Kupferberg, Tuli

Two Prospectuses from Tuli Kupferberg’s Birth Press: (1) Selected Fruits & Nuts, with: (2) Writings by Children

New York, NY: Birth, 1959. First Printing. Folded Single Sheets. Offered here is not one but two incredibly rare prospectuses advertising "Selected Fruits and Nuts" & "Writings by Children," two then-forthcoming publications from the legendary Tuli Kupferberg’s (1923-2010) sui generis contribution to the Mimeograph Revolution (or one of them, anyway), “Birth” Magazine & Press. As many Beat Skullers know, Birth is not the only mimeo rag Kupferberg helmed or is known for (“YEAH” magazine being the other underground publishing outfit, or link through which Kupferberg himself practiced “TOTAL ASSAULT ON THE CULTURE!”). It’s fitting that such a phrase—although adopted by Sanders and Kupferberg in the most trademarkable of ways, originated with the Patron Saint-Demon of Third Mind Books, William S. Burroughs. In the “Birth” entry of noted, marine-strength Burroughsian Jed Birmingham’s informative (& routinely infallible) Beat scholarly website, RealityStudio, Birmingham writes: “Each of the three issues of Birth center on a single theme—Bohemia, children’s literature, and drugs, respectively—and each provides a collage of primary materials relating to that topic.” Out of those three, “Selected Fruits and Nuts” might fit in the “Bohemia” category, -- as the actual publication contains numerous satirical drawings by Kupferberg and captions throughout (“often wry and profane,” as a fellow Brother-in-Bookselling has elsewhere put it). These prospectuses — given their nature as essentially “announcements” and/or fundraising ploys on the street-level, — were often routinely discarded by their recipients (which is what makes “healthy” surviving copies, such as those offered here, increasingly desirable). Folded single sheets: the first and only printing of these extremely scarce, surviving prospectuses from Tuli Kupferberg’s Birth Press. (1) In strong near fine condition with only moderate-to-pronounced shelf-wear, bumping, light indentations & vertical creasing esp. at/near rightmost fine-edge of front, back cover; (2) in Fine condition with only minute-to-moderate shelf-wear, bumping to fine-edges & corners of front, back covers. Near Fine / Fine. [Item #5137]

Price: $75.00