Unknown (Ginsberg, Allen)

Original Flyer for Reality Sandwiches Delicatessen, San Francisco

San Francisco, CA: Reality Sandwiches Delicatessen, c. 1974-1977. First Printing. Single Sheet. Offered here is a unique piece of Allen Ginsberg (1926-1997) / Second San Francisco Renaissance ephemera: a flyer for “Reality Sandwiches,” an “Omni-Deli of food delights” which took its name from the poet’s 1963 book of that same name. The store was stationed in the heart of North Beach at 524 Union Street (“Near Grant,” as the flyer says) & was enormously close to City Lights Books, the legendary American bookstore founded by Lawrence Ferlinghetti (1919-2021) from which so many core titles of the Beat Generation-&-Beyond emanated. Since this flyer comes from the collection of Thomas Rain Crowe, the legendary American poet and co-authorial founder of the Second San Francisco Renaissance, we can only loosely date the item (mapping it, of course, onto the peak years of the SSFR [1974-1977]). For fans & scholars of Ginsberg (& collectors of Second San Francisco Renaissance literature), this alluring, charming, & curious oddity will recurrently delight. Original Flyer on single sheet: the First (& likely only) Printing of this unique piece of Beat-&-Beyond ephemera. 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: Thomas Rain Crowe in Conversation with Third Mind Books (Item No. 3071) & the catalog for the 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. In strong fine condition with only minute edge-wear, age-toning & some light bumping (& since-flattened bump-creasing) at recto & verso sides; otherwise, clean. Fine. [Item #7540]

Price: $45.00 save 15% $38.25