Various (Bax, Martin (Editor); Ballard, J.G.; Blake, Peter; Burroughs, William S.; Hollo, Anselm; Sanford, Ron et al.)

Ambit No. 37 (1968)

London, England: Ambit, 1968. First Printing. Stapled Sheets. This vintage number of the British literary journal founded in 1959 & edited until 2013 by Dr. Martin Bax, still going strong as of this writing, features "Johnny 23" by William S. Burroughs accompanied with an illustration by Ron Sandford (inner back cover, unpaginated). Hypnotic, repetitive & riveting, this piece consists of eight titled sections beginning with the above title, & is exemplary of WSB's high cut-up phase as it began to segue into a (relatively) more lucid & linear style. Maynard & Miles, C199, pg. 156; Shoaf, Section III, No. 120, pg. 136; Schottlaender, C176, pg. 46. Also in this issue are contributions of poetry, prose & essays by such Beat-&-Beyond, WSB-influenced figures as J.G. Ballard, Anselm Hollo & more. With many more images & illustrations, macabre & erotic in equal measure, throughout- including of Adolf Hitler & Co., mummified priests, a skeletal soldier's corpse (repeated as if a compliment to WSB's prose method), Marilyn Monroe, scantily clad men & women etc. Interestingly, there is a 1964-dated illustration of Albert Einstein by Peter Blake, who famously designed the iconic sleeve image for the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper album the year before this issue (1967). With contemporary ads mostly for art & literary productions & venues; but one on front cover for a submachine gun manufacturer- perhaps tongue-in-cheek as there is a clear theme of antimilitarism & satire through this issue. Large-format stapled sheets folded once horizontally. An extremely rare & very rich issue of this most collectible series with a very important contribution by WSB. From the collection of Brian Schottlaender, the author of "Anything But Routine," the most complete & up-to-date WSB bibliography now in its fourth ever-expanding online edition. We always consult our good friend Brian's ABR for all our WSB-&-related rarities, as above. In fine condition with mild rubbing, browning, creasing & sparse spotting to front cover/ panels; one small spot-stain at middle-left area of front cover/ upper panel not effecting legibility of text (a sort of editorial entitled "What Ambit Thinks"); very light wear & some tiny bumps, creases at thin edges & corners of all leaves; interior leaves & rear cover with far less browning than front as above; hardly any rubbing or creasing to same. Fine. [Item #4582]

Price: $120.00