MacBeth, George

The Humming Birds

London, England, UK: Turret Books, 1965. Limited First Edition. Hardcover. Signed by George MacBeth. “I see them break from the rushes, the mist of early morning / vermillion, emerald, chrysolite / and the gold of chalcedony. / Before the rumble of grind-stones, the gobbling of turkeys / whirr of their wings attends the sun rising / in the white air / of the 16th arrondissement / towards the zenith. / And those who have died in child-bearing / will take him down from there / behind the Western Garden. / These are the known companions of the eagle, / Invisible reader. And he among them. / pierced by the shrieking fruit / beside the house of the herons, / whose blood thickens now the stale canals, / rises through my tears, / my son, Crocodile Flower. / In this cold hut / below the unlucky mountains / that make my head swell / on this, perhaps my last, day / (as I would once have written / the Annals of my own house and hedge / praising the sun / in strict metre, for the reed whistle) / but without pictures.” (pg. 28). George Macbeth (1932-1992) was a Scottish poet and novelist. Known for works like: A Form of Words (1954); Lecture to the Trainees (1962); Missile Commander (1965); The Survivor (1977); and The Lion of Pescara (1984), among many other novels, collections of poetry, and non-fiction works. Offered today is the 1965 half-play, half-poem, The Humming Birds. A winding, experimental skein comprised of colonialism, history and folklore & religion, The Humming Birds is an odd, yet gorgeously presented work. Full color plates, colorful text, and avant-garde composition come together in this wonderfully absurd package that is The Humming Birds. Macbeth’s Shakespeare-meets-Rimbaud-meets-Nabokov style is at once tightly composed & minimalist in its language, while at the same time is wildly arranged & maximalist in its literary richness. From the collection of Richard Cupidi (b. 1945), our esteemed mate in the UK who managed the legendary Unicorn Bookshop in Brighton, England with Bill Butler (1934-1977, the famed American-expatriate poet, publisher & bookseller). From the late 1960s through the early 1970s, Unicorn proffered & published 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 rarities of Unicorn & Public House such as this. Signed & numbered in thick black ink at page 27 by the author. Hardcover. Limited first edition, No. 47 of 50 signed and numbered copies as stated at front cover. In relatively fine condition with moderate wear to fine edges, pages 27-34 have come away from binding, mild discoloration due to age-toning to interior and exterior, moderate smudging/staining/scratching/spotting to front and back covers, and slight warping to front cover. Fine. [Item #8888]

Price: $80.00