Crowe, Thomas Rain

Deep Language

Sylva, NC: New Native Press, 1991. First Edition. Signed by Thomas Rain Crowe. "Ransacked in the renaissance of evening sun,/ the moon has taken the half of my bed that's sleep./ With only enough room to write, and visions of memory writing me,/ I lean back into my body of rock wanting to dance..." ("The New (Part I No. 5)," first stanza) A collection of poems by Thomas Rain Crowe, the acclaimed poet & publisher who was at the center of the Baby Beat Generation/ Second San Francisco Renaissance during the 1970s. The poems are divided into two sections ("Moon Cycles" & "Sun Cycles"), & were inspired by Crowe's receipt of seashell fragments sent by the noted artist-sculptor Barbara Ann Carver-Hunt. With an introduction by Carver-Hunt which appears to be an excerpt from a letter sent to her by Crowe that accompanied the shell fragments (which she terms "shell letters"), explaining their significance & the circumstances of their gathering. Also with front cover & interior illustrations by Carver-Hunt. From the collection of Thomas Rain Crowe, scholar, writer, and member of the Baby Beat Generation. 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 #3071) & the catalog for the Crowe archive (see item #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. An exemplary chapbook production of Crowe's own New Native Press imprint, one of 300 copies hand-numbered & signed by Crowe at colophon, this is copy No. 112/300. Stapled wrappers. First edition though not explicated as such at copyright page, first printing as stated thereon. In very fine condition with only a bit of rubbing & fading to front, back covers & esp. stapled spine; very light wear & a few tiny bumps at edges & corners of same; staples in process of rusting with minimal bleeding at interior; some light spots from stains emanating from corners/spine near stapes; slight browning & spotting to edges of text block. Interior very fine with only tiny bumps to mostly lower corners of some page leaves. Very Fine. [Item #7553]

Price: $25.00