Various (Burroughs, William S. et al.)

The New Yorker Vol. LXXIII No. 24 (August 18, 1997)

ISBN: (ISSN)0028792X
New York, NY: The New Yorker Magazine, Inc., 1997. First Printing. Stapled Wrappers. This number of the venerable New Yorker magazine was published just several weeks after the death of William S. Burroughs (February 5, 1914- August 2, 1997), & features "Last Words" (pgs. 36-37), a two-page article under its "Personal History" category with excerpts from WSB's last diary-journal entries written from May 3, 1997 to the day before his death with the famously poignant & ironic sentence that all Burroughsians have committed to memory: "Love? What is it? Most natural painkiller. What there is. LOVE." Below the title is this preamble: "He was the dark prince of American letters- druggy, dangerous, and poetically bleak; the granddaddy of the Beats; and the author of "Naked Lunch" and twelve other novels." With reproduction of a well-known image of a dapper, tuxedoed WSB in thoughtful profile by the acclaimed photographer Robert Mapplethorpe. Shoaf, Section III, No. 409, pg. 164; Schottlaender, C647, pg. 89. The remainder of this issue is an exemplary New Yorker production with articles & reviews on a variety of topics by Hilton Als, Christopher Buckley, Henry Louis Gates Jr., architecture critic Paul Goldberger, cinema critic Anthony Lane & others; & of course many witty cartoons by Roz Chast, Gahan Wilson & Co. From the collection of Brian Schottlaender, 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. Three years after these final entries appeared, the full transcript of WSB's hand-written last diary was published as a book under the title of "Last Words: The Final Journals of William S. Burroughs (2000, see our item No.s 2869, 4122). A rare & collectible tribute to WSB in the immediate wake of his death; an important issue in the nearly century-long history of the legendary New Yorker Magazine, with prestigious provenance. In fine condition with slight rubbing, mild browning, faint scratching & creasing to front, back covers & stapled spine; very light wear & a few tiny bumps, creases at thin edges & corners of same; a bit of rubbing & browning to edges of text block. Interior fine with light-to-moderate browning mostly to blank margins of page leaves; very small, faint creases & tiny bumps at corners of some of same. Fine. [Item #4646]

Price: $35.00