Northeast Rising Sun Vol. 4 No. 16 (1979) with: Vol. 4 No. 17 (1980) with: Vol. 4 No. 18 (1980) with: Vol. 5 No. 1 (1982)
Cherry Valley, NY: Cherry Valley Editions, 1979-1982. First Printings. Stapled Wrappers. Three vintage, contiguous numbers (with a later, fourth issue "thrown in") of the literary review journal co-published & with contributions by Legendary Literary Outlaw Charles Plymell, & chiefly edited by his wife & co-publisher Pamela Beach Plymell, productions of their Cherry Valley Editions imprint: (1) NRS Vol. 4 No. 16 (1979)- this issue features Arlene Stone's lengthy review of poetry collections by Peter Brett, Kirby Congdon & Maurice Kenny; "Litscam," an article by Eric Baizer that stokes NRS's ongoing battle with- expose of the National Endowment for the Arts & other "establishment" grants & programs; Rod Tulloss's comprehensive review of five volumes of poetry by John Stevens Wade & more. With contemporary ad for The Evening Sun Turned Crimson by Herbert Huncke, then-just published by CVE, on inner back cover. (2) NRS Vol. 4 No. 17 (1980)- Featuring Charles' lengthy "Litscanner" review of many publications including the first Great American Poetry Bake-Off series collection of reviews by Robert Peters, the late prolific poet, playwright & critic (see esp. our item No. 3313), including savory samples of Peters' acerbic, irreverent & spot-on criticisms of popular poets; Peters' own review of a Michael Waters collection; an angry article by Tom Clark (the epitome of our 'Prolific & Underappreciated' writers) in the wake of his notoriously satirical expose The Great Naropa Poetry Wars (see our item No. 4704); transcript of a recorded dialogue between William S. Burroughs, Lou Reed & Victor Bockris in WSB's legendary NYC Bunker (later included in Bockris' now-classic With William Burroughs: A Report From the Bunker, see our item No. 4107); a review of Lawrence Ferlinghetti's Northwest Ecolog by Larry Smith; of John Clellon Holmes' Death Drag: Selected Poems by Joe Marusiak & more. With contemporary ads including for the CVE production Electric Banana by Mary Beach (Pamela's mother, see our item No.s 1951, 3835) & Peters' first Bake-Off collection discussed above. (3) NRS Vol. 4 No. 18 (1980)- this issue starts off with a bang, so to speak: Two uncredited (most likely penned by Charles &/or Baizer) Jeremiads against the American literary establishment-gatekeepers, continuing the thread noted above. Also featuring Peters' critical essay "This is Meant for Your Eyes Alone; or, The Hairy Matter of Dedicating Individual Poems to Individuals"; several reviews by Peters including of a poetry collection by James Schuyler; "National End for the Arts: Cover-Up on Capitol Hill," yet another anti-NEA article by Baizer; a tribute to Jack Micheline by his brother Beat-troubadour A.D. Winans & much more. With contemporary ads including for WSB's Naked Scientology/ Ali's Smile, & color reproduction of a collage artwork by Claude Pelieu (Pamela's stepfather) on front cover. (4) NRS Vol. 5 No. 1 (1982)- featuring a review of a poetry collection by Mary Cheever (John's wife) by Peters; & other pieces by Gerald Dorset, Hugh Fox & others. Though uncredited, the cover illustration is of the ill-fated priest played by Max von Sydow in the film The Exorcist, seen in silhouette from behind as he enters a gate, an iconic promotional still image. Chapbook-format journals in stapled wrappers. All of the above issues are from the collection of the late Erin Black Matson, an artist-poet who, along with her then-husband the acclaimed poet & educator Clive Matson, was a member of the Beat Generation as it morphed into the hippie counterculture during the 1960s. The Matsons were colleagues & protégés (in lifestyle as much as literature) of Huncke, Bonnie & Ray Bremser, Diane di Prima et al. The overall good-to-near-fine conditions of these issues befit their long ownership & use by Erin, who was a tried-&-true Beat-Bohemian to the end: Mild-to-significant rubbing, browning, scratching, creasing, spotting & spot-staining to covers & stapled spines; mild wear & some tiny bumps, creases at edges & corners of same; mild-to-moderate rubbing, browning & spotting to edges of text blocks; (1) & (2) with stamps affixed to rear covers (the latter with postmark); (4) with slight loss of paper esp. at lower right edge, corners of covers & leaves (the probable result of nibblings by Erin's cats or other small creatures). Interiors generally fine-to-very-fine with small creases, tiny bumps at corners of some page leaves; slight browning & paper loss at blank edges & corners as noted above to leaves of (4). Good- Near Fine. [Item #4814]
Price: $50.00