The Sixties: a catalogue of sixty books by cassiusandco

the

SIXTIES a catalogue of sixty books from

CASSIUS&Co.

John Ashbery, W. H. Auden, J. G. Ballard, Mark Bolan, William S. Burroughs, Gregory Corso, Guy Debord, Philip K. Dick, Bob Dylan, Harry Fainlight, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Allen Ginsberg, Philip Glass, Frank Herbert, the Japan Council Against the A and H Bombs, B.S. Johnson, Jack Kerouac, John Le Carré, Doris Lessing, Yoko Ono, Ed Ruscha, Gary Snyder, Hunter S. Thompson, Rosemary Tonks, Alexander Trocchi, Andy Warhol, R. Gordon Wasson, Thomas Wolfe and a few more

Published in 2022 CASSIUS&Co., London 63 Kinnerton Street, London, SW1X 8ED 0207 235 3354 www.cassiusandco.com

THE SIXTIES This “catalogue”, which I hope will be the first of many, is intended, on the one hand, as a list of books and other printed matters that are available for sale, and on the other as a kind of exhibition of a collection that, although incomplete (as all true collections are), has a certain roundness, it being sixty books that together describe a certain moment in the literary arts and broader culture of the 1960s. The process of gathering these items together has reminded me, first, how much I love them, and second how relevant these books are in the present day, how predictive even, and also how much of a departure they were from the literature that came before them. It is generally accepted that the term the Sixties does not exactly mean the decade starting on the first of January 1960. This is because when we speak of the Sixties we do not just mean a period of time but rather a certain spirit and way of thinking, which rose and fell primarily in America in and around the decade from which it takes its name. In fact the timeline of the specific cultural movement referred to in this catalogue began some time in the late 1950s (though there were inklings of it as early as the 19th century) and ended prematurely some time before the 1970s began. Maybe we can propose the 7th October 1955 as a not-entirely-arbitrary starting gun, when Allen Ginsberg first read his Howl at Six Gallery, San Francisco, and a ‘day the music died’ on 6 December, 1969, when the Hell’s Angels stabbed a spectator to death at a Rolling Stones and Grateful Dead concert in Altamont.

In the second half of the 1950s, people living in Europe and America were ready for a change. After fifty years that had seen two World Wars, prohibition and the Great Depression, the so-called old order, the Victorian way of life and the societal hierarchies that had persisted for centuries were ready to be tinkered with. Still blighted by post-war privations, the economic recovery and improvement of living standards that took place in the latter part of the century were only just beginning, and there must have been a sense of something like rock bottom as the extent of the atrocities of the Second World War came fully to light. In the US there was also real fear over the prospects of its new war in Vietnam, which young people faced being drafted into whether they wanted to fight or not. The group of poets that became known as the Beats were there at the start of this culture that was about to undergo an evolution, finding themselves in a society with a a genuine appetite for change. Their liberated approach to the written word, both in terms of the forms and structures it could take but also in the types of content it could include, their openness to new or non-Western ways of thinking, their attitudes to sex, to drugs, to religion and to the role of the artist as both visionary and political activist, placed them well to serve as the primary literary voice of the generation that came of age in the Sixties. Nowadays maybe we have grown cynical of such things, but I think that for all the faults and imperfections we can identify in retrospect, the Sixties were a time when there was a genuine drive to create a fairer and more inclusive society, a time when genuine innovation in the arts and even in mainstream ideological thinking was taking place, and that makes it one of the most positive and exciting periods in Western culture that has ever taken place. The items offered in this catalogue are an ode to that culture and that moment, to that appetite for positive change. The focus is on the Beat Generation and the works of its great triumvirate Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac and William S. Burroughs, three very different men who met at Columbia University and who

