Nuttall, Jeff

Man Not Man

ISBN: 0856590223
Carmaryhen, Wales: Unicorn Bookshop, 1975. First Edition. Softcover. "In '68 the revolution failed. The revolution I mean is the one that sprang directly out of poetic vision. I think it failed because its links were faulty. (opening sentences, introduction). Man Not Man is a short work by poet, artist, jazz musician, novelist, social commentator, critic & teacher Jeff Nuttall (1933-2004), published in May 1975 by the small British countercultual imprint Unicorn Bookshop. Nuttall was a key figure in the British countercultural movement of the 1960s, publishing one of the first underground magazines "My Own Mag" (See Item No. 8207 for the 17th & last issue of "My Own Mag"), a defining feature of the movement. Published seven years after Nuttall's Bomb Culture, which had been the definitive manifesto-cum-autopsy of the British underground that reflected the influence of the threat of nuclear war, while describing the importance of pop music like the Beatles and countercultural figures like the Beat Generation, Man Not Man moved decisively away from the optimism of Bomb Culture, with Nuttall's writing turning toward the body, bawdiness, mortality & a suspicion that the counterculture had failed by becoming a lifestyle market rather than a liberation. The title Man Not Man echoes his recurring concern with the de-humanising of the human with the sense that modern mass society, technology, and even the counterculture itself had produced a creature that looked like a man but wasn't one. Nuttall believed in the liberatory power of imagination and affect, and he hoped his book could help bring about social change. Widely considered another manifesto, Man Not Man remains a primary source & proclamation for the post-Hiroshima generation. From the collection of Richard Cupidi (b. 1945), our esteemed mate in the UK who managed the aforementioned 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 (1914-1997), J.G. Ballard (1930-2009) 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 gems of Unicorn & Public House, including this sparkler. Softcover Original: First Edition, first & only printing though not explicated as such at copyright page. A highly collectible Nuttall anti nuclear weapon proliferation commentary in its only form, with extremely relevant association & very distinguished provenance. In relatively fine-to-very fine condition with mild-to-moderate age-toning mostly to fine edges of front, back covers & spine; mild rubbing, scratching & bumping of corners to same; mild age-toning to text block; several occasions of very minute spot-staining to top & bottom of same. Interior relatively fine-to-very fine with mild age-toning mostly to blank margins & fine edges of page leaves; minor bumping of corners to some of same. Fine-Very Fine. [Item #8934]

Price: $75.00