Various (Blazek, Douglas (Editor); Bukowski, Charles; Eigner, Larry; levy, d.a.; Norse, Harold; Wantling, William et al.)

Olé No. 2 (March 1965)

Bensenville, IL: Douglas Blazek (Open Skull Press), 1965. First Printing. Stapled Wrappers. "In the days when I thought I was a genius and starved and nobody published me I used to waste much more time in the libraries than I do now. It was best to get an empty table where the sun came through the window and get the sun on my neck and the back of my head and my hands and then I did not feel so bad that all the books were dull in their red and orange and green and blue sitting there like mockeries." (Charles Bukowski, "A Rambling Essay on Poetics and the Bleeding Life Written While Drinking a Six-Pack (Tall)," first sentences, unpaginated) The vintage second number of the quintessential Mimeograph-Revolutionary literary journal "For Poets Only" (front cover) edited & with contributions by Douglas Blazek (b. 1941), the legendary Polish-American poet & editor who was a key founder & exponent of that critical movement so crucial to the Third Mind twentieth-century literary legacy. Featuring an incendiary, life-loathing diatribe that lives up to its title by Charles Bukowski (1920-1994), the cult-favorite poet-denizen of the dive bar & the racetrack. Debritto, B182, pg. 150. Also in this issue are contributions of poetry & prose by Larry Eigner, d.a. levy, Harold Norse, William Wantling & others most-revered by us & our constituency. The aesthetics here are purest MR with rough-looking page leaves in different colors; & the content leans heavily to self-&-kindred-publisher promotion. As its motto at bottom of (what passes for) copyright page states: "DEDICATED TO THE CAUSE/ OF MAKING POETRY DANGEROUS." Chapbook-format journal in stapled wrappers, first-&-only printing, complete with loose promotional/mail ordering sheet for MR publications by Bukowski & Wantling, printed on verso only & folded once horizontally in relatively very fine condition with light age-toning & a touch of edge/corner wear. 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 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 which has also now closed, & he still resides there. We have been privileged 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. An extremely scarce, absolutely essential MR-literary relic of very special interest to the Bukowski collector-completist; in its singularly rarest contemporary form & with the most highly distinguished, relevant provenance. See also our item No.s 9127, 9372. In relatively quite very fine condition with only light rubbing, age-toning (esp. at/near edges), faint scratching & occasional spotting to front, back covers & stapled spine; a bit of wear & a few tiny bumps, creases at edges & corners of same; staples in process of rusting with minimal exterior & interior bleeding; light rubbing, age-toning to edges of text block. Interior very fine with only very light age-toning to blank inner covers & page leaves, chiefly at blank thin margins/edges; tiny bumps, faint creases at corners & occasionally upper edges of a few leaves. Very Fine. [Item #9374]

Price: $100.00 save 10% $90.00