all lived together in New York in the early 1950s, and who remained friends (more or less) for life. Ginsberg, at first an introverted student whose father was a poet and whose mother, an early proponent of nudism and vegetarianism, suffered from paranoid schizophrenia. He had to sign the papers for his mother’s lobotomy in the end, and he struggled with his own bouts of mental ill-health for much of his life. Luckily at Columbia he fell in with a group of diverse and colourful characters including Herbert Huncke, a drug dealer and repeat offender who provided links to the seedier parts of New York street life, and Neil Cassidy, a live-for-the-moment sexual dynamo and the model for Dean Moriaty, the lead character in Kerouac’s On The Road. If that semi-autobiographical novel had been Kerouac’s only contribution it would still have been a remarkable legacy, a novel which caught the imagination of a generation and started so many on their own journeys toward a more liberated approach to the world. A football player and a bit of a jock, Kerouac stood in sharp contrast to Ginsberg, and paid much less interest in the political activism and advocation of peace and love that his friend later became such a proponent of. Kerouac in fact grew bitter in time, an alcoholic who having once been the great singer of the open road ended up dying in Florida and living with his mother. Burroughs on the other hand, a generation older than the others and often typecast as the grandfather of the Beats, remained productive, in his own idiosyncratic way, throughout an extraordinarily long life – particularly given his early excesses. In some ways the most complex and interesting writer among them, his work can be challenging and is sometimes repetitious and chaotic, but it is rarely dull and includes some important themes which still resonate today. Initially Ginsberg, Kerouac and Burroughs came together over the incident of their mutual friend Lucian Carr, who had murdered his former scout teacher David Kammerer, who had been stalking him.

It is generally agreed that Kerouac, following a discussion with writer John Clellon Holmes, first suggested that they represented something like a literary movement called the Beats, referring both to the beaten-down-ness of their generation and also to the undercurrent of jazz that ran through much of their work. They are hardly the whole story, and this catalogue also touches on the great publisher of the group Lawrence Ferlinghetti, as well as the charming thief Gregory Corso, neither of whom were insignificant poets in their own rights. Together, this small but disparate group of poets made remarkable advances to the field of literary arts, expanding its scope for theirs and all future generations. The Sixties as a literary culture were also defined by the work of less easy to categorise figures like Gary Snyder, Thomas Wolfe and Hunter S. Thompson, and the mind-expanding advances made in the genre of science fiction by writers Philip K. Dick and Frank Herbert. This catalogue also briefly touches on the field of the visual arts, with Ed Ruscha, Yoko Ono and Andy Warhol, all of which intersected with the work of the Beats in important ways. Later we look beyond America to what was happening in Europe, and how the contributions of Guy Debord, J. G. Ballard and Doris Lessing are also critical to this story of the Sixties. All items are offered subject to availability. I would request that payment is made in advance but all prices include delivery within the UK. For overseas delivery I will be happy to confirm delivery costs, if applicable, separately. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me directly on the email or telephone number below. Fraser Brough Director, CASSIUS&Co. 0207 235 3354 fb@cassiusandco.com

GINSBERG, Allen. Resume.

1952. Self Published. A single sheet typed on one side only with some creasing and minor splitting along the seams but otherwise a nice clean example of a very personal document. Although Ginsberg’s Resume was hardly an impressive proposition at the time it is encouraging to think that someone with apparently so little to offer, certainly in terms of what is now expected of aspiring graduates, could make such a mark on the world. £600

2. GINSBERG, Allen. From the Library of Allen Ginsberg Allen Ginsberg’s copy of the second edition of Milton Nahm’s Selections from Early Greek Philosophy. Dated in Ginsberg’s distinctive hand and showing one of his earliest West Coast addresses at 1010 Montgomery Street, San Francisco, thus clearly in his possession when he was writing Howl. A second note has been added for Casablanca two years later suggesting this modest book accompanied him on his travels. As expected for what is clearly a working copy, the book has been well thumbed and shows ample evidence of having been thoroughly read and, like its owner, frequently transported. Ginsberg has made pencil annotations throughout highlighting sections of the text that especially interested him and making marginal notes and exclamations. £1500

GINSBERG, Allen. Howl

A fine first edition of Howl, without doubt one of the most important and influential poems of the last hundred years. Issued as book number four in Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s Pocket Poets series from the City Lights Bookshop, itself an icon of the Sixties (see items 8 and below for others in this series). As honest a copy as you will find with no marks or inscriptions and accompanied by a later signed printed photo card of Ginsberg holding some beads. £5,000

