by gun-shot in the riots following People's Park, in May, 1969. Includes a poem by Levertov. Signed by thirteen of the contributors. Near fine in stapled wrappers.
212. (People's Park). ROSSMAN, Michael. Poem for a Victory Rally in a Berkeley Park. Berkeley: Self-Published, 1969. A poem by one of the founders of the Free Speech movement in Berkeley in 1964 [see above: "Free Speech"], in response to events at People's Park. This copy bears poet Denise Levertov's ownership label-- a good association copy. Creased; very good in once-stapled wrappers.
213. (People's Park). Ramparts, Vol. 8, No. 2. (San Francisco): (Ramparts) (1969). About half the issue is devoted to the confrontation at People's Park, including a photographic history, an article on the "Battle of Berkeley," etc. Address label and postage due stamps on front cover, and small ink mark there. Very good.
214. PIRSIG, Robert M. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. NY: Morrow, 1974. The uncorrected proof copy of Pirsig's classic inquiry into values and treatise on Quality. This is the second issue proof, in beige wrappers and with typeset page numbers. A landmark of the literature that grew out of the Sixties counterculture which became a huge bestseller; quite uncommon in proof form. Near fine in wrappers.
215. -. Same title, the first edition. A near fine copy of a fragile, perfectbound book, in a near fine dust jacket. According to the author, this book was turned down by 120 publishers before Morrow took it. It became a surprise bestseller, being reprinted numerous times, and selling literally millions of copies when the paperback came out. The first edition is quite scarce.
216. -. Same title, a Taiwan piracy. Very good in a very good dust jacket.
217. PIRSIG, Robert M. Lila. NY: Bantam (1991). A follow-up to Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, this being subtitled "An Inquiry into Morals." Follows the earlier book's main character, the author's alter-ego, through a similar spiritual journey fifteen years later. Fine in dust jacket and signed by the author.
218. (PIRSIG, Robert M.). DiSANTO, Ronald and STEELE, Thomas. Guidebook to Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. NY: Morrow/Quill (1990). A lengthy reference/companion volume to Pirsig's book, exploring the background, symbolism, etc. The issue in wrappers. Near fine.
219. (Political Convention). Program for the National Convention. (Washington, DC): (Young Citizens for Johnson) (n.d.). Program of the National Convention of Young Citizens for Johnson, to be held in August--presumably 1964, the only year that Johnson ran for President. Listing Paul Newman, Barbra Streisand, and Peter, Paul and Mary as participants, and Bill Moyers as Special Assistant to the President, among others. Written in in ink are the name of two additions to the program: Joan Kennedy and Herbert Humphry [sic]. 6 1/2" x 8 1/2", once folded in eighths to pocket size; very good.
220. POTTER, Dan. The Age of Stoning. NY: Stein and Day (1971). A comic novel of the counterculture, written by a former Bread Loaf fellow. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket.
221. PYNCHON, Thomas. Low-Lands. (London: Aloes, 1978). Although the stated print run was 1500 copies and there is no indication of there having been more than one printing, Michaud identified three variants which he believes represent different printings. This is the presumed first printing, in smooth wrappers, with "Price 60p" on the rear cover, and the publisher's address on the verso of the title page. Bookplate inside front cover; near fine in stapled wrappers.
222. PYNCHON, Thomas. The Small Rain. London: Aloes (1982). The fourth and last of the Aloes piracies and, according to Michaud, the only one which may not have been reprinted. No statement of the limitation. Fine in wrappers.
223. -. Another copy. Near fine in stapled wrappers.
224. PYNCHON, Thomas. A Journey Into the Mind of Watts. (Westminster: Mouldwarp, 1983). First printing of this piracy, which reprints an article Pynchon originally wrote for The New York Times Magazine, shortly after the riots in Watts. Like Entropy, this title is considerably scarcer than the Aloes Press piracies. Fine in stapled wrappers.
225. -. Another copy. Small label removal shadow rear cover; else fine.