Wainio, Ken

Broadside: Ventriloquist Moonshine

Saluda, NC: New Native Press, 1980. Limited First Edition. Single Sheet. "I am in love with my horse/ It has always been this way/ Ever since he danced on the lizard's back/ I have been seasick without him/ His hoofprints are boats/ I follow across intangible earth/ At the volcanic summit/ my thoughts grinding in the clouds/ are only his hoofprints upside down" (first nine lines) A broadside (appx. 17" x 11") with the title poem by Ken Wainio (1952-2006), the avant garde-Surrealist poet & novelist who was a close friend & associate of Thomas Rain Crowe (b. 1949), the acclaimed poet & publisher who co-founded & was at the center of the Baby Beat Generation/ San Francisco Renaissance during the 1970s. While at Crowe's side at the heart of the Baby Beat group, Wainio's life & work were quite sui generis & ultimately elusive of category. A beautiful letterpress production with uncredited (possibly historic) woodcut illustration of a unicorn. One of "300 copies printed in Saluda, N.C./ for New Native Press in the spring of 1980" per colophon in red between title & illustration. New Native Press is Crowe's own imprint which he established after returning to his home state of North Carolina at the end of the 1970s, & is still active as of this writing. From the Thomas Rain Crowe archive which was acquired, catalogued (see our item No. 1010) & offered as a single item by Third Mind Books. The individual pieces of the Crowe archive are now being separately curated & presented throughout this year of 2025. See also Starting From San Francisco (item No. 3071), published by TMB, wherein Crowe provides a complete anecdotal/biographical history of the BBG/SSFR phenomenon & its critical collaborations/mentorships with key members of the original Beat Generation/ San Francisco Renaissance. Crowe & Wainio were especially close friends & colleagues as noted above, & Wainio is referred to extensively in SFSF. An extremely scarce, bold & exemplary Wainio collectible in its singularly rarest contemporary form, with most-distinguished & relevant association & provenance. In relatively very fine condition with only a touch of rubbing (likely the result of the letterpress process) at surface; a bit of wear & a few tiny bumps, creases at/from edges & corners esp. upper left corner. Very Fine. [Item #7820]

Price: $50.00