GINSBERG, Allen. Howl

In addition to the official City Lights First Edition of Howl detailed above, there were a small number of mimeographed copies in circulation which were added to in 1979 by the Gotham Book Market in New York which ran off some additional copies from the original sheets when Ginsberg’s papers were being prepared for archiving at Columbia University (now held at Stanford). Although the number issued is unclear, more authoritative voices than this writer have suggested it might have been around 100 copies although the Gotham Book Market later returned most of these to Ginsberg at his request for destruction. As a result this item is even rarer that the First edition. £12,500

GINSBERG, Allen. Indian Journals

Ginsberg’s trip to India, with his long term partner Peter Orlovsky, was a remarkable affair and was the source of many of the most obvious influences on his life and work. Ginsberg had a prodigious output but not all of it is as accessible as the Indian Journals. Few books evoke the spirit of the times and of Ginsberg himself as much as this. Published jointly by City Lights Books and David Haselwood Books in 1970, I am offering four copies; the first is a good reading copy with some age toning and worn corners but otherwise clean and tidy; the second a very good copy inscribed by Ginsberg to an unknown recipient “some years on”; the third with less toning than the first (although the spine is a little dulled) but an association copy signed later for fellow poet Gregory Corso, most likely to help him raise funds (Corso frequently stole books from Ginsberg for sale which Ginsberg used to faithfully buy back when he could!); and the last and best copy inscribed (most likely contemporaneously) to fellow poet Kenneth Rexroth. Variously £100, £250, £500 and £750.

GINSBERG, ALLEN. Photograph of Auchswitz.

An arresting black and white photograph of Ginsberg under the infamous gates of Auchswitz Concentration Camp with Ginsberg’s annotated notes on the reverse translating the motto above the gate, Albeit Mach Frei, as “work makes free” and dated April 1965. 23 x 17 cm. £700

7. GINSBERG, ALLEN. Two photographs of Ginsberg making love. Two framed photographs of Ginsberg having sex with Peter Orlovsky and fellow poet Janine Pommy Vega. The photographer on this occasion is unknown. Deeply personal in nature, maybe these have some feeling of the increasingly liberated sexual attitudes of the times. 17 x 11 cm each, individually framed. Unique. £10,000

GINSBERG, Allen. Kaddish.

One of Ginsberg’s most moving and deeply personal works, written following his Mother’s death when it had not been possible to secure the ten male members of the congregation which was the minimum required for the reading for the traditional Jewish funeral blessing, the kaddish. I am offering three copies with markedly different features. The true first edition, first printing, which is now a scarce item especially in such pristine condition. A first US edition which is a later printing and accordingly more modestly priced. Finally I have a much later printing, the 23rd, but signed by Ginsberg in London in 1994. First edition, first printing £800 First US printing £300 Later printing with signature £150

GINSBERG, Allen. The Change.

Another early Ginsberg publication from the Writer’s Forum in London in 1963 nicely exemplifies the pitfalls of the small printing presses that were such a key part of disseminating the work of writers and poets in this period. The first impression of the first edition was issued with the misspelt “Ginsburg” on the front cover and had to be scrapped with only a handful surviving. The second impression corrected this. I am offering one of each, the price of the true first reflecting its rarity although both are attractively produced. £3,000 for the first impression £500 for the second impression.

10.

GINSBERG, Allen. Empty Mirror.

On the face of it this is an unremarkable volume, slightly rubbed at the corners. It is a second edition of a book of Ginsberg’s early poems first published by Corinth Press in 1961. This later 1970 edition is dedicated by Ginsberg to Doris Grumbach, the novelist, literary critic and bookshop owner who, remarkably, is still alive as I write this. However, there is also an owner’s signature discretely written on the same page – Bob Dylan. A brilliant association copy. £1,000

11.

GINSBERG, Allen. Wichita Vortex Sutra.

One the great protest poems of the Sixties issued in both New York and London in 1966, the latter by Peace News. I am offering a very good copy of the Peace News issue together with a folded and inevitably toned copy of the original newspaper supplement which appeared in the 27 May 1966 edition of Peace News itself. £60

12.

GINSBERG, Allen. T.V. Baby Poem.

