[Item #4311] Old Angel Midnight (Three Editions). Jack Kerouac.
Old Angel Midnight (Three Editions)
Old Angel Midnight (Three Editions)
Old Angel Midnight (Three Editions)
Old Angel Midnight (Three Editions)
Old Angel Midnight (Three Editions)
Old Angel Midnight (Three Editions)
Old Angel Midnight (Three Editions)
Old Angel Midnight (Three Editions)

Old Angel Midnight (Three Editions)

ISBN: 0856590290;0912516
n/p; Carmarthen, Wales; San Francisco, CA: Booklegger/ Albion; Unicorn Bookshop; Grey Fox Press, 1973; 1976; 1993. Bookleg Edition; First Edition Thus; First Edition Thus, Second Printing. Stapled Wrappers; Unbound Sheets in Loose Wrappers; Softcover. "Old Angel Midnight is only the beginning of a lifelong work in multilingual sound, representing the haddal-da-babra of babbling world tongues coming in thru my window at midnight no matter where I live or what I'm doing, in Mexico, Morocco, New York, India or Pakistan, in Spanish, French, Aztec, Gaelic, Keltic, Kurd or Dravidian, the sounds of people yakking and of myself yakking among, ending finally in great intuitions of the sounds of tongues throughout the entire universe in all directions in and out forever. And it is the only book I've ever written in which I allow myself the right to say anything I want, absolutely and positively anything, since that's what you hear coming in that window...God in his Infinity wouldn't have had a world otherwise- Amen." (Jack Kerouac, quoted on back cover of (3) Grey Fox Press edition) The series of spontaneous prose-poems by Jack Kerouac, Founding Father of the Beat Generation. Written sporadically in notebooks beginning in 1956, & first published in the famous first issue of Big Table in 1959 (see our Item No.s 1803, 3338), this riveting, hypnotically stream-of-consciousness work (or various sections thereof) has appeared in myriad periodicals, collections & individual editions. Offered here are three rare separate versions of the much-celebrated & quoted-from Kerouac classic: (1) Old Angel Midnight, published by Bootlegger/ Albion, first & only edition thus, no place, no date, chapbook in stapled wrappers. With the first 49 of 67 sections. According to Ann Charters' Kerouac bibliography, this is a 1973 production, "Issued in a pirated edition in England. Number of copies unknown." (A31, pg. 50). We believe that this bookleg (as unsubtly indicated by the name of publisher) is the first separate appearance of the work. (2) Old Angel Midnight, published by Unicorn Bookshop, first & only edition thus, Wales, 1976, again with 49/67 sections. Loose folded sheets in loose wrapper forming an unbound chapbook. The Unicorn Bookshop was a legendary venue in Brighton, England, founded by Bill Butler (1934-1977), an American expatriate poet, bookseller & publisher. The previous year (1975), Butler closed the bookshop (which was considered the "City Lights Books" equivalent in the UK) & moved his publishing enterprise to Wales, where this production was printed. (3) Old Angel Midnight, published by Grey Fox Press, trade-format first softcover edition thus, second printing of 1995 as stated on copyright page, San Francisco, California, first issued in 1993. With all 67 sections; edited & followed with Editor's Note by the famously influential Donald Allen; authoritative & informative Prefaces by Charters & Michael McClure. Three scarce & desirable editions of one of the most amazing, compelling works in the vast Kerouac canon, all in very fine condition: (1) with only very slight fading, rubbing & scratching esp. at margins of front, back covers & stapled spine; a bit of wear & a few tiny bumps at edges & corners of same; very light, sparse rubbing at upper & lower edges of text block. Interior very fine with only tiny bumps, creases at mostly lower corners of page leaves. (2) with only very slight rubbing & faint creasing to front, back covers & spine; a few tiny bumps, creases at thin edges & corners of same. Interior very fine with only tiny bumps at corners & upper edges of loose, folded page leaves. (3) with only very mild rubbing & faint scratching to glossy front, back covers & spine; a few tiny bumps at edges & corners of same; a bit of rubbing & spotting at upper edge of text block. Interior very fine with only miniscule bumps at mostly lower corners of some page leaves. Very Fine. [Item #4311]

Price: $120.00