Lamantia, Philip; Hoffman, John

Tau & Journey to the End

ISBN: 9780872864856
San Francisco, CA: City Lights Books, 2008. Uncorrected Advance Proof. Softcover. "Acclaimed by age 15 by Andre Breton as "a voice that rises once in a thousand years," Philip Lamantia (1927-2005) was America's greatest surrealist poet for over 60 years, as well as an influence on the Beat Generation. Tau is his lost second book, suppressed by the poet in 1955 due to his evolving spiritual beliefs. That same year, at the famous Six Gallery reading where Allen Ginsberg debuted "Howl," Lamantia read the poems of his close friend John Hoffman (1928-1952), who died in Mexico of unknown causes. Journey to the End, prepared by Lamantia himself, collects all of Hoffman's surviving works. These important Beat-era manuscripts are available here for the first time." (from back cover) A very important long-lost collection of poems by the Beat-Surrealist Master Poet Philip Lamantia; along with the collected poems of his friend, the enigmatic poet John Hoffman, who died under mysterious circumstances in Guadalajara, Mexico at age twenty-four. Edited & with introductory notes on both collections by Garrett Caples (b. 1972), the acclaimed American poet, author & journalist. The Hoffman collection is also preceded with two introductions by Lamantia, written during 1954 & 1959. A small-format softcover published by City Lights Books as the fifty-nineth number in its iconic Pocket Poets Series, this copy is an "Uncorrected Advance Proof" announcing a publication date of April 15, 2008 (first leaf recto, back cover). This copy contains extensive cursive marginalia & highlighting in pencil at Lamantia's Tau section (through pg. 50) by Thomas Rain Crowe (b. 1949), the acclaimed poet & publisher who was at the center of the Baby Beat Generation/ Second San Francisco Renaissance during the 1970s- see our item No. 3071, Starting From San Francisco, published by Third Mind Books. There are many references throughout our volume by Crowe to Lamantia, who was an important mentor-influence on Crowe & his Baby Beat group's lives & works. The marginalia was apparently written in preparation for a review of this production by Crowe. This copy is from the TRC archive (see our item No. 1010), assembled & curated by TMB, which collectively represents the entire legacy of the BBG/SSFR, all of the items in which are being separately curated & offered incrementally throughout this new year of 2025. A most significant Beat-&-Beyond collectible in an exceedingly rare form, greatly enriched by this scholarly marginalia, most-relevant association & provenance. See also our item No. 6044. In very fine condition with only a touch of rubbing & mostly faint scratching to front, back covers & spine; very slight wear & a few tiny bumps, creases at edges & corners of same; very slight rubbing, spotting to edges of text block esp. lower edge. Interior very fine with only tiny bumps at corners of a few page leaves; pencil marginalia & highlighting which here is a collectible enhancement. Very Fine. [Item #7196]

Price: $50.00