Number two in the soft brown paper pamphlets published by Beach Books in association with City Lights in 1968. See item 21 below for issue one in this series. This copy was inscribed by Ginsberg a few years later to fellow poet Al Poulin Junior who has added his own name and address. £200

13.

GINSBERG, Allen. The Fall of America.

Published a few years after our target period but included here because as the title suggests it is written largely about the period we are interested in. This is a fine first edition from the City Lights Pocket Poets series (number 30, 1972) in the white variant wrappers (there was also a black version published simultaneously). It has been signed by Ginsberg together with one of his usual additions, a simple “Ah”. £500

14.

KEROUAC, JACK (JOHN). The Town and the City

A near fine advance proof copy of Kerouac’s first published book written in a more considered style than the more famous stream of consciousness of his second novel, On the Road. Apparently heavily influenced by the writing of Thomas Wolfe the book includes insights into the early lives of the Beats. The spine has been carefully and professionally repaired and this is a delightful copy presented in a custom made box. £1,000

15.

KEROUAC, Jack. On The Road.

On the Road is not the hardest book to find copies of but given its young readership half-decent copies like this one are not so easy to come by. A great read and a must for anyone who wants to understand the Sixties and the allure of the open road. This is a very good copy in the dust wrapper which has been expertly repaired so that it presents as a near fine copy. Issued by Viking in 1957 this includes a contemporary ownership inscription. £6,000

16.

KEROUAC, Jack. The Dharma Bums.

Arguably the only other Kerouac book that is easy to enjoy, in part because the characters are recognisable as thinly veiled versions of many of the key characters in the Beat movement, especially Gary Snyder (Brophy) who we will return to shortly. This is a good clean copy in the dust wrapper with just the smallest amount of wear at the corners and spine ends. A great pairing with item 15. £800

17.

KEROUAC, Jack. Pull My Daisy.

Text ad-libbed by Kerouac for the film by Robert Frank and Alfred Leslie in 1959. With his book the Americans in 1958, Frank had revolutionised photography. Pull my Daisy, casting Ginsberg and Corso, brought improvisation (real or apparent) and the spontaneity of the Beats onto the silver screen. A fine copy of the first Grove Press printing (1961). £600

18.

BURROUGHS, William S. Junkie.

Burroughs' first book, published as one half of an Ace double-book format, so back to back with the forgettable Narcotic Agent by Maurice Helbrant. Given the openly autobiographical content the book was published under the pen name William Lee. Junkie remains one of Burroughs’ most accessible books and is still a great read, even if the cover artist appears not to have done so. £1,400

19. BURROUGHS, William S. Roosevelt After Inauguration A rare and important piece of counter-cultural literary history, this is the beautiful, fragile work published by Fuck You Press in New York in 1964. The cover is by Allen Ginsberg, and the book (more of a pamphlet at 12 pages of various colours held together by staples), was produced on a mimeograph and limited to 500 copies (though many were destroyed by the machine that made them). It contains the missing, ‘secret’ section of the Burroughs/ Ginsberg work ‘the Yage Letters’, which was considered so indecent that its original publishers were arrested on obscenity charges. This copy is in uncommonly Fine condition. £620

20.

BURROUGHS, William S. The Naked Lunch.

Of all the many and varied works of the Beat Generation, I still find this to be one of the most fascinating and challenging. The history of the book’s troubled publication reflects many aspects of the work, the author’s issues at the time and how the group supported each other. Largely written in Tangiers, where Burroughs lived for several years before moving to Paris, The Naked Lunch has strong themes of drug addiction and homosexuality. Loose pages of manuscript had to be rescued by his friends, typed up and placed in some semblance of order before Maurice Girodias, the legendary Parisian owner of the Olympia Press, could be persuaded to publish it as a fitting addition to his successful line of books; books that were viewed by most simply as pornography. While much early pornography seems tame by today’s standards The Naked Lunch still has the power to shock. I am offering a copy of the true first printing (with the price shown as Francs 1,500) but with a faded spine and some staining to edges and prelims, as well as a crisp clean copy but with the later 18 Francs price (following a currency change). Neither have the dust-jacket so both present in the iconic Olympia green Travellers Companion covers. First edition, first printing £750 First edition, second printing £500

21. BURROUGHS, William S. Letters to Allen Ginsberg Books of letters can be notoriously dull but this collection of just a small part of the correspondence between Burroughs and Ginsberg, as well as providing a snapshot of the times, is a great way of getting to know the two personalities and why their relationship, occasionally a physical one, was so important to both of them. Published by Full Court Press in 1981 this is number 49 of 100 hard back copies signed by Burroughs. An exceptionally clean copy in the dust-wrapper which is evenly faded as usual. £500

22.

