di Prima, Diane (Editor); Jones, LeRoi (Editor); Hirschman, Jack; Loewinsohn, Ron; Olson, Charles et al.)

The Floating Bear: A Newsletter No. 16 (1961)

New York, NY, USA: Floating Bear, 1961. First Edition. Stapled Sheets. “the gracious gods / the red man / and the white man / how deliberately Sam Adams parlayed / the “Battle of Lexington” as he had / previously set up the Boston / Massacre as well as led his Mohawks / out of Fanuel Hall to bring about / the Boston Tea Party – failing to get a constitutional / Army / and that the Reverend Jonas Clarke / in whose house the plot was laid / talked John Locke freshly / during the night thus adding / those general ideas: / at 1:30 AM the militiamen’s own decision / was not to meddle with those British soldiers / coming down the pike / to leave us / to our own concerns / thus were the parts / of all the parts of the bodies / of the Federal cavalry troop / – Lieut. Fetterman’s command – left around / the landscape on and about the dun hills by / Fort Phil Kearny / (for Ed Dorn).”--Charles Olson, “To Empty the Mind.” The Floating Bear, founded and edited by Diane di Prima (1934-2020) and LeRoi Jones (1934-2014), a/k/a Amiri Baraka, started in February 1961, was a mimeographed “newsletter” distributed by mailing list whose mission was the speedy dissemination of new literary work. twenty-five issues came out in the magazine’s first two years and featured contributing writers such as: Charles Olson (1910-1970), Robin Blaser (1929-2005), Robert Creeley (1926-2005), Philip Whalen (1923-2002), Paul Blackburn (1926-1971), and Ed Dorn (1929-1999), while Ray Johnson (1927-1995) and Wallace Berman (1926-1976) were among the many visual artists whose work was presented. This tremendous output was due at least in part to Jones’s experience as editor at Yugen and Totem Press and to his voracious working habits. Di Prima recalls, “LeRoi could work at an incredible rate. He could read two manuscripts at a time, one with each eye. He would spread things out on the table while he was eating supper, and reject them all—listening to the news and a jazz record he was going to review, all at the same time.” While The Floating Bear was widely loved by readers and kept afloat by subscribers, the publication unfortunately ran into trouble. One of the recipients of Bear 9 was Harold Carrington, a poet who was in prison in New Jersey. The censor read his mail and objected to the contents of the issue, which included Jones’s The System of Dante’s Hell and William S. Burroughs’s (1914-1997) Routine. Jones and di Prima were subsequently arrested on obscenity charges on October 18, 1961. Di Prima remembers, “I heard a knock on my door early in the morning which I didn’t answer because I never open my door early in the morning in New York City. In the morning in New York City is only trouble. It’s the landlords, it’s Con Edison, it’s the police, it’s your neighbors wanting to know why you made so much noise last night, it’s something awful, and before noon I never open my door.” There was a grand jury hearing, but after Jones’s two-day testimony, they failed to return an indictment. Jones resigned from The Floating Bear in 1963 after issue 25. Di Prima moved briefly to California in 1962 and the magazine came out irregularly over the next several years, culminating in a very large issue in 1971 guest-edited by Allen De Loach (1939-2002) in Buffalo. It was called The Intrepid-Bear Issue: Intrepid 20/Floating Bear 38. Offered today is 1961’s Floating Bear Issue #16. This issue features: “To Empty the Mind,” “The World of the Lie,” “The Mendacity of Windows,” “The Mendacity of Radio,” and “The Mendacity of Sculpture,” by Charles Olson (1910-1970), the legendary literary titan; an untitled poem by Canadian poet George Stanley (b. 1934); “Coda: As Far as the Pass” by Ron Loewinsohn (1937-2014) American poet and novelist; an untitled prose piece by Marian Zazeela American light artist, designer, calligrapher, painter, and musician; and “A Film Form: Outline for a Filmscript” by Dave Ossman (b. 1936) American writer and comedian, best known as a member of the Firesign Theatre and screenwriter of such films as Zachariah (1971). This issue is also notable because it is addressed to the late, great Marxist, Surrealist, Second San Francisco Renaissance poet, Jack Hirschman (1933-2021)! From the collection of Albert Glover (1942-2026), the great American scholar, bibliographer, author & publisher who was the foremost remaining authority on literary giant Charles Olson (our favorite Maximus Obscurantist), with whom we’re honored to have been acquainted. Stapled sheets. First & only printing. In relatively fine-very fine condition with moderate wear to fine edges, wear at horizontal crease across middle, moderate fading to text throughout, light smudging/staining throughout, and light rusting at staple. Fine-Very Fine. [Item #8659]

Price: $125.00