Dowden, George

Birth Vision and Green Song with: Ephemera

Brighton, England, UK: Five Poets Press, 1968. First Edition. Stapled Wrappers. Inscribed, illustrated, signed, placed & dated by George Dowden to Richard Cupidi; & with autograph note from Dowden to Cupidi. “in morning fog / before even fishermen / are awake / I arrive / on a dark sound / a gull screams / bearing the water / behind it / a small rat gathers / the stone dock / into its body / a fish turns / quickly three ways in the water / and is there and not there / GRRAARR I roar / Rat-tat the panic dance / Toot-toot the pipe / Hee-hee / I shake my locks / dawn is coming / like a girl / out of the black sea.”--George Dowden, “GOD,” pg. 14. George Dowden (1933-2014) is a poet of whom unfortunately little is known. Often (self) described as a poetic and spiritual descendant of Walt Whitman (1819-1892), Dowden’s “malefic” poetry—meaning that it stressed the awfulness of life, of politics, and of the universal hurt that is given and received so prolifically on this earth–was at once a dark, ruminating poetry, while at the same time being a Whitman meets Allen Ginsberg-esque effulgence for the human experience and is radically expressive and experimental. Dowden was not just a kindred spirit with the Beats, insofar as their common lineage from Whitman and the Modernists, but he also fell in love with their works and eventually became close friends with that cadre of (at the time) burgeoning literary legends. As Gerald Nicosia (b. 1949) points out, by “1957, the year he got out of Bucknell, was a magical year for a healthy, good-looking, red-blooded young American male with an interest in the literary arts. The Beats had just burst upon the scene—Allen Ginsberg had just won his obscenity trial for Howl, and even more exciting, Jack Kerouac’s best-seller On the Road showed would-be writers like Dowden that there was another, entirely different, viable form of living and writing outside of academia. Dowden fell in love with the work of both of them, as he would later love almost every one of the Beats, including William Burroughs, as they appeared in print—Burroughs, especially, for the poetry of his language and courage to experiment. Dowden began teaching college literature classes to support his way through NYU, and he was probably the first professor in America to teach the Beat writers in a college classroom.” Dowden not only was enmeshed and deeply influenced by the Beats, but also like most of them became deeply infatuated and involved with both Hinduism and Buddhism. So much so in Dowden’s case that it altered his poetics, changing the earlier “malefic” work into a much more introspective, meditative voice; he took on the title Kaviraj meaning “King of Poets” an honorific for skilled poets in medieval India; and venturing to India a number of times joining the ashram of the famed guru Muktananda, and had his kundalini awakened. All of this is to say that Dowden was as much an influential poet, champion and friend of the Beat Generation, and scholar as he was criminally underappreciated and largely unknown. Offered today is the 1968 collection of poems Birth Vision and Green Song, one of Dowden’s most lauded works. Birth Vision and Green Song is two collections of poems: Birth Vision: Spring Poems (1964) and Green Song (September 1967) had been previously published independently, & are here printed in one comprehensive volume. This collection is among Dowden’s most introspective, quiet, and observational; interested in exploring nature and the human experience. Birth Vision and Green Song is undeniably Dowden at his most Whitman-esque! 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 legendary American-expatriate poet, publisher & bookseller). 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 for example our item No.s 8217, 8366). 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 which is also now closed, & he still resides there. We have been honored to obtain what Cupidi has termed "The Last Hurrah," all the remaining gems of Unicorn & Public House such as this. Third Mind Books is proceeding to reverently curate & incrementally present the Butler-Cupidi-Unicorn-Public House Legacy that is in our custodial hands- until it passes to yours. Signed, inscribed & dated at title page by George Dowden to Richard Cupidi in thin green ink: “For Richard Cupidi / [hand-drawn floral design] / George Dowden / –Peace/Energy / Brighton: ‘68-’69.” We have also found and retained between copyright page and dedication page a hand-written letter in thin blue ink by George Dowden to Richard Cupidi: “7/24/74 / Richard, / By now you should have gotten my poems. Enclosed are two others I’d like to have you add if you can get them published. Write and let me know about costs, etc. If you can’t do anything with them please send them back as they are the only copy I have. I hope all is going well with you and the Publick [sic] House. I’ve just opened my bookshop, “Gone Fishin” and I think it’s going to go alright. I hope you’re coming over in the fall so you can get a look at it and give some suggestions. Peace, George.” This letter is near fine with two horizontal creases where previously folded and very mild age-toning. Stapled wrappers. limited first edition, one of 300 trade copies from a total edition of 350, per colophon. In relatively fine-very fine condition with minor wear to fine edges, moderate smudging/staining to front and back covers, moderate discoloration due to age-toning, mild rusting at staples, and faint creasing/scratching at front cover near spine. Interior very fine with little to no visible wear. Fine-Very Fine. [Item #8463]

Price: $100.00