Wainio, Ken

Two Lives: Two Chapbook Editions & One Broadside Edition

Sylva. NC: New Native Press, 1992. Limited First Edition; First Printing. Chapbooks; Single Sheet. One of two chapbooks signed by Ken Wainio & publisher Thomas Rain Crowe. "The eyes of the newly born/ like the newly dead are dull/ a light hangs in them/ unreachable for all its weight/ Nothing kindles their vision/ that particular entering of fire/ through an act of life/ but the dance within reflection/ across the circle, away" ("Campfire in the Milky Way") Here are two editions of a collection of poems & a related broadside by Ken Wainio (1952-2006), the avant garde-surrealist poet & novelist who was a close friend & associate of Thomas Rain Crowe, the acclaimed poet & publisher. Wainio & Crowe were at the center of the Baby Beat Generation/ Second San Francisco Renaissance scene during the 1970s- in our book, Starting From San Francisco (item No. 3071, Deluxe Edition No. 3075), Crowe converses at length about Wainio: "Ken Wainio is one of my best and longest-term friends from San Francisco in the 70s. We were apartment mates at one time for a long stretch whe I was living in North Beach. And then we were in constant contact through the years after I left San Francisco right up until the untimely end of his life in 2006. Ken was one of a kind...No poet writing then or now anything like him. He had a surrealist bent and a sardonic sense of humor in his personality and in his writing...some of which I published with New Native Press." (pg. 95) (1). Two LIves, with title & other poems, chapbook in sewn wrappers published by Crowe's imprint NNP during 1992 in an edition of 300 hand-numbered & signed copies, this is copy No. 96/300. In addition to the hand-numbering & Wainio's signature at colophon, Crowe has hand-written his signature as publisher on the copyright page. First printing as stated thereon. (2) Another copy of Two Lives, with same points as (1) described above but without number or signature as called for, & with differently colored front, back covers & sewing thread. We presume this to be a publisher's copy-prototype. (3) A broadside (appx. 8&1/2" x 14") with Part 2 of "Two Lives" & same artwork as covers of chapbooks above (image of ancient Egyptian wall relief detail). The ultimate bundling of this very exemplary & important Ken Wainio rarity, all from the library & with the association & provenance of the publisher, Wainio's kindred friend & colleague. (1) in very fine condition with only a few tiny bumps at corners of front, back covers, sewn spine & a few page leaves; otherwise substantially mint inside & out. (2) with only a bit of rubbing & sparse spotting to front, back covers & sewn spine; a bit of wear & a few tiny bumps at edges & corners of same. Interior very fine with only tiny bumps, creases at some upper corners of page leaves. (3) very fine on thick, slightly textured paper stock with very slight rubbing, faint creasing & several very small, light spot-stains (near mid-left edge & lower left corner) to printed surface (recto only); a few tiny bumps at corners. Very Fine. [Item #3907]

Price: $60.00