Spicer, Jack

The Heads of the Town up to the Aether

San Francisco, CA: The Auerhahn Society, 1962. First Softcover Edition. Sewn Binding. "Poe predicted the Civil War." (pg. 37). Queer poet & co-founder of Six Gallery (the literal birthplace of the Beat Generation) in San Francisco Jack Spicer's (1925-1965) The Heads of the Town up to the Aether is a significant work in the canon of American poetry, particularly within the San Francisco Renaissance. The poem explores themes of incarnation and absence, drawing parallels to Dante Alighieri's (1265-1321) "Divine Comedy." Spicer's approach to language as a medium for recording the poetic process rather than conveying meaning, and his rejection of traditional literary discourse, are key aspects of his poetics. The poem is in three parts ("Homage to Creeley: Explanation Notes," "A Fake Novel About the Life of Arthur Rimbaud" & "A Textbook of Poetry") and presents playful language that records its own process of trying to speak, giving the poem a kind of autonomy. Spicer's dictation is a necessary step in eliminating the central poetic ego, presenting random voices without a narrative frame or objective correlative. Spicer is a tragically overlooked poetic gem in the canon of American poetry, part of the crucial San Francisco Renaissance period that helped shape the Beat Generation. It was Robert Duncan (1919-1988), Kenneth Rexroth (1905-1982), Spicer, & Kenneth Patchen (1911-1972) to a lesser degree that influenced Allen Ginsberg (1926-1997), Jack Kerouac (1922-1969), Gregory Corso (1930-2001), Michael McClure (1932-2020) & Diane di Prima (1934-2020) et al., and somehow the poetry reading public doesn't know this, they were simply left in the dust by the primacy of the Beats. To understand Beat writing it is necessary to understand San Francisco Renaissance poets and writers, and Spicer's The Heads of the Town up to the Aether is one of the better places to start. From the collection of scholar, poet and our dear friend Robin Eichele (b. 1941), noted Mimeograph Revolutionary & co-founder of the Detroit Artists' Workshop with the late, great John Sinclair (1941-2024). Softcover in Sewn Binding: First Softcover Edition per endpage colophon, first printing though not explicated as such at copyright page. A most collectible San Francisco Renaissance/Spice antiquity in one of its rarest contemporary forms with very disinguished provenance. In relatively fine condition with very mild rubbing to front, back covers & spine; mild creasing to spine & to front & back covers; two appx. 1cm enclosed tears to top of spine; mild age-toning & rubbing to text block. Interior fine-to-very fine with mild age-toning mostly to blank margins & fine edges of page leaves; occasions of mild spot-staining to pg. 63 near right & lower fine edges. Fine. [Item #8806]

Price: $250.00