Various (Laughlin, James [Editor]; Corman, Cid; Ferlinghetti, Lawrence; Levertov, Denise; McClure, Michael; Purdy, James; Williams, Tennessee et al.)

New Directions 29: An International Anthology of Prose & Poetry, with: Jazz Ephemera

New York, NY: New Directions, 1974. First Printing. Softcover / Single Sheet. "For four decades, New Directions in Prose and Poetry has been at the very core of the ND list. Each volume, in essence a literary magazine in book form and international in character, has presented year after year the work of writers who have sought to extend the recognized frontiers of form and content. The twenty-ninth number in the series, which is now published semiannually, opens with Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s calligraphic “Pablo,” an elegy in Spanish for the late Pablo Neruda. David Antin contributes his trail-breaking “is this the right place?“––the typescript of an improvised “talk-poem’ presented in facsimile. Other poets include Homer Aridjis (Mexico), Cid Corman, Denise Levertov, Artur Lundkvist (Sweden), Marichiko (Japan), Michael McClure, Thomas Parkinson, A. Poulin, Jr., Piero Sanavio (Italy), Tennessee Williams, and Al Young. Works-in-progress are represented by excerpts from novels by the British author Martin Bax (“The Crucifixion Disease,” from The Hospital Ship), Coleman Dowell (“First Person Biography,” from Island People), and Toby Olson (“Corridors,” from The Life of Jesus). Finally, new short fiction is offered by Walter Abish, Warren Jay Hecht, Yumiko Kitrahashi (Japan), and James Purdy." (Quoted from "https://www.ndbooks.com/book/new-directions-29/"). While that says pretty much all you need to know about this excellent issue, Your Devoted Assistant Curator will additionally corroborate the truly cosmopolitan nature of New Directions 29, with selections sure to satisfy even the most judicious Beat-&-Beyond reader. Also included is an interesting, if worn, timepiece of ephemera from the Harlem of the 1970s: a flyer for a Phillip Wilson concert, put on by the East Third Street Bilingual Workshop/La Mama, E.T.C. & the Harlem Cultural Council as part of their "Music for Cartographers Jazz Series." From the collection of Erin Black Matson, the late artist-poet who with her then-husband, the acclaimed poet & educator Clive Matson, were bona fide members of the Beat Generation as it morphed into the hippie counterculture during the 1960s. Erin herself has endowed this issue of New Directions 29 with 5 studies of tigers in brown pen ink--view the pictures to see these fun little sketches. The Matsons were colleagues-protégés (in lifestyle as much as literature) of Herbert Huncke, Bonnie Bremser et al. The condition befits its long ownership & use by Erin, who was a tried-&-true Beat-Bohemian to the very end. Trade Softcover-format literary biannual, a magazine very much at "...the core of the ND list," indeed. Book in near fine condition with only modest shelf-wear, bumps to fine-edges, corners; moderate-to-significant rubbing to back cover, esp. nearest fine-edges of same--though it was mostly protected by the aforementioned ephemera, which weathered most of the wear incurred over the years. Flyer in Good condition with significant chipping, tears & age-typical toning throughout (see pictures) but the center of the flyer itself (and the predominance of accompanying text and image of Wilson behind the kit) is mostly unaffected by said exhibits of wear, thus "saving" the worth of the flyer and still making it a delightful collectible for the Jazz Drumming aficionado. Fine / Good. [Item #4793]

Price: $20.00