Ginsberg, Allen

Airplane Dreams: Compositions from Journals

Toronto, Canada: House of Anansi Press, 1968. First Softcover Edition. Signed by Allen Ginsberg. This is the first & notorious (see below) Canadian edition of a compilation of journal excerpts written by Allen Ginsberg, Founding Father of the Beat Generation, & described by him in a note preceding them as "...compositions from Journals kept decades 1948-1968, a few solid fragments typed up published out of context, not exactly poems, nor not poems: journal notations put together conveniently, a mental turn-on printed across the border by long hair youthful exiles disunited from these States by the war of sighs and spears." Famous for a 1968 censorship row in which most copies of this first Canadian edition were seized by U.S. Customs upon importation into the USA from Canada, this collection was published the following year (1969) by City Lights Books in collaboration with the original Canadian publisher. Trade-format softcover in perfect-bound wrappers, first edition, second state of cover published in an edition of 5800 on May 31, 1968. Morgan, a1.2, pg. 20. Per Morgan, a first softcover edition of 200 with first-state of cover was published on the same date (a1.1, pgs. 19-20), & a hardbound edition of 200 was issued on July 10, 1968 (a2.1, pgs. 20-21). Present here is the original errata slip, card folded over second leaf (title & copyright pages), in which the editors state on recto: "The Manufacturing Clause of the American copyright laws...provides that the copyright on an American author's work published outside the U.S. can be pirated if more than three thousand copies of that work are imported to the States. In protest of this infringing piece of legislation...we are sending five thousand copies of Airplane Dreams...to the United States." Also of note is the statement at colophon that this copy is from "...an edition of 6,000 copies," apparently the first- & second-state covers as noted in Morgan above were merged by the publishers. On the title page, Ginsberg has hand-written his signature in black ink above his printed name ("Allen/ Ginsberg"), & further down the page has hand-drawn & written: "(encircled "AH") 6/1/94," also in black ink. So why were so many copies of this edition seized? Besides the provocation of the copyright clause referred to above by the editors, one wonders whether this controversy was engendered by the entry piece, "The History of the Jewish Socialist Party in America," or the usual explicit homosexuality to be found in Ginsberg's most personal works. With volumes like this, it is a surprise that the young, progressive, social democrats of today have not taken a greater interest in Ginsberg & his work. In any case, this is a particularly rare & desirable Ginsberg collectible with a most interesting back-story, the poet-journalist's signature & distinguished provenance- from the collection of Kevin Ring, publisher of Beat Scene magazine & other indispensable productions (many available here), & our good friend. In relatively very fine condition with mild rubbing, browning to front, back covers & spine; a bit of wear & a few tiny bumps at edges & corners of same; very light browning & spotting to side & lower edges of text block, more pronounced but moderate at upper edge of same. Interior very fine with only a touch of browning to blank inner covers, endpapers & blank margins of page leaves, as well as both sides of errata slip; tiny bumps & very small, faint creases at mostly lower corners of some leaves. Very Fine. [Item #5102]

Price: $125.00 save 20% $100.00