Various (Carroll, Paul (Editor); Ansen, Alan; Artaud, Antonin; Blackburn, Paul; Bowles, Paul; Burroughs, William S.; Breton, Andre; Everson, William (Brother Antoninus); Ferlinghetti, Lawrence; Ginsberg, Allen et al.)

Big Table 2 (Summer 1959)

Chicago, IL: Big Table Inc., 1959. First Edition, First Printing. Softcover. "Dear Allen: On my way back to Bogota with nothing accomplished." (William S. Burroughs, pg. 44). The second issue of the renegade publication, edited by Paul Carroll (1924-1996) & created in reaction to the suppression of then-controversial literature proposed for inclusion in The Chicago Review. This issue contains "In Quest of Yage" (pgs. 44-64), the first appearance of excerpts from what would first be published in its entirety 4 years later as The Yage Letters, (Maynard & Miles, C7, pg. 113) by William S. Burroughs (1914-1997) & Allen Ginsberg (1925-1997). The letters document Burroughs' journey to the Amazon jungle, where he sought the hallucinogenic drug Yage, used by indigenous healers for various purposes, including finding lost objects. The work reflects the Beat Generation's exploration of consciousness and the use of psychedelics. There is also the first appearance of a thoughtful essay "Burroughs in Tangier" (pgs. 42-43; Miller, C632, pg. 166) by Paul Bowles (1910-1999); another by Burroughs friend & collaborator Alan Ansen (1922-2006; "Anyone Who Can Pick Up a Frying Pan Owns Death," pgs. 32-43) with 2 photographs of Burroughs that have since become iconic, uncredited here but taken by Ginsberg, one of which shows him shirtless in a boxer's stance. Also an excerpt from Kaddish (Morgan, C89, pg. 232) by Ginsberg (pgs. 19-23), published in its entirety the following year; along with contributions by the founder of surrealism Andre Breton (1896-1966; "Despair," pgs. 67-68), Lawrence Ferlinghetti (1919-2021; "The Great Chinese Dragon," pgs. 107-112 [Morgan, C178, pg. 191]), Paul Blackburn (1926-1971; "The Signals," pg. 99), Antonin Artaud (1896-1948; "Three Exhortations," pgs. 28-31), "Brother Antoninus" William Everson (1912-1994; "Zone of Death," pg. 66) & others. See if you can find The Pocket Poets Series advertisement peddling Ferlinghetti's Pictures of the Gone World (Item No. 7006), Gregory Corso's (1930-2001) Gasoline (Item No. 6250) & Denise Levertov's (1923-1997) Here and Now (Item No. 4236). From the collection of Richard Cupidi (b. 1945), our esteemed mate in the UK who managed the fabled Unicorn Bookshop in Brighton, England for founder 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 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. Softcover Original with Sewn Binding: First Edition, first & only printing per publishing custom. A key collectible item in the WSB & Beat Legacy, in its rarest contemporary form with relevant association & very distinguished provenance. In relatively fine-to-very fine condition with mild age-toning, rubbing & scratching to front, back covers & spine; mild-to-moderate rubbing & bumping to spine; mild-to-moderate age-toning to text block. Interior fine-to-very fine with mild-to-moderate age-toning mostly to blank margins & fine edges of page leaves; tiny bumps at corners of some leaves. Fine-Very Fine. [Item #8548]

Price: $60.00 save 15% $51.00