San Francisco, CA: The Print Mint, 1969. First Printing. Stapled Wrappers. From the fevered mind & pen of Robert Crumb comes this iconic underground comix classic. Beckoning the reader to "Plunge into the Depths of Despair," it is the essence of ennui, liberally sprinkled with outrageous sexuality, as only Crumb can depict. A landmark work of the golden age of the counterculture, when all barriers were broken for a turned-on... More about Despair

San Francisco, CA: San Francisco Comic Book Company, 1971. First Printing. Stapled Wrappers. The second number in the series entirely devoted to one of Robert Crumb's most acclaimed underground comic creations- Mr. Natural. With several episodes featuring Flakey Foont, Mr. Natural's protege-sidekick, & much more. An inimitable, ingenious work of the imagination, the epitome of the 1960s counterculture just starting to curdle into disillusionment & self-parody at the beginning of... More about Mr. Natural No. 2

Chicago, IL: The Bijou Publishing Empire, Inc./The Print Mint, 1970. First Printing. Stapled Wrappers. The fourth number of this golden-age exemplar of underground comix features several works by Robert Crumb, including a Mr. Natural episode & "Projunior and Honeybunch" (outrageously scatological even for him); Daniel Clyne, Kim Deitch & Skip Williamson. This is the first printing, indicated by "Hey Kids! Adults Only!" in red lettering above title on front cover;... More about Bijou Funnies No. 4

San Francisco, CA: Apex Novelties/The Print Mint, 1969. First Printing. Stapled Wrappers. This third number of the iconic series of underground comix features the work of Robert Crumb, Rick Griffin, Victor Moscoso, S. Clay Wilson & introduces Gilbert Shelton (the nine-page epic "Wonder Wart-Hog"). The impact of the early Zap Comix cannot be overstated, & continues to resonate in our art & culture. Presented as a "Special 69 Issue" featuring... More about Zap Comix No. 3

San Francisco, CA: The Golden Gate Publishing Company, 1972. First Printing. Stapled Wrappers. The one & only issue of this quintessential production by Robert Crumb, subtitled "A Comic for the Broad Masses!" on front cover. Featuring "Fritz the Cat-"Superstar"" in which his famous feline creation is dispatched by a bird-woman with an ice pick. Legend has it that Crumb wanted to end any further treatments of Fritz after being disappointed... More about The People's Comics

Buffalo, NY: University Press- State University of New York at Buffalo, 1968. First Edition. Softcover. Signed by Editor Allen De Loach on title page; & poet Diane Wakoski below her photograph, opposite her contribution. A collection of works by poets of the lower east side of NYC during the first half of the 1960s, a time & place of legendary literary ferment as the Beat Generation touched off a countercultural... More about The East Side Scene (an anthology of a time and a place

New York, NY: The Viking Press, 1945. First Edition. Hardcover. Signed & inscribed by John O'Hara, author of introduction, to Lauren Bacall in year of publication. The first compilation of writings by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the canonical American author. With two complete novels, The Great Gatsby & Tender is the Night, & nine stories, selected by Dorothy Parker & with an introduction by John O'Hara. This is the first edition... More about The Portable F. Scott Fitzgerald

San Francisco, CA: The Rip Off Press/San Francisco Comic book Company, 1970. First Printing. Stapled Wrappers. The first number in the series of countercultural-psychedelic interpretations of the 1950s EC horror comics. With such horrifically humorous episodes as "Head Before Tail!" written & illustrated by Greg Irons; "The Answer" by Dave Sheridan (a cautionary tale on a most amoral man's search for immortality); "The Intruder" by Jack Jackson & more. This... More about Skull Comics No. 1

New York, NY: Power Mad Press, 1979. First Printing. Softcover. Inscribed & signed by Bob Holman. A collection of poetry by Bob Holman, the acclaimed & prolific practitioner of spoken-word performances associated with the St. Marks Poetry Project in NYC. With photographs of & graphics by the poet along with text. Large-format softcover original. This copy is inscribed, signed & dated in the year of publication by Holman on the... More about Tear to Open (This This This This This This

Philadelphia, PA & New York, NY: J. B. Lippincott Company, 1966. First Edition. Hardcover. "The Crying of Lot 49...is the story of Oedipa Maas, a young woman who finds herself appointed executrix of a former lover's estate. This is annoying enough, but when it leads to the gradual revelation of the secret postal system of the outcasts..."(from rear flap) A first edition of Thomas Pynchon's second novel, published three years... More about The Crying of Lot 49

New York, NY: First Intensity Press, 1995. First Printing. Softcover. Signed