Essam, John; Hollo, Anselm; Raworth, Tom

Haiku

London, England, UK: Trigram Press, 1968. Limited First Edition. Hardcover. Signed by John Essam, Anselm Hollo & Tom Raworth. "No other Eastern poetic form has commanded the attention of English poets as compellingly as the Japanese haiku. Its conciseness has challenged the writer's craft from the very first time Japanese poetry was translated into English. Other than by its strict syllabic structure, the haiku is difficult to define. It is a three-line poem: the first line contains five syllables; the second contains seven; the last five. But it is the spirit of the haiku which Japanese and English scholars have not been able to define as clearly and concisely as the poem itself should be. And many have tried. This collection of haiku by three English poets illustrates the diversity of its effect. John Essam, Anselm Hollo and Tom Raworth have used the form in completely different ways, expanding the range of haiku far beyond that for which it was originally intended." (John Esam, from front flap) A collection of innovative English-language haiku by three distinguished poets: John Essam (1934-2011), the great New Zealand-born avant-garde poetic polymath; Anselm Hollo (1934-2013), the award-winning Finnish-born poet & translator who would go on to teach at the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics at Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado co-founded by Allen Ginsberg & Anne Waldman; & Tom Raworth (1938-2017), the renowned British-Irish poet, publisher & academician. We offer here the ultra-scarce limited first edition of this acclaimed collection: A beautiful letterpress production, hardcover in unclipped dust jacket, one of 60 copies hand-numbered & signed by all three poets at verso of title page, this is copy No. 11/60. From the collection of Richard Cupidi (b. 1945), our esteemed mate in the UK who managed the fabled Unicorn Bookshop in Brighton, England founded by 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 privileged to obtain what Cupidi has referred to as "The Last Hurrah," all the remaining gems of Unicorn & Public House such as this. Third Mind Books proceeds to reverently curate & incrementally present the Butler-Cupidi-Unicorn-Public House Legacy which is in our custodial hands- until it passes to yours. An essential, rich & rewarding collectible by three most-important Beat-&-Beyond Men of Letters, in its very rarest contemporary form signed by them all & with the utmost distinguished & relevant provenance. Book in very fine condition with only a touch of wear, fading & a few tiny bumps, creases at edges & corners of front, back cover & spine; very light rubbing, age-toning to edges of text block. Interior very fine with only light age-toning to margins/edges of some page leaves. Dust jacket fine-to-very-fine with a touch of rubbing, faint scratching & age-toning (the latter chiefly at margins/edges & corners) to front, back covers, spine & flaps; a hint of wear & some tiny bumps, creases at/from edges & corners of same; one very short, closed tear from upper right edge of back cover. Very Fine / Fine-Very Fine. [Item #8561]

Price: $120.00