Twentieth Century Alchemist

Legal Highs: A Concise Encyclopedia of Legal Herbs and Chemicals with Psychoactive Properties

San Francisco, CA: Level Press, 1973. First Edition. Staplebound. "where to obtain them | how to use them | what are their effects." (front cover). Legal Highs: A Concise Encyclopedia of Legal Herbs and Chemicals with Psychoactive Properties is a 1970s underground reference pamphlet cataloging roughly 100 plants and chemicals with psychoactive effects that were, at the time of writing, unscheduled. Entries are organized alphabetically, each covering common and botanical name, chemical constituents, effects, dosage, and (importantly for the era) where to obtain the material. The introduction carries a disclaimer that nothing illegal is being promoted, which is the whole conceit: the book's premise is the gap between pharmacology and legislation. "Produced by the Twentieth Century Alchemist" is the author credit; Adam Gottlieb (likely a pseudonym) is the author. Twentieth Century Alchemist was an imprint run out of San Francisco from roughly 1973 through the mid-1980s and produced all of Gottlieb's DIY pharmacology books in the Twentieth Century Alchemist Series, including titles Growing the Hallucinogens, Peyote and Other Psychoactive Cacti & Dr. Atomic's Marijuana Multiplier. Legal Highs belongs to the Whole Earth/Anarchist Cookbook lineage of cheaply produced practical literature banned by the state; it was information as counterculture infrastructure, priced to be disposable. It also documents a specific legislative moment: the post-Controlled Substances Act (1970) period when scheduling was substance-by-substance and enthusiasts read the statute as a map of what remained open. Much of what Gottlieb lists was subsequently scheduled or restricted, which makes the book a historical legal snapshot rather than a current guide. Beat Generation devotees will recognize that Legal Highs is downstream of William S. Burroughs' (1914-1997) drug-ethnobotany writing (See Ali's Smile, Item No. 8217) and of Allen Ginsberg's (1926-1997) & Ed Sanders' (b. 1939) LEMAR (Legalize Marijuana)-era legalization activism. The practical drug manual as a genre trend grew out of the Beat movement treating pharmacology as literary and political material. From the collection of Richard Cupidi (b. 1945), our esteemed mate in the UK who managed the fabled Unicorn Bookshop in Brighton, England for founder 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 the aforementioned WSB, J.G. Ballard (1930-2009) 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 gems of Unicorn & Public House, including this nugget. Chapbook in Stapled Wrappers: First Edition, first printing though neither explicated as such at copyright page. A highly collectible relic of its time in its rarest contemporary form plastered with relevant association & very distinguished provenance. In relatively fine-to-very fine condition with mild age-toning, rubbing & scratching to front, back covers & spine; mild-to-moderate spot-staining to front cover near top of spine; mild rusting of staples; mild age-toning, rubbing & spot-staining to text block; Interior fine-to-very fine with mild age-toning mostly to blank margins & fine edges of page leaves; occasions of very mild spot-staining mostly along bottom fine edges & near spine of pages 14-19; at top corner of title page, Third Mind Books has retained the quaint original price of "£ 1." handwritten in pencil. Fine-Very Fine. [Item #9282]

Price: $80.00