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San Francisco, Level Press, (c. 1973). A "transmission" by Leary from Folsom Prison, timed with the arrival of the comet Kohoutek. This is a photocopy of nine pages of typewritten text on five stapled pages. The last page reproduces a hand-drawn yin-yang symbol with eight trigrams around it and references one of the hexagrams of the I Ching -- none of which appeared in the published version of this book, which was done by the Level Press and issued as a booklet; this version presumably preceded. According to Leary's bibliographer and the woman who typed Leary's manuscripts for him, including Starseed, this could have been made from Leary's own typescripts (she would have corrected the typos, she said) and issued in small numbers prior to the formal publication. A similar process took place for Neurologic, which was published in late 1973 but had a stapled, prepublication issue done in May of that year that the bibliographer called a "trial issue." Starseed was formally published in September of 1973, and this version -- if what the principals say is correct -- would likely have been done sometime around the time that the Neurologic "trial copy" was done (Neurologic was formally published slightly later in the year than the Level Press Starseed). In any case, an extremely scarce variant of one of Leary's scarcer books, unseen by the bibliographer or by Leary's typist. Near fine. [#030748] $1,500

NY, Ronald Press, (1957). A review copy of Leary's first regularly published book, written while he was Director of Psychology Research at the Kaiser Foundation Hospital in Oakland, California. The book was voted the best book on psychotherapy in 1957 by the American Psychological Association. Among other things, Leary's book argued that "individual character functions as an inextricable part of a larger social network," an insight that was later crucial in his experiments with the use of psychedelic drugs in psychological treatment, and also with his non-academic experiments with such drugs. The accolades Leary received after publication led directly to his being offered a teaching position at Harvard, where he taught from 1959-1963, before leaving to pursue an iconoclastic path as an avatar of the counterculture in the 1960s, and as a prominent advocate of the use of psychedelic drugs for insight. This copy belonged to psychologist Will Schutz and bears his owner name, as well as several dozen marginal comments in the text, presumably also by Schutz. Bears two stamps and the spine label of the Esalen Institute, where Schutz practiced from 1967-1973. Review slip and stamp front pastedown. Front hinge cracking; cloth, foredge, and top edge stained. A good copy only, but an excellent association and provenance. [#034640] $1,250

Phoenix, Falcon Press, 1988. Leary's only novel, written while he was imprisoned in San Diego in 1975 and initially self-published (by Joanna Leary/88 Books) in 1976. This is the softcover issue of the revised Falcon Press edition. Very good in wrappers. [#035252] $30

Englewood, Prentice Hall, (1982). A collection of writings from 1956-1982, with extensive commentary interspersed. This is the simultaneous issue in wrappers. Covers slightly splayed; price blacked out on rear cover; very good. [#035251] $25