BURROUGHS, William S. APO-33.

The first issue in the series of soft brown paper pamphlets issued by Mary Beach at Beach Books in association with City Lights in 1968 (see also item 12 above). This followed on from an earlier version issued by Ed Sanders’ Fuck You press which had not met with Burroughs’ approval. The text was a serious proposition by Burroughs advocating the use of Apomorphine as a cure for heroin addiction. £100

23.

BURROUGHS, William S. The Soft Machine

An excellent copy of the next in the series (after Naked Lunch) of Burroughs works issued by Olympia Press in 1961. Near fine in the Brion Gysin-designed dustwrapper with just a hint of toning to the spine. £600

24. BURROUGHS, William S. The Ticket that Exploded Another excellent copy of the third in the Olympia Press series, issued in 1962 and complete with dustwrapper, this time designed by Ian Sommerville and slightly darkened at the spine. £400

25.

BURROUGHS, William S. Nova Express.

An advance proof copy and as such a scare item by any standard. This is the proof of the first UK edition that was published by Jonathan Cape in 1966 and has all the charm of the best early proofs. Spine faded but otherwise very good, clean and tight. £475

26.

BURROUGHS, Dead Fingers Talk.

The English market seems to have been cautious about putting Burroughs’ early work in print but Calder issued a reworking of the first three novels (Naked Lunch, the Soft Machine and the Ticket that Exploded) under the title Dead Fingers Talk in 1963. The book caused considerable debate as to whether it was really a new work. This is a good clean copy in a price-clipped dustwrapper. £250

27.

GLASS, Philip. Einstein on the Beach.

Number 5 of 100 in a limited edition of material linked to the groundbreaking operatic production featuring music by Glass, drawings and paintings by Robert Wilson and choreography by Andrew de Groat. Signed by all three and with a signed limited edition print signed by Wilson laid in. Produced by EOS Enterprises New York. A rare item signed and in this condition, and a brilliant accompaniment to what is still one of the great operatic experiences. £3,500

28. FERLINGHETTI, Lawrence. Starting from San Francisco. With its fabulous cover photo of Machu Picchu, wide-ranging poetic contents and commentaries together with a single recording of the poet reading, like Ginsberg’s Indian Journals, this is a delightfully accessible collection for anyone trying to get a flavour of the literature of the Sixties. Signed by the poet, who was the founder of the legendary City Lights Bookshop. £200

29.

ASHBERY, John. Sunrise in Suburbia.

Never considered part of the Beat Generation, Ashbery nevertheless was a respected poet and is viewed by many as the most important American poet of the Sixties. A member of the New York School, his many works continue to be a source of inspiration. The book offered here has the added advantage of being a delightful example of the publisher’s art, a limited edition in soft patterned wraps from the Phoenix Bookshop published in 1968. It is number 42 of 100 signed by Ashbery. £425

30.

SNYDER, Gary. The Blue Sky

As with item 28 this is a beautiful little edition from the Phoenix Bookshop series in Fine condition. Number 71 of 100 signed by Snyder. £200

31.

CORSO, Gregory. American Express

Gregory Corso is sometimes described as the youngest of the Beat Generation and was well known by all the major participants. His upbringing as a foundling, sleeping rough on the streets of Little Italy and doing time for petty theft made him all too familiar with the real hardships of a beat life. As mentioned under item 5 he doesn’t appear to have lost the habit of stealing, especially books, even from friends and supporters, to fund his hand to mouth existence. The fact that so many people put up with this suggests that he must have had considerable charm and he also produced a wide range of poetry and written work. This was his only novel issued by Olympia Press in 1961. This copy is in excellent condition with its photographic dust wrapper. £500

32.

