Welch, Lew

Wobbly Rock

San Francisco, CA: The Auerhahn Press, 1960. First Printing. Stapled Wrappers. "It's a real rock / (believe this first) / Resting on actual sand at the surf's edge: / Muir Beach, California / (like everything else I have / somebody showed it to me and found it by myself)" [Pg. 1]." We are privileged to offer this much-desired relic of the San Francisco Renaissance, "Wobbly Rock" by the Beat-&-Beyond Giant, Lew Welch (1926-1971?), the great American poet who towers over & haunts the Beat Generation. Welch departed from his friend & colleague Gary Snyder's California mountain home with his rifle in tow during May of 1971, leaving a suicide note, & disappeared- his body has never been found. That's enough gloom for this curation, however, as the Welch of "Wobbly Rock" is Welch as his famous friends and contemporaries knew him. Here, Welch is in full command of his powers, alight with the energy of possibility and confidence, an un-trembling believer in the power of the Word. Adding to its Beat bona-fides are the presence of friends, which this work is in no shortage of; for it not only features a drawing by noted painter & Ginsberg associate, Robert LaVigne (1928-2014), but a dedication to Gary Snyder (b. 1930), the last of the Beat Giants [and remarkably] alive as of this writing. Welch's half-dedication, half-epigraph (attributed to Snyder), reads "for Gary Snyder / 'I think I'll be the Buddha of this place' / and sat himself / down." Chapbook in stapled wrappers: the elusive First Printing, "Handset in Caslon / and Garamond types / printed on a Hartford letterpress / at the Auerhahn Press, 1334 Franklin, / San Francisco 9, California, in an / edition of 500. The draw- / -ing by R LaVigne." A classic of the Beat Generation, "Wobbly Rock" is Welch at his brightest and best. From the collection of Kevin Ring, publisher of the indispensable Beat Scene magazine & other collectible productions in the UK (many available here), & our good friend. In strong fine condition with only faintest shelf-wear to fine-edges & corners of front, back covers; faint rubbing & comparatively mild age-toning along fine-edges & a few microscopic, fleck-like exhibits of browning to same; moderate-to-enunciated rusting, bleeding to staples at exterior; minor-to-moderate bleeding to same at interior. Fine. [Item #5216]

Price: $250.00 save 20% $200.00