Ginsberg, Allen (Cupidi, Richard)

Empty Mirror

New York, NY, USA: Corinth Books, 1970. Second Edition, Second Printing. Softcover. Signed, placed & dated by Allen Ginsberg for Richard Cupidi. "A new sort of line, omitting memories of trees and water-courses and clouds and pleasant glades- as empty of them as Dante Alighieri's Inferno is empty of them- exists today. It is measured by the passage of time without accent, monotonous, useless- unless you are drawn as Dante was to see the truth, undressed, and to sway to a beat that is far removed from the beat of dancing feet but rather finds in the shuffling of human beings in all the stages of their day, the trip to the bathroom, to the stairs of the subway, the steps of the office or factory routine the mystical measure of their passions." (William Carlos Williams, from Introduction, pg. vi) A collection of early poems by Allen Ginsberg (1926-1997), Founding Father of the Beat Generation, which preceded but anticipated the Beat Breakthrough. First published in 1961, five years after "Howl and Other Poems" brought him fame & notoriety, we here offer the second edition of 1970, with altered format & covers. Second printing of this second edition, as noted at copyright page. With an Introduction (quoted above) by William Carlos Williams (1883-1963), the great American poet/physician who was Ginsberg's mentor & supporter, written in 1952 (lengthier but perhaps less memorable than his later famous introduction to H&OP). With all points in Morgan, A5b1.2, pgs. 11-12. At front endpaper/title page, Ginsberg has hand-signed, written, placed & dated in cursive bold black ink: "(signed) Allen/ Ginsberg/ for/ Richard/ Cupidi/ Brighton/ November 16, (19)79." Richard Cupidi (b. 1945), our esteemed mate in the UK, was the manager of the fabled Unicorn Bookstore in Brighton, England founded by Bill Butler (1934-1977, the famed 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, including 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 Ginsberg collectible which, while not in its very rarest contemporary form, is inestimably enriched by Ginsberg's signature, significant addressee & place, & date within the decade of this edition; with most-distinguished, relevant association & provenance. In relatively quite fine condition with light rubbing, faint scratching & a bit of age-toning to front, back covers & spine; slight wear & some tiny bumps, creases at/from edges & corners of same; light rubbing, age-toning & occasional spotting to edges of text block. Interior fine with light age-toning & occasional spotting to blank inner covers; minor bleeding of black ink from Ginsberg's hand-writing onto inner front cover; small price notation in pencil at blank upper right margin of title page (retained as a quaint relic of the Unicorn-Public House era); very slight age-toning to page leaves, chiefly at blank margins/edges; tiny bumps & small, faint creases at esp. upper corners of a few leaves. Fine. [Item #8692]

Price: $200.00 save 15% $170.00