Bowles, Paul

Midnight Mass

Santa Barbara, CA, USA: Black Sparrow Press, 1981. First Trade Edition. "He arrived in Tangier at noon and went straight to the house. In the rain the outer courtyard was uninviting. Several dead banana plants had fallen over and been left to rot on the tile floor. Even as old Amina, seeing him from the kitchen doorway, waddled out into the rain to greet him, he was aware of the piles of empty crates, and of the frame of an ancient garden swing looming behind her." ("Midnight Mass," first paragraph, pg. 9) A collection of inimitably atmospheric & disturbing stories by Paul Bowles (1910-1999), the iconic American-expatriate writer who was a mentor to & presided over a procession of the foremost Beat Generation & other literary figures in Tangier. With the title & eleven other stories which, as noted in a short biography following them, were written from 1976 onwards. Trade-format softcover. From the collection of Richard Cupidi (b. 1945), our esteemed friend in the UK who managed the fabled Unicorn Bookshop in Brighton, England with Bill Butler (1934-1977, the famed American-expatriate bookseller & publisher). From the late 1960s through the early 1970s, Unicorn proffered & published many outstanding productions by William S. Burroughs, J.G. Ballard et al., some of which have become the scarcest, all-but-unobtainable Beat-&-Beyond collectibles (see an example with our item no. 8217). After prevailing against censorious harassment efforts, Unicorn closed & Butler died in short order. Cupidi went on to found the Public House Bookshop in Brighton, which had a long & successful run but is also now closed, & he still resides there. We have been honored to obtain what Cupidi has termed "The Last Hurrah," all the remaining treasures of Unicorn & Public House, some of which have become the stuff of myth. First trade softcover edition, first printing, with all points in Miller, A38, p. 58. This copy was, per colophon, likely printed in Ann Arbor, not far from Third Mind Books’ present location. In relatively Near Fine-Fine condition with some scratching, spotting, & staining to front, back covers & spine; some small bumps and creases to edges & corners of same; textblock has moderate spotting and age-toning. Interior fine with some spotting on leaves and light age toning throughout; a price of £4.20 has been written in pencil to top-right corner of front endpaper. Near Fine-Fine. [Item #8250]

Price: $40.00