[Item #3159] Garrets and Pretenders: A History of Bohemianism in America (Revised Edition). William S. Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, Edgar Allan Poe, Jack Kerouac, Harry T. Moore.

Garrets and Pretenders: A History of Bohemianism in America (Revised Edition)

New York, NY: Dover Publications, Inc., 1960. First Edition Thus. Softcover. "From Edgar Allan Poe in the 1830s to Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg in 1960, American Bohemianism has had a long, colorful, and usually somewhat fantastic history. This is the only complete record of that story- with hoboes, cranks and starving poets as its heroes; suffragettes and artists' models as its heroines; and banquets, suicides, and ferocious literary rivalries as part of its plot." (from back cover) A comprehensive, well-written history of American Bohemianism first published in 1933 by Albert Parry (1901-1992), a Russian immigrant who settled in Greenwich Village, the NYC nexus of American Bohemian life, during the 1920s, & went on to become a noted academic & writer. This is the revised edition of 1960, with two additional chapters- one on the author's return to the Village in 1948; & the other titled "Enter Beatniks: The Boheme of 1960," written by his colleague Harry T. Moore (1908-1981, not to be confused with the civil rights martyr who even shared his middle initial), a writer most acclaimed for his studies of D.H. Lawrence. The Beat chapter is interestingly exemplary of establishment historians' response to the then-fresh & provocative phenomenon of the Beat Generation. Moore has absorbed the early studies & compilations such as Lawrence Lipton's The Holy Barbarians & The Beat Scene, & some of Fred McDarrah's photographs in the latter are reproduced in this chapter, as well as on the front cover of this edition. While "square" & somewhat condescending, it is also an insightful capsule history-explanation of the major Beat figures up to that point. This writer found the brief reference to William S. Burroughs (pgs. 390-391) particularly fascinating- indeed, it is an early manifestation of "The Secret of Fascination" about WSB as articulated by Dr. Oliver Harris- Moore was even aware that WSB "...is regarded by many Beats as their greatest author...". This is a first edition thus of the revised edition, a sturdy Dover production, trade-format softcover original in sewn binding; contemporary cartoons & illustrations throughout. A delightful contemporary collectible, in fine condition with only light rubbing, scratching & a few tiny spots to front, back covers & spine; light wear, bumps & sparse, faint creasing to edges & covers of same; slight sunning of spine; small tape repair at/near upper right edge of back cover through upper spine edge that appears to cover only a tiny closed tear at upper left spine edge; small circular stickers with publisher's original list price at upper left corner of front cover & lower right area of back cover, both slightly obscuring text & presumably as first issued; very light browning & rubbing of edges of text block. Interior very fine with only short creases of upper edges with attendant miniscule closed tears to a few page leaves. Fine. [Item #3159]

Price: $20.00