Padgett, Ron

In Advance of the Broken Arm

New York, NY, USA: C Press, 1965. Second Limited Edition. Stapled Sheets. "Now it is over and everyone knew it | The bad grass surrendered in unison and with much emotion | The long-awaited became despised | Everyone got tired and concluded that phase" (opening stanza, "Wind," unpaginated). In Advance of the Broken Arm is the debut poetry collection from American poet, essayist, fiction writer, translator & member of the New York School Ron Padgett (b. 1942), published in 1964 by C Press, the mimeograph press run by Ted Berrigan (1934-1983), a most prominent figure in the second generation of the New York School of poets. Padgett came up in the 1960s alongside poets like Berrigan, Anne Waldman (b. 1945) & Joe Brainard (1942-1994), many of whom had collaborated with visual artists and were steeped in Duchamp, Apollinaire, and the French avant-garde. Berrigan even edited this collection with Brainard contributing the cover design & illustrations. The title is borrowed directly from Marcel Duchamp's 1915 readymade of the same name: a snow shovel Duchamp purchased and signed, one of his earliest and most famous readymades. That borrowing is characteristic of Padgett, who often plays with art-world references, Dada & Surrealist gestures, and the slippage between everyday objects & art. His work tends to be conversational, witty, deceptively casual, and interested in how language itself behaves like a found object, which fits neatly with the Duchamp reference. 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). Stapled Sheets: Second Limited Edition 163 (handwritten)/200 per copyright page. A scarce & highly collectible Padgett poetry collection in its penultimately rarest form, with relevant association & distinguished provenace. In relatively fine condition with moderate age-toning mostly to fine edges of front & back covers; mild bumping & creasing to fine edges & corners of same; occasions of minor spot-staining & rubbing to front cover; mild-to-moderate spot-staining to back cover, mainly at top fine edge of right corner; minor rusting of staples; mild-to-moderate age-toning to text block. Interior fine with mild-to-moderate age-toning mostly to blank margins & fine edges of page leaves; minor bumping/creasing to fine edges & corners of same. Fine. [Item #8973]

Price: $100.00