William S. Burroughs, 2003. Milan, Italy: Adelphi Edizione, 2003. First Italian Edition Thus. Softcover. This Italian translation of The Soft Machine is the first edition issued by this publisher, & is therefore a first edition thus. First published by Olympia Press in Paris in 1961, TSM is another high cut-up production in the wake of Naked Lunch, influenced by Brion Gysin's observation that "writing is fifty years behind painting" in... More about La macchina morbida

Paris, France: Christian Bourgois Editeur, 1972. First Edition Thus. Softcover. This is the first translation from English into French of William S. Burroughs' mid-career work based on the transcribed words spoken by the American gangster Dutch Schultz on his deathbed in 1935, after being ambushed & shot along with his associates. Written as the script of a prospective film treatment, it was first published in a limited edition in the... More about Les Derniers Mos de Dutch Schultz (First French Edition of The Last Words of Dutch Schultz

Tokyo, Japan: The English Agency (Japan) Ltd./ Shichosha, 1992. First Edition Thus. Softcover. The first Japanese language edition of William S. Burroughs' classic collection of short pieces (or "routines"), including "The Thanksgiving Prayer," recited & recorded for posterity by the author in his inimitable manner. Originally published in the USA during 1989 by Cherry Valley Editions, the imprint of Charles Plymell & his wife, Pamela Beach Plymell. With the two... More about Tornado Alley (First Japanese Edition

Berlin, Germany: Druckhaus Galrev, 1994. First Edition Thus. Softcover. The first German-language edition of William S. Burroughs' classic late work, published two years after the first American trade edition. WSB had a life-long fondness for & deep interest in felines. This writer recalls his furry friends joining me on the couch as I sat opposite the Beat-&-Beyond icon at his home; & we stood at the grave of Ruski, his..... More about The Cat Inside (First German Edition

Milan, Italy: Adelphi Edizione, 2009. First Italian Edition Thus. Softcover. This Italian translation of The Ticket That Exploded is the first edition issued by this publisher, & is therefore a First Edition Thus. Originally released in 1962 by the legendary Olympia Press in Paris, & with many subsequent editions in the U.S., U.K. & elsewhere, TTTE is a cut-up novel from the period following the breakthrough of Naked Lunch, where... More about Il biglietto che esplose

Milan, Italy: Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, 1965. First Edition. Softcover. An early essay on the work of Allen Ginsberg by the great Italian translator, critic & scholar Fernanda Pivano (1917-2009). Written in spring 1964 & published in this stated first edition of December 1965. Pivano translated Ginsberg's major poems into Italian, including Howl, which ushered the Beat Generation into popular consciousness & from which the term "Hydrogen Jukebox" is taken for... More about Allen Ginsberg, Jukebox All'Idrogeno: a cura di Fernanda Pivano

Paris, France: Christian Bourgois, 1980. First French Softcover Edition Thus, First (?) Printing. Softcover. Two of Allen Ginsberg's most important poems, Howl & Kaddish, in one bilingual edition published in France. With English text on left pages & French translation on right pages. English text corrected by Ginsberg in 1976 for this edition; translations into French by Robert Cordier & Jean-Jaques Lebel, with the collaboration of Christine Tysh. There is... More about Howl; Kaddish (French Edition

Tel Aviv, Israel: Am Oved Publishers Ltd., 2000. First Edition Thus, Second Printing. Softcover. A rare Hebrew-language edition of Kaddish, Allen Ginsberg's Beat Generation masterpiece alongside Howl. With the iconic title poem, & then a selection of poems through 1984, none of which appear to include those originally included along with Kaddish in the original City Lights Pocket Poets Series edition first published in 1961. With English & Hebrew texts... More about Kaddish and Other Poems (1958-1984) (Hebrew Edition

Quebec, Canada: Secretariat Permanent des Peuples Francophones, 1988. First Printing. Staplebound. The April 1988 issue of the Kerouac-related periodical published in Quebec. With articles in mostly French, occasionally English text, all concerning Kerouac except one about Charles Bukowski. illustrations, & a wonderful ad for the Naropa Institute in Boulder, CO on pg. 19 about its summer program that year- the list of faculty is a whos-who of eminent Beat icons... More about N'importe quelle route: Bulletin du Club Jack Kerouac, Vol. 2, No. 1

Chicago, IL: Bordighera Incorporated, 1994. First Printing. Softcover. This number of the literary & cultural review of Italian-Americana features the poem "Sicilian Suite" by Diane di Prima, among the foremost female members of the original Beat Generation. Also several poems by Amiri Baraka (formerly LeRoi Jones) in a "Guest Spot" department apparently reserved for non-Italian-Americans, including "Monk's World," a tribute to Jazz giant Thelonious Monk; a tribute to the great... More about VIA: Voices in Italian Americana