Ferlinghetti, Lawrence

Where Is Vietnam?

San Francisco, CA: City Lights Books, 1965. First Printing. Folded Single Sheet. (Morgan, A12 pg. 38; Cook 55, pg. 60). An early folded broadside-pamphlet by Lawrence Ferlinghetti (1919-2021) in its rarest, most collectible form: verified by the misspelling of the word "gentlemen" as "gentelmen" in line 18, a mistake later revised in the second printing. While Ferlinghetti recalls that there were only 100 copies printed of this broadside, bibliographer Bill Morgan states that there were 1000 printed and Ralph Cook (In City Lights Books' Descriptive Bibliography) provides an estimate of 100-1000. The poem, itself — as its title indicates — is one of LF’s great antiwar diatribes; and the poem is dripping with his trademark swagger and fervency. 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 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 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. Broadside-pamphlet on single sheet: a true First Edition, First Printing of one of Ferlinghetti’s classic early works. In Very Good condition with only generally minute-to-moderate shelf-wear, some light bumping, & occasional bump-creasing to fine-edges & corners of verso & recto sides; similarly minute-to-moderate rubbing & age-toning (of a similar gradation) present variously, throughout; otherwise, generally clean. Very Good. [Item #8506]

Price: $125.00