CORSO, Gregory. Gasoline.

This slim volume of poems on a wide variety of subjects is Corso’s most famous work after Bomb. Again, a young poet was supported by Ferlinghetti at City Lights and issued as number eight in the Pocket Poets Series. This is a lovely clean copy of the first issue and has been signed by Ferlinghetti as “editor”. £300

33.

THOMPSON, Hunter S. Hell’s Angels.

Not everyone in the Sixties favoured the paths of peace and love as Hunter S Thompson’s first book famously exemplified as he joined Sonny Barger and other members of the Hell’s Angels motorcycle gang on their travels around California. This was the start of Gonzo journalism and a major influence on a new breed of writer that had the confidence to see themselves as part of the story. Still a fabulous read and unexpectedly showing how the world’s most notorious motorcycle gang and peace loving Ginsberg could meet and engage with each other; the two famously being hosted by Ken Kesey in his house on Big Sur. A near fine first edition free of any internal marks and with the dust-wrapper in great shape with none of the usual fading to the spine. £5,000

34. FERLINGHETTI, Lawrence. A Coney Island of the Mind. Ferlinghetti, who only passed away in 2021, was a towering figure in the Beat movement and a tremendous supporter and help to many aspiring young poets and writers of the Sixties. His City Lights Bookshop published the Pocket Poets series and a wide range of collaborative works, and he was also an accomplished and prolific poet in his own right. This is one of his best known collections and a pristine copy of the first UK edition in the dust wrapper issued for review by Hutchinson with the review slip laid in. £175

35. SNYDER, Gary. Six Sections from Mountains and Rivers Without End. Gary Snyder was another unique personality who strongly influenced not just the Beats but a wide range of writers and movements in the Sixties. He was one of the early leaders of the environmental movement in which he has continued to be active throughout his long life. Nature runs through his poetry and few voices speak with as much authenticity on the importance and benefits of looking after the planet. This is one of the limited editions issued by the Fulcrum Press in the UK (Fulcrum, 1967) and is signed by Snyder and accompanied by a postcard with one of his poems. £200

36.

SNYDER, Gary. A Range of Poems

A collection of the poet’s work issued in the UK in the mid sixties (Fulcrum Press, 1966) in near fine condition with the correction slip pasted in at the end. £200

37.

SNYDER, Gary. Earth House Hold.

With the subtitle ‘technical notes and queries to fellow Dharma revolutionaries’, this collates a series of Snyder’s notes and writings. A pristine first edition (New Directions, 1969) in a Near Fine dustwrapper with just the slightest age toning. £175

38.

VARIOUS. Yugen.

A beautifully boxed set of editions 1 to 8 (all issued) of this cult literally magazine from the sixties issued by LeRoi Jones and Hettie Cohen. Jones (also known as Amiri Baraka) had a fifty-year career as a poet, writer and activist. Yugen brought together a wide range of avant-gardists of the era, and set the tone for many later poetry magazines. With just occasional marks this is a remarkable set bringing together the new consciousness in arts and letters. £2000

39. WOLFE, Thomas. The Kandy Coloured Tangerine Flake Streamline Baby. A near fine first edition first printing (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1965) of this sixties classic and Wolfe’s first published work. Wolfe captured the mood of the times with clear and considered prose which moves along at a cracking pace. This and item 40 taken as a pair are amongst the most entertaining social commentaries on the period and a great read even half a century later. £400

40. WOLFE, Thomas. The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. Arguably Wolfe’s most important work (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1968) this is another near fine copy and makes a great pairing with the previous item. £700 (£1,000 for the two)

41.

DICK, Philip K. The man in the High Castle.

A critical contributor to the literary arts of the Sixties, Philip K. Dick is the most complicated and - when he was on form farsighted science fiction writer. This is generally acknowledged to be Dick’s most important work although many of his books have been hugely influential. This is an excellent copy of the first edition (Putnam, 1962) in a price clipped dust wrapper which has some minor internal repairs but which presents beautifully. £2,500

42.

HERBERT, Frank. Dune.

