Potts, Charles

The Opium Must Go Thru

ISBN: 0915214156
Salt Lake City, UT: Litmus Inc., 1976. Limited First Edition. Softcover. A collaborative volume with short prose works by Charles Potts (b. 1943), the prolific & award-winning poet, novelist, editor & publisher who is associated with his Black Mountain-&-Beyond mentor Edward Dorn; with illustrations by "Rbt" (Robert) McNealy (b. 1942), the acclaimed & also very prolific American-Canadian artist. Potts' humorous & surreal prose partakes less of the abbreviated, pun-filled style characteristic of his poetry, but is nevertheless quite sui generis. McNealy's juxta-compositional collage-esque illustrations are a kindred compliment to Potts' prose, & to this writer somewhat evoke those of Joe Brainard. Trade-format softcover, first limited trade edition of between 950-974 copies as explained in colophon which is worth quoting here in its entirety for its Potts-spirited irreverence: "The first edition of 1000 copies includes not less than 26 nor more than 50 copies, hand sewn by the author, quarter bound in leather over boards, and signed by the poet and the artist for the whore's commerce price of $30." A production of the independent nonprofit Litmus imprint, which published collections by Charles Bukowski & other important countercultural figures as noted on its list on final printed page (unpaginated). From the collection of the late Erin Black Matson, the artist-poet who, along with her then-husband the noted 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 and protégés (in lifestyle as well as literature) of Herbert Huncke, Bonnie & Ray Bremser, Diane di Prima et al. It is likely they also had at least a passing acquaintance with Potts, who circulated widely among his contemporaries, probably along with McNealy. We found & have retained, between the first & second pages of "The Dehydrated Frenchman," the front cover of a vintage book of Spanish Bambu rolling papers which Erin apparently used as a bookmark. See also esp. our item No. 1494, another copy of this title signed by Potts to our favorite Literary Outlaws Charles & Pamela Plymell, & with important ephemera. We here offer a more affordable but still quite collectible original version with distinguished & appropriate provenance. In fine condition (especially considering its long use & ownership by Erin, who was a tried-&-true Beat-Bohemian to the end) with mild-to-moderate rubbing, browning & occasional spotting to esp. front, back covers & spine; a few tiny bumps, creases at edges & corners of same; a touch of rubbing & browning to edges of text block. Interior very fine with only tiny bumps at corners of page leaves; very small, faint creases at lower corners of same. Fine. [Item #4981]

Price: $30.00