Various (Jones, LeRoi (Editor); Burroughs, William S.; Creeley, Robert; Dorn, Edward; Olson, Charles et al.)

Yugen No. 8 (1962)

New York, NY, USA: Totem Press, 1962. First Printing. Stapled Wrappers. "The cut up method brings to writers the collage which has been used by painters for fifty years. And used by the moving and still camera. In fact all street shots from movie or still cameras are by the unpredictable factors of passers by and juxtaposition cut ups. And photographers will tell you that often their best shots are accidents...writers will tell you the same. The best writing seems to be done almost by accident but writers until the cut up method was made explicit- (all writing is in fact cut ups. I will return to this point)- had no way to produce the accident of spontaneity. But you can introduce the unpredictable spontaneous factor with a pair of scissors." (William S. Burroughs, "The Cut Up Method of Brion Gysin," second paragraph, pg. 31) The final issue of the legendary, seminal literary journal at the heart of the Beat Generation & its adjacent movements, edited & with contributions by LeRoi Jones & his then-wife Hettie Cohen Jones (before he became Amiri Baraka & dumped Hettie & their children). Featuring the famous, clearly defined explanatory manifesto on the cut-up method by William S. Burroughs (1914-1997), Founding Father of the Beat Generation-&-Beyond, among the foremost literary & cultural figures of all time, indeed the very Patron-Icon of our Third Mind enterprise. WSB gives credit for the cut-up method to his friend & colleague Brion Gysin (1916-1986)- but us Third Minds know that while Gysin serendipitously discovered cut-ups by inadvertantly slicing newspaper articles, it was WSB who fully understood, articulated & applied the method, with historic results that still resonate. Maynard & Miles, C50, pg. 119; Shoaf, Section III, No. 37, pg. 128; Schottlaender (5.0 Edition), C48, pg. 40. Also in this issue are contributions of poetry & prose by Charles Olson (1910-1970), the Great Black Mountain-&-Beyond Poet's Poet who is our favorite Maximus Obscurantist; his disciples Robert Creeley & Edward Dorn who became immortally influential poets in their own right; & many more. Chapbook-format journal in stapled wrappers, first edition, first-&-only printing. 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 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 honored to obtain what Cupidi has termed "The Last Hurrah," all the remaining treasures of Unicorn & Public House, including this all-important gem. Third Mind Books proceeds to reverently curate & incrementally present the Butler-Cupidi-Unicorn-Public House Legacy that is in our custodial hands- until it passes to yours. A classic Beat-era collectible in its singularly rarest contemporary form; of essential interest to Burroughsians & with most-distinguished, relevant provenance. See also our item No.s 7041, 9274, 9276. In relatively quite very fine condition with only light rubbing, faint scratching to front, back covers & stapled spine; a touch of wear & some tiny bumps, creases at/from edges & corners of same; staples in process of rusting with miniscule exterior & interior bleeding; mild rubbing, occasional spotting & a bit of age-toning to edges of text block. Interior very fine with only the slightest hint of age-toning to inner covers & page leaves, chiefly at blank margins/edges; tiny bumps at corners of some leaves; less-than-minor rusting at middle noted above. Very Fine. [Item #9272]

Price: $250.00