Wainio, Ken

Letters from Al-Kemi with: Ephemera

Berkeley, CA: Sombre Reptiles, 1982. First Printing. Softcover. Inscribed & signed by Ken Wainio to Thomas Rain Crowe, co-authorial architect of the Second San Francisco Renaissance. It's not a stretch to suggest that Ken Wainio (1952-2006) was the premiere surrealist of the Second San Francisco Renaissance. This opinion was shared by numerous other poets "on the set" (as Ed Sanders used to say in the early-mid 60s) at that time: an opinion shared by both those close to the poet, as well as individuals more aptly described as "acquaintances" than "friends." Yet friendship has figured centrally in the Beat Generation (and all of its many spinoff-successor movements) from the very beginning — and in a Second San Francisco Renaissance context, the friendship between Thomas Rain Crowe (b. 1949) & Ken Wainio was key. It was key, specifically, to a genre-considerate widening of the SSFR footprint. The reason why Wainio is thought of, in large part (despite writing in several styles) “as a surrealist” is because his understanding of Surrealism was respected: and the approach he took had a lot in common with Philip Lamantia (1927-2005). What Wainio and Lamantia shared was an insistence on foregrounding their own surrealist compositional modality in a knowledge of the past — particularly the ancient past — as a way of ‘cutting the word lines,’ as in Burroughs. There were two parts to this theory: the first is that the word lines needed to be cut if their practice, as surrealists, was to be thought legitimate (e.g., considered ‘liberatory’). The second part is about the histories of nations and peoples: about ancient civilizations from the dawn of man to the Middle Ages. It asks after all things lost to the march of modernity & time — wants to know what the subconscious of a highly-learned monk might’ve looked like; then works to embody it for the purposes prescribed by Surrealism. They both wanted to turn their minds into little ‘Libraries of Alexandria’ — “halls of records” (to stay on the Egyptian theme) that would then be mined (or ‘refined’) through the subconscious-driven comp. processes of Literary Surrealism. Think of that word ‘terroir,’ and how it functions in the world of wine-making: the definition, word-for-word, is ‘the characteristic taste and flavor imparted to a wine by the environment in which it is produced.’ Wainio and Lamantia both understood that the above-quoted fragment of food science was equally useful when trying to “make yourself a visionary,” as Rimbaud might’ve had it. It was key for Surrealism, and Wainio’s distinguished embodiment of that commitment affords him a rightful place among America’s great literary-&-artistic post-war Surrealists. First Edition softcover original: first printing, though not explicated as such on copyright page. From the archive of Thomas Rain Crowe, the legendary American poet and co-authorial founder of the Second San Francisco Renaissance. For more information on the Thomas Rain Crowe archive (assembled & curated by Third Mind Books), see our book Starting From San Francisco (Item No. 3071) or consult the catalog for the Thomas Rain Crowe archive (Item No. 1010), which contains several excerpts and quotations from the book, as well as a full listing of the archive’s contents (which are now being offered for sale individually on the Third Mind Books site). Medium-format softcover original: the first-&-only printing of Wainio's quiet masterwork. As one might imagine, this copy is additionally inscribed & signed by Wainio to Crowe at FFEP. Wainio’s signature, in thin, black pen ink, reads: “For Crow — / Via-the-Trans-California- / Egypt connection / Love— / Wainio / [three hieroglyphs].” This lot is made all the more alluring by the following three pieces of ephemera, which we found, have retained, and now include as part of this listing: [1] a tiny original manuscript fragment (authored by Wainio) containing a single five-line stanza [whether it’s published or unpublished, we at TMB have yet to find out] that features original drawings that border & surround the stanza & continue on verso side; [2] an original photograph of Wainio during his trip to Egypt (which is the subject of this book); and [3] TRC’s own cut-out of a personal favorite poem authored by his late friend, “Hall of Appearances” (with a notifying inscription [“Ken Wainio,” in thin, blue pen ink]) near topmost fine-edge at center-middle. Book in Near Fine condition, with moderate-to-enunciated shelf-wear, light bumping, some muted or short horizonal & vertical creasing to fine-edges & corners of front, back covers & spine-edge; similarly moderate-to-enunciated rubbing to same; spotting, and other variously enunciated instances of age-toning variously observable throughout; otherwise clean and tenderly kept — “stewarded,” really. All three pieces of ephemera in similarly strong near fine condition, with the photograph especially clean & the key text on the manuscript fragment intact. Near Fine. [Item #7217]

Price: $100.00