Ginsberg, Allen (Cupidi, Richard)

The Gates of Wrath: Rhymed Poems 1948-1952

ISBN: 0912516011
Bolinas, CA: Grey Fox Press, 1972. First Trade Softcover Edition, Second Printing. Softcover. Signed, placed & dated by Allen Ginsberg for Richard Cupidi. “Dear Doctor: in spite of the grey secrecy of time and my own self-shuttering doubts in these youthful rainy days, I would like to make my presence in Paterson known to you, and I hope you will welcome this from me, an unknown young poet, to you, an unknown old poet, who live in the same rusty county of the world.” (Allen Ginsberg, “A Prefatory Letter” [to William Carlos Williams], March 1949). So reads the opening portion of the great Beat poet, Allen Ginsberg’s (1926-1997) letter of March 1949 to the great American Modernist poet, William Carlos Williams (1883-1963). Williams and Ginsberg were of course fellow Paterson, New Jersey natives and the elder Williams took an interest in the young Ginsberg, who at the time was very caught up in writing rhymed quatrains of metaphysical import that echoed those penned by English poet William Blake (1757-1827). Ginsberg’s early rhymed poems, written between 1948 and 1951, are often overlooked in favor of his later, more experimental work. However, the poems in The Gates of Wrath: Rhymed Poems 1948-1952 (Morgan, a1.2, pg. 39) provide a crucial link between Ginsberg’s early influences and his later, more famous works such as Howl and Kaddish (See Item No.s 8589 & 8786 for examples). While the poems in this volume don’t approach the greatness he would later attain, as Williams himself said, “In this mode, perfection is basic,” — they are nevertheless extremely important to the Beat lore and key to understanding Ginsberg's poetic development & the Beat Generation's larger literary arc. 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 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. At title page, beneath printed title, Ginsberg has signed, placed & dated in jet black ink to Cupidi: "(signed) Allen Ginsberg | for Richard Cupidi | Brighton 1979." First Trade Softcover Edition: "Second Printing," per copyright page. A highly collectible Ginsberg antiquity in one of its rarest contemporary forms with extremely relevant association & very distinguished provenance, greatly enhanced by Ginsberg's signature, placement & date. See also our Item No. 7159. In relatively fine-to-very fine condition with minor rubbing, age-toning, scratching & some light bumping to front, back covers & spine; slight wear & some tiny bumps, creases at/from edges & corners of same; minor 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. Fine-Very Fine. [Item #8694]

Price: $200.00 save 15% $170.00