Einzig, Barbara

Broadside: Mountains As Seen from Tuolome Meadows, Yosemite

n/p: n/p, n/d. First Edition. Single Sheet. Barbara Einzig is a writer, poet, and translator from the San Francisco Bay Area and New York City who associated with the bicoastal schools of writers and artists who were mingling and creating together in the 1970s and 1980s. Her works have been included in numerous anthologies, including Andrei Codrescu’s American Poets Say Goodbye to the 20th Century (1996). She has received various honors, including a New York State Fellowship in poetry, the Pushcart Prize in fiction, and a residency from the Edward Albee Foundation. This broadside has no reference to publisher or publication year, so it remains a mystery when and where it was printed. The reference in the title to "Tuolome (sic) Meadows, Yosemite," places it in northern California, east of San Francisco. Tuolomne Meadows and Tuolumne Peak are part of the Yosemite National Park region, and there are mountains surrounding the meadows on all sides. A devastating wildfire tore through the area in 1987, scorching 375,000 acres in California, 100,000 of which were in Tuolumne County. This was the largest wildfire in the region until 2004, so it's very possible that this poem is a reflection on the turmoil and chaos of the evacuation and firefighting efforts during this time. The four lines and five columns of this piece are meant "to be chanted in different orders, ending with a vertical reading," according to the parenthetical note below the title. This style is reminiscent, possibly inspired by, the Burroughsian Cut-Up method, the experimental style that William S. Burroughs (1914-1997) pioneered with his Nova Trilogy which began with The Soft Machine in 1961. Given Einzig's presence in the regions frequented by various Beats and Beat-adjacent writers, there is a likelihood that she met Burroughs or at least admired his work. From the collection of Albert Glover (1942-2026), the great American scholar, bibliographer, author & publisher who was the primary authority on literary giant Charles Olson (our favorite Maximus Obscurantist), with whom we're honored to have been acquainted. Single sheet (appx. 17" x 11"): presumed first edition, first printing, due to its provenance, though no reference to either is present. In relatively good-to-near-fine condition with mild-to-moderate age-toning, mild creasing in 4 spots rising from bottom edge periodically; very mild bumping, creasing to the fine edges and corners; very mild spotting/rubbing to recto in upper left corner; verso is mostly clean with only a couple very small instances of spotting. Good-Near Fine. [Item #8820]

Price: $80.00