A further crucial work of science fiction written in the Sixties, Frank Herbert’s Dune is a remarkable fantasy recently forming the basis for a two part film treatment. This is a near fine first edition (Chilton Books, 1965) in a very presentable dust wrapper with just a hint of sunning and some minor wear to the spine ends. £7,500

43. GORDON WASSON, R. Soma, Divine Mushroom of Immortality. In the drug-conscious sixties academics explored every aspect of the use and impact of a wide variety of hallucinogens. Few however did so more meticulously and with less fanfare than R Gordon Wasson’s exploration of the use of magic mushrooms in traditional societies. This is a fascinating and singular work which draws out some remarkable conclusions. This copy is from the library of fellow academic Anthony Storr who reviewed the book when it was issued and a copy of his review is included making this a unique item. Otherwise a near fine copy of the first hardback edition (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1968) in the dust wrapper. £900

44. FELDMAN, Anne and GARTENBERG, Max. Protest, the Beat Generation and the Angry Young Men A useful connection to the next section of this catalogue, this is an early review of the emerging writers of the time both in the US and the UK. Published in England (Souvenir Press, 1959) this is a very good plus copy in the dust wrapper. Scarce in such condition. £100

45.

TROCCHI, Alexander. Cain’s Book.

Sometimes referred to as the Scottish Beat and someone who shared a stage with Burroughs as well as his interest in heroin, Trocchi was a talented writer but also a deeply troubled individual. This semi-autobiographical novel will be his most lasting legacy and captures the grittier side of life in New York at the time. I am offering first editions in both hardback (John Calder, 1960) and paperback (Grove Press, 1960), the latter with the fantastic cover image by Richard Seaver. Both are very good examples although with some toning to the spine of the hardback. Hardback: £200 Soft cover: £150

46. TROCCHI, Alexander. Sigma: A Tactical Blueprint. A 1964 mimeograph comprising foolscap sheets in yellow and white with seven sides of detailed text proposing a global and, necessarily, largely virtual university of minds. Some minor creasing and wear but no more than you would expect given the age and fragility of the item. As impracticable as the proposal might have appeared at the time its prediction that technology would develop to support this is eerily prescient. £250

47.

LESSING, Doris. The Golden Notebook.

Doris Lessing’s most famous work, which had an enormous influence on writers and readers of the Sixties and is still highly popular today. I am offering both a first edition and a much rarer advance proof copy. The first (Michael Joseph, 1962) is a very good copy with just the smallest chips to the corners and head of the dustwrapper. The advance proof is in the usual soft brown wraps with some creasing to the spine and toning to the paper. Thought the first is tidier, the proof is tremendously evocative and feels like it brings you closer to the writer. First: £900 Proof: £600

48.

DEBORD, Guy. La Societie Du Spectacle.

Published in 1967 by Buchet Chastel this was Debord’s principal work and is the seminal text of Situationism. A true maverick who defied convention - including work - Debord remains hugely influential. With 221 short theses in the form of aphorisms it is an easier read than much which passes for philosophy. If the punk era of the 1970s had an adopted philosopher it was surely Debord, and the iconic line ‘All that once was directly lived has become mere representation’ seems to get truer every year. £1200

49. BALLARD, J. G. Why I Want to Fuck Ronald Reagan. One would hardly think of Ballard as a product of the Sixties and yet this was one of his most productive decades. This is one of his rarest items, having been produced in a short run of only 250 by the legendary Unicorn Books in Brighton, England’s answer to Ferlinghetti’s City Lights. This is one the 200 unsigned copies. £2,000

50.

FAINLIGHT, Harry. Sussicran.

An exceedingly rare item, the only work of poetry published in the UK by Fainlight, who tragically died young from hypothermia. Fainlight was dogged by persistent mental health issues but his reputation was secured by the posthumous publication of selected poems by his sister and fellow poet Ruth Fainlight. Sussicran, narcissus in reverse, was issued as a twelve page booklet (Turret, 1965). This is number 22 of only 50 signed copies. £450

51.

JOHNSON, B.S. Poems.

