Berrigan, Ted; MacBeth, George

An Interview with Ted Berrigan

London, England: Ignu Publications, 1971. First Edition, First Printing. Stapled Wrappers. “The Sonnets were first published in 1964 by a small press, then they were picked up in 1968 or '69, I forget which, by Grove. […] It was very difficult to get this work written, although it wasn't difficult to write it. It was a long time coming and I didn't really know what was coming, but then it started coming and then it came through the methods that I used to write it. I was writing lots and lots of poems and I wasn't getting ahold of my own voice except in bits and pieces. […] I'd written a series, finally, of six poems […], [and] in sheer desperation one night, in delirium, too I suppose, having been given permission to do this by my readings in Duchamp, John Cage, Bill Burroughs, John Ashbery and people like that, I took these six poems and put them next to the typewriter, and started typing up one line from the first one, one line from the second, and so on until I had six lines. Then I went backwards doing the same thing, through the six again until I had twelve lines. By then I knew what the last two lines would be. I was going after the sonnet, as you can see, and I picked the lines by quick choice. […] From those six poems I managed to make seven sonnets, and it scared me. I mean, they came so easily, and they seemed quite good. They were like nothing I'd seen before” (Excerpt from An Interview with Ted Berrigan, page 1). As noted on the verso of this large-format, mimeographed chapbook’s front cover, “This is an abbreviated transcript of an interview with Ted Berrigan conducted by George MacBeth and broadcast by the BBC in May of 1971. Most of the material omitted is in the form of questions by George MacBeth, [as well as] various um’s, er’s, etc. The poems mentioned and read by Berrigan are all contained in the two books, THE SONNETS, Grove Press, 1967, and IN THE EARLY MORNING RAIN, Cape Goliard, 1971. The poems are not transcribed, so to make sense of the interview the books will have to be consulted. Compliments to Ted Berrigan and George Macbeth.” While the passage quoted in full, above does not have an individual author attribution, the publishing company, one “Ignu Publications,” is listed along bottommost fine-edge of front cover verso at center-middle, with the date “1971” provided directly beneath it. As the lengthy quotation (from the Interview) supplied above makes clear, this is simply an irresistible and invaluable resource for those desirous of understanding what makes Berrigan’s Mim-Rev Masterwork, The Sonnets actually work ‘as poems.’ As those who’ve spent time with Berrigan’s Sonnets know, this is a vastly more complicated task than it appears to be ‘on paper.’ Thus, the BBC Interview transcribed here — which most people don’t even know exists — is a major, major boon to both students of Berrigan & scholars of avant-garde literature in the 20th century. From the collection of Richard Cupidi (b. 1945), our esteemed mate 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 WSB, 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. Large-format (8" x 13”) chapbook in stapled wrappers: the first-&-only printing of a concise though high-quality Berrigan rarity. In Very Good condition with only moderate-to-enunciated shelf-wear, rubbing, bumping, & some [generally minute] bump-creasing to fine-edges & corners of front, back covers & spine-edge; a few minute-to-moderate exhibits of rusting & bleeding to staples at interior & exterior; & mild-to-enunciated age-toning (yellowing, browning, spotting & foxing) present, variously at same; otherwise, clean. Very Good. [Item #8260]

Price: $75.00