Rexroth, Kenneth; Laughlin, James (Ferlinghetti, Lawrence)

Kenneth Rexroth and James Laughlin: Selected Letters

ISBN: 0393029395
New York, NY, USA: W.W. Norton & Company, 1991. First Edition. Hardcover. From the library of Lawrence Ferlinghetti, with his ownerhsip initials & inclusion in the volume. "Honest- you are behavioristically indistinguishable from any of your harried classmates cher Harvard Club. Do you want to die an early death? And, furthermore, Mr. Laughlin, you are being sucked into the new and exceptionally High International Bohemia....There is nothing New Directions about these alcoholic wanderers on the banks of the Mediterranean with their crew cuts and seersucker jackets." This was Kenneth Rexroth writing to James Laughlin, in the course of a stormy author-publisher relationship that spanned over forty years. A prolific poet and essayist, Rexroth came to be the "presiding figure" of the San Francisco Renaissance, championing the work of Allen Ginsberg, Robert Duncan, Gary Snyder, and Lawrence Ferlinghetti, among others. But Rexroth made an indelible mark on modern literature on his own, in twenty collections of poetry, scores of essays, and translations from the Chinese, Japanese, Greek, Latin and French, works that, in the words of William Everson, "touched the nerve of the future." " (from front & rear flaps) A selection of letters between Kenneth Rexroth (1905-1982), the great (if sometimes dyspeptic & curmudgeonly as demonstrated here) American poet & author who was a key mentor to the legendary poets of the Beat Generation, San Francisco Renaissance-&-Beyond; & James Laughlin (1914-1997), the great & influential publisher of Rexroth & many others through his iconic New Directions imprint. Spanning the years 1937-1982, this thread of historic correspondence is delightful & insightful, at the very eye of the mid-20th century American literary hurricane. Edited & with an introduction by Lee Bartlett (b. 1950), the esteemed American author & academician whose acclaimed biography of Everson (a/k/a Brother Antoninus) was published by New Directions. Hardcover in unclipped first-issue dust jacket (with $27.50 price & "4-91" printed at front flap), first edition as stated at copyright page, first printing as indicated by number sequence thereon. From the library of Lawrence Ferlinghetti (1919-2021), the iconic American poet, publisher & bookseller. At upper right margin of blank front endpaper, Ferlinghetti has hand-written his initials ("LF") in pencil; & he is inevitably referred to (as a star author published by New Directions) in some of the letters herein, as well as in Bartlett's introduction & front flap copy as quoted above. An essential Rexroth-Laughlin-&-Co. collectible in its rarest contemporary form, with most-distinguished & relevant association & provenance. Book in relatively near-fine-to-fine condition with light rubbing, fading to front, back covers & spine esp. at edges & corners thereof (gilt lettering, graphics at spine mostly bright & intact); slight bending of spine toward front; mild rubbing, faint scratching to edges of text block; several small (coffee?!) spot-stains at upper edge of same. Interior near-fine-to-fine with minor bleeding of spot-stains referred to above from upper edges of a few page leaves; slight loosening of binding between pgs. 138-139; crease & very slight extension at lower margin, edges & corner of one leaf (pgs. 37-38, apparently minor flaws as issued). Dust-jacket fine with only very slight rubbing, faint scratching & age-toning to front, back covers, spine & flaps; light wear & some tiny bumps, creases at edges & corners of same. Near Fine- Fine / Fine. [Item #8174]

Price: $70.00