Nuttall, Jeff

Love Poems

Brighton, England UK: Unicorn Books, 1969. Limited First Edition. Sewn Sheets. Signed by Jeff Nuttall, & with hand-corrections presumably by him. "When it had all been told/ (Afternoon was a virgin/ Drunk and sleeping in the overloaded trees)// When the bitter core was bared/ (Distant road was a mumbling cordon of hornets winking their chrome)// When the long-dead dramas were interred,/ (Sky was empty as an Easter Tomb)// The still unburied body of love/ (Earth was cool with the fragrance of mould)// Was certified dead as a nail/ (The trees caught birds on their twigs)" ("One," first five stanzas, unpaginated) An exemplary collection of dynamic, evocative & uninhibited poems by Jeff Nuttall (1933-2004), the poet, publisher & Jazz musician who was a legendarily larger-than-life figure in the British 1960s counterculture. For our Third Mind Burroughsian purposes, Nuttall is most notable to us for his mid-1960s My Own Mag series which he edited, published & contributed to, & which featured works by canonical Beat-&-Beyond authors- most especially William S. Burroughs (1914-1997), the Great Founding Father of the Beat Generation-&-Beyond who is the very Patron-Icon of our enterprise (see our item No. 8207). Sheets bound in threads, including outer covers with flaps. Per colophon at verso first leaf: "This first and only edition of the Love Poems/ consists of 112 copies, of which there are/ 12 lettered and signed copies/hors commerce/ and 100 numbered and signed copies, numbers 1 to 10/ being reserved for subscribers." This is non-subscription copy No. 62/100 as hand-written in bold black ink below above-quoted colophon, below which Nuttall has hand-written his signature also in bold black ink. Below this is further printed information, then hand-written (presumably by Nuttall) in thinner black ink: "(c) Copyright 1969./ Unicorn Bookshop, Brighton." Additionally, there are several instances throughout of (we presume) Nuttall's hand-written corrections/marginalia, including the printed "Seven" crossed-out & replaced with "Eight," the final stanza from poem "Fifteen" bracketed & with an arrow placed at the beginning of the following poem "Them There Eyes" etc. From the collection of Richard Cupidi (b. 1945), our esteemed mate in the UK who was the manager of the fabled Unicorn Bookshop in Brighton, England (the publishing arm of which created this beautiful production) founded by Bill Butler (1934-1977, the famed American-Expatriate poet, bookseller & publisher). From the late 1960s through the early 1970s, Unicorn proffered & published many outstanding items by WSB, J.G. Ballard, Nuttall et al., some of which have become the scarcest, all-but-unobtainable Beat-&-Beyond collectibles (see also 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 which has also now closed, & he still resides there. We have been honored to obtain what Cupidi has termed "The Last Hurrah, " all the remaining gems from Unicorn & Public House, including this. Third Mind Books proceeds to reverently curate & incrementally present the Butler-Cupidi-Unicorn-Public House Legacy which is in our custodial hands- until it passes to yours. Among the scarcest, most rich & rewarding Nuttall collectibles in its penultimately rarest contemporary form- perhaps singular with not only Nuttall's signature but (presumably) his corrective marginalia; with the highest, most relevant association & provenance. In relatively quite fine-to-very-fine condition with mild-to-moderate fading/sunning esp. to margins/edges of front & back outer covers; very slight wear & some tiny bumps, creases at edges & corners of same & flaps; mild rubbing, age-toning to edges of text block. Interior very fine with only miniscule bumps at corners of a few page leaves. Fine-Very Fine. [Item #8980]

Price: $300.00