Rothenberg, Jerome

The Gorky Poems/ Poemas a Gorky

Mexico City, Mexico: El Corno Emplumado, 1966. Limited First Edition. Softcover. “He is blood, himself / the killer / is where the sun goes down, / Will he flex his arm, will / the fingers / narrow, make a fist around / the bauble, crush it? / Dust is his. / The entry into light / the courtyard / white with marble veins / & suicides / the perfect edge for sleep. / Count the numbers. / Call the monster green / the little eggs / the wind-cups / everything is far from him. / His blood is far from him / & makes a circle, poisons / where it falls / the country dies from it. / Sweet smelling flesh / sweet dung / sweet tumor in the eye / sweet bauble: / as the fish are lanterns / upon waves / & light the sea for him.”--Jerome Rothenberg, “The Water of the Flowery Mill (II),” pg. 24. Jerome Rothenberg (1931-2024) was an American poet, anthologist, translator, and noted pioneer in the fields of ethnopoetics and performance poetry. Rothenberg has authored or edited more than 70 books of poetry, including Poland/1931 (New Directions, 1974), That Dada Strain (New Directions, 1983), Khurbn (New Directions, 1989), A Poem of Miracles (Word Palace Press, 2013), Poems for the Millennium (University of California Press, 1995), and Shaking the Pumpkin: Traditional Poetry of the Indian North Americas (Station Hill, reprinted 2014). Rothenberg has received grants from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. His awards include two PEN Oakland Josephine Miles Literary Awards, two PEN Center USA West Translation Awards, and the San Diego Public Library Local Author Lifetime Achievement Award. Some of Rothenberg’s books, booklets, and poetry pamphlets have been translated into Spanish, French, Dutch, Finnish, Flemish, German, Polish, Swedish, and Portuguese. Offered today is the 1966, bi-lingual, The Gorky Poems/Poemas a Gorky. Released in 1966, this work represents a pivotal moment in the career of a major American poet whose investigative, transnational work as a poet, editor, translator, and writer has continued to break new ground and influence readers, writers, and scholars of poetry. It also offers a glimpse into the international and politicized aesthetics of its publisher, El Corno Emplumado (The Plumed Horn), an influential literary magazine and book imprint that provided rare opportunities for innovative writers and artists of different cultures from around the world to discover each other. The Gorky Poems was released by the Mexico City–based El Corno Emplumado as a Spanish-English bilingual volume. This book’s dual-language aspect situates it, along with other El Corno publications, as a bridge between the political, social, and literary movements that spanned two hemispheres. Emblematic of the entrepreneurial spirit of the Mimeo Revolution, when poets started their own presses with the self-conscious agenda of working outside of mainstream publishing channels, El Corno was founded in 1962 by American poet Margaret Randall and Mexican poet Sergio Mondragón. El Corno became a preeminent vehicle for global exchange. The title of the collection references the acclaimed Armenian-American artist Arshile Gorky (1904-1948). After being uprooted by the Armenian genocide and following his mother’s death from starvation, Gorky emigrated to America and eventually settled in New York City in 1924. Influenced by Surrealism, he became a leading early figure of Abstract Expressionism. He committed suicide in 1948. The cover of The Gorky Poems features a painting by the artist, and the collection opens with a quote by him, which references “Mougouch,” his nickname for his second wife, née Agnes Magruder. From the collection of Richard Cupidi (b. 1945), our esteemed mate in the UK who managed the fabled Unicorn Bookshop in Brighton, England with 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, 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 treasures of Unicorn & Public House, including this gem. Limited first softcover edition one of “1000 copies” as stated at colophon. In relatively fine-very fine condition, with minor wear to fine edges, moderate smudging/scratching to front and back covers, and mild discoloration due to age-toning to exterior and throughout interior. Fine-Very Fine. [Item #9092]

Price: $45.00