[Item #3040] Auction Catalog, Allen Ginsberg and Friends: Sotheby's, New York, Thursday October 7, 1999 with: Bonus Item. Allen Ginsberg.
Auction Catalog, Allen Ginsberg and Friends: Sotheby's, New York, Thursday October 7, 1999 with: Bonus Item
Auction Catalog, Allen Ginsberg and Friends: Sotheby's, New York, Thursday October 7, 1999 with: Bonus Item

Auction Catalog, Allen Ginsberg and Friends: Sotheby's, New York, Thursday October 7, 1999 with: Bonus Item

New York, NY: Sotheby's, 1999. First Printing. Softcover. This is the official catalog for a legendary auction that took place only several years after the deaths of Allen Ginsberg & William S. Burroughs, the founding Beat Generation icons, & included property from their estates as well as that of Jack Kerouac. With an informative introduction by the acclaimed Ginsberg archivist-biographer Bill Morgan, who writes: "And so friends left gifts for him...Paintings by William Burroughs and Gregory Corso decorated his walls. Donald Baechler, George Condo, Duncan Hannah, and Keith Haring traded him work for photographs. Larry Rivers, Eric Drooker and Eric Fischl worked with him, presenting him with art. Over the years the collection grew by accident, just like Ginsberg's circle of friends." (pg. 11) Morgan & co. went over the entire contents of Ginsberg's Lower East Side NYC apartment & extracted decades' worth of literary, artistic & personal artifacts that represent an inter-related who's-who of literature, art & photography. Additionally, important & unique artifacts from the estates of WSB, Kerouac & many famous then-(& still as of this writing) living owners were featured. This scribe participated by phone in the auction, trying my luck with lot No. 179, a collection of canes owned by WSB. I will never forget the intoxicating momentum as this lot skyrocketed way beyond its estimated high bid of $1,800 until I jumped off the train so to speak & ceded my bidding. Now, just the profuse images of these incredibly significant artifacts is a Beat-&-Beyond collectors' paradise. The contents of this increasingly rare, beautifully produced catalog must truly be seen to be believed. From the collection of Jim McCrary, a poet & educator who resides in Lawrence, Kansas, where he was a friend & associate of WSB during his later years there, a member of Burroughs Communications led by James Grauerholz, the keeper of the sacred WSB legacy. Undoubtedly, McCrary assisted Grauerholz in the selection of artifacts from the WSB estate that were in the auction (among them the canes that got away from me). We have bundled a bonus item with this purchase, also from McCrary's collection: A 7" single vinyl record featuring Ginsberg reciting his poem "Kral Majales" on one side, with the song "Midget Love" performed by the group Hula Hoop on the other. The record was issued by Delmore Recordings in 1998, & is housed in a blank sleeve with an illustrated overwrap. Catalog in fine condition with only mild rubbing, scratching & a few short, faint creases to front, back covers & spine; very light wear & tiny bump-creases at all edges & corners of same. Interior very fine on glossy paper stock with only tiny bumps at corners of some page leaves. Record appears to be in fine condition, has been played & contains dust but no evident scratches. Sleeve & folded single sheet-overwrap with illustrated recto & blank verso very fine with only very light wear & tiny bumps at edges & corners. Fine. [Item #3040]

Price: $100.00

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