The first book of poetry issued by another tragic figure of the Sixties. Johnson proved to be a hugely inventive writer issuing two books of poetry and a handful of experimental novels before his suicide at the age of forty. A lovely copy in the dust wrapper with minor chipping to the top edge and spine ends. Warmly inscribed by Johnson on issue (Constable, 1964). £800

52.

Johnson, B.S. Travelling People.

Johnson’s first novel (Constable, 1963) was recognised as a tour de force and, as the cover rightly predicted “augured well for Mr Johnson’s future as a writer.” This is a lovely clean copy in near fine condition and in the unclipped dust wrapper. £650

53.

TONKS, Rosemary. Notes on Cafes and Bedrooms

A scarce and near fine copy of Tonks’ seminal work issued by Putnam in 1963. A brilliant collection from a writer that rose like a firework and disappeared from view almost as quickly, withdrawing into a life of intense piety (she converted to Fundamentalist Christianity) and very different writings. In a near fine dust wrapper with only a hint of the usual fading to the spine. £750

54. LE CARRE, John. The Spy who Came in from the Cold. No collection of the literature of the Sixties would be complete without at least one item from the master story-teller Le Carré. This was his break through and the start of a glittering career. However it was also an important commentary on some of the darker aspects of the period and the Cold War in particular, an atmosphere that feels particularly spectral at the moment. This is a lovely copy of the first edition (Victor Gollancz, 1963) in a near fine dust wrapper with only a hint of the usual fading to the spine and a contemporary owner’s signature. £6,000

55.

Auden, W.H. The Goble Poem.

Believed to have been written by Auden in 1948 the Gobble Poem, (also known as the Platonic Blow) has never been formally accepted into the Auden canon. Only in the Sixties would Ed Sanders dare to publish a copy through his Fuck You Press. The first edition appeared in 1965 with this being a first UK edition from 1967. £100

56.

RUSCHA, Ed. Thirty Four Parking Lots.

The great LA artist Ed Ruscha’s fifth self-published photo-book, and perhaps his most significant. Featuring thirty-four aerial photographs of Los Angeles parking lots, all miraculously empty. This is a first edition (one of 2,413) published by the artist himself in 1967, in uncommonly Fine condition. £1,950

57. ONO, Yoko. The Unfinished Paintings and Objects. This is the catalogue printed for Yoko Ono’s first exhibition at the legendary London Gallery Indica, run by John Dunbar, which in the 1960s was the best (and one of the only) spaces in the city to show serious Contemporary art. It was one of Ono’s most radical exhibitions, held in 1966, and is of particular significance because it was there that the artist was introduced by the gallery’s owner to his friend John Lennon. He came in while Ono was installing the show, and mistakenly ate an apple that had in fact been one of the exhibits (titled ‘04 Apple 1966’ in the catalogue). The catalogue’s design is innovative, with various writings included and a fantastic image of Ono all in black on the cover. The exhibition ran for just ten days. Super rare, especially in such Fine condition. £2,000

58. VARIOUS. Some/ Thing magazine, Vol 2, No. 1, Winter 1966. Some/ Thing magazine Vol. 2, No. 1, Winter 1966, the cover design famously by Andy Warhol, consisting of a series of perforated stickers. The privately-published magazine edited by Jerome Rothenberg and David Antin includes poetic contributions by Allen Ginsberg and Charles Bukowski among others. Very Good condition, and scare for the cover to be intact, with some creasing along the top edge. The interior in an excellent, near-pristine state. Housed in a bespoke yellow slipcase. £900

59.

BOLAN, Mark. Warlock of Love.

Fine first edition of T. Rex frontman Marc Bolan’s poetry, published by Lupus Music in 1969. £650

60. JAPAN COUNCIL AGAINST THE A AND H BOMBS. Document 1961. Published by the Japan Council Against the A and H Bombs, this is the 1st (only) edition of this amazing document, which includes photographic and painterly contributions by a large number of artists including Ken Domon and Shomei Tomatsu, as well as more scientific texts on the devastating effects of radiation and the impact of the atomic bombs dropped on Japan in 1945. Super rare in this state, which is complete as issued, including the cardboard slipcase, hardcover book of (mostly) plates, and two paper slips with the texts in English and Japanese. £5,200