Nuttall, Jeff

Mr. Watkins Got Drunk and Had to Be Carried Home

London, England, UK: Writers Forum, 1968. Second Edition. Stapled Wrappers. "MR WATKINS GOT DRUNK AND HAD TO/ BE CARRIED HOME..."/ a party piece: date 1st Feb. 1964./ SCISSORMAN: JEFF NUTTAL/ from an idea by WILLIAM BURROUGHS/ GUESTS as opposite wrote their own forecasts of/ what would happen PLUS accounts in advance from/ pupils of Ravenscroft School A TAPE RECORDER recorded or did not record the proceedings/ the creative CUTUPRY was done by Jeff Nuttall/ 50 or so copies of the result were prepared/ and presented to guests friends and potential/ publishers THIS PUBLICATION assisted by a/ financial grant from the Arts Council of Great/ Britain is a facsimile of the original hors-/ commerce edition" (from verso first leaf, unpaginated) A most-unique & significant work by Jeff Nuttall (1933-2004), the poet, publisher & Jazz musician who was a legendary 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 contributions 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). Subtitled "A Party Piece Cut-Up by Jeff Nuttall from an Idea by William Burroughs" (front cover), here we have a piece by Nuttall (& Co. per above quote) which originally dates to & is conceptually mentored by the very cut-up works which WSB was then publishing in Nuttall's My Own Mag, at the height of his practice thereof. Chapbook in stapled wrappers, second edition/first edition thus published as "writers forum poets number twenty four," first-&-only printing of September 1968, as noted at title page/recto first leaf. 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 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 productions by WSB, J.G. Ballard, Nuttall 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 which is also now closed, & he still resides there. We have been privileged to obtain what Cupidi has termed "The Last Hurrah," all the remaining gems of 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. A most-scarce & important Nuttall collectible in its penultimately rarest near-contemporary form, second in its WSB-related significance only to the My Own Mag series; with the most highly distinguished, relevant association & provenance. In relatively quite very fine condition with only a touch of rubbing, faint scratching to front, back covers & stapled spine; a hint of wear & a few tiny bumps, creases at edges & corners of same; staples in process of rusting with minimal interior bleeding; light rubbing to edges of text block. Interior very fine with only slight bleeding of letterpress letters, graphics from outer covers onto blank inner covers (as issued); miniscule bumps at corners of a few page leaves. Very Fine. [Item #8984]

Price: $150.00