Jackson, Alan

The Grim Wayfarer

London, England, UK: Fulcrum Press, 1969. First Edition. Hardcover. "Alan Jackson is 30, a Scot, and has lived in Edinburgh all his life. His sharp uncompromising style and wide range of form is highly individual and has earned him a considerable reputation through the pamphlets of his poems published in Scotland but even more through the many readings he has given all over England and Scotland. He is very aware of the importance of reading the poem aloud and was the driving force in setting up the readings which have become a feature of the Edinburgh Festival. This book makes available the poems he wishes to retain from the earlier pamphlets and presents the body of his work over the last two years." (from front flap) An earlier collection of poems by Alan Jackson (b. 1938), the acclaimed & prolific Scottish poet. Published near the end of the decade of the 1960s in which he soared as a regular performer of his work at the legendary, still-ongoing Edinburgh Festival; these poems are exemplary of Jackson's riveting & memorable sui generis style- thoughtful, introspective & philosophical, enriched with atmospheric myth & fantasy. Hardcover in unclipped dust jacket, first (trade) edition of 1969 as stated at copyright page. 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 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. An essential Jackson collectible from the Inspired Zenith of his Poetic Powers; in its rarest contemporary trade form & with highly distinguished, relevant provenance. Book in relatively quite fine-to-very-fine condition with light wear, mild fading & a few tiny bumps, creases at thin margins/edges of purple-cloth front, back covers & spine; light rubbing, age-toning & sparse instances of age-related spotting, spot-staining to edges of text block esp. upper edge. Interior fine-to-very-fine with several small notations hand-written in pencil at blank upper margin of recto second leaf/ shorter title page (retained as a quaint relic of its Unicorn heritage); very slight age-toning to blank margins/edges of page leaves. Dust jacket relatively fine with mild rubbing, faint scratching & mild age-toning, spotting to front, back covers, spine & flaps esp. at margins/edges thereof; a bit of wear & some tiny bumps, creases at/from edges & corners of same. Fine-Very Fine / Fine. [Item #9527]

Price: $40.00 save 10% $36.00