Cobbing, Bob

Cygnet Ring: Collected Poems Volume One

ISBN: 0905687035
London, England, UK: Tapocketa Press, 1977. First Edition. Stapled Wrappers. “Bob Cobbing’s cut-ups were begun in March, 1956, and this, the first volume of his collected poems, prints all that were done. The method was to decide on the number of lines, clip out of newspaper lines of the required number, and paste them up in an effective order. Success was to use all the lines, failure to have one or more left over which did not fit in. With ‘The Young Hedgehog’ and some of the later cut-ups, half-lines were used, and ‘Royal Garden Blues’ uses consecutive lines in places. ‘The Young Hedgehog’ was done when Writers Forum set a subject–Hedgehogs–for one of its meetings. The temptation has been resisted to alter these cut-ups in any way, or to leave any out. All of them are here as they were first devised. In the case of ‘Aquitted in Oslo’, the full version includes italic lines; the cut-down version, done at the time, consists of the bold lines only.”--Introduction. Bob Cobbing (1920-2002) was an English publisher and poet, best known for his work as publisher of Writers Forum and pioneering visual, concrete, and sound poetry and performances. An important force in avant-garde British poetry, Cobbing managed Better Books, home to many literary and artistic happenings in London’s underground literary scene in the 1960s. Cobbing also helped found the Association of Little Presses and Poets Conference, as well as serving on the Poetry Society council. From 1963 to 2002 he published hundreds of pamphlets and books of experimental poetry under the Writers’ Forum aegis. Undeniably influenced by the likes of Charles Olson (1910-1970), and Allen Ginsberg (1926-1997), Cobbbing’s work drew on elements of concrete and sound poetry; he foregrounded language as material, as sign or mark, while developing sound as an element of non-semantic meaning. Offered today is the 1977 collection of poetry, Cygnet Ring. Experimental in nature, and compiled of Cobbing’s early works, Cygnet Ring is a collection of poetry that finds itself rooted in the cut-up method, as pioneered by William S. Burroughs (1914-1997). Cygnet Ring is a bizarre-surreal-almost-apocalyptic collection that arcs from cut-up to sound poetry to concrete works that showcase Cobbing’s mastery over the form. This edition includes an attached errata slip between front cover and first front endpaper. From the collection of Richard Cupidi (b. 1945), our esteemed friend in the UK who managed the legendary Unicorn Bookshop in Brighton, England with Bill Butler (1934-1977, the famed American-expatriate bookseller & publisher). From the late 1960s until 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 for example our item no.s 8217, 8366). After prevailing against censorious harassment efforts, Unicorn closed & Butler shortly thereafter met his untimely demise. Cupidi went on to found the Public House Bookshop in Brighton, which had a long & successful run but is now also closed, and he still resides there. We have been honored to obtain what Cupidi has termed “The Last Hurrah,” all the remaining treasures of Unicorn and Public House, some of which have become the stuff of Beat-&-Beyond Myth, and which now comes from our custodial hands and passes to yours. Large-format, perfect bound softcover. First Edition. In relatively very fine condition with minor wear to fine edges, slight staining/spotting to front and back covers, slight discoloration due to age-toning; interior in very fine condition with no discernable wear. Very Fine. [Item #8352]

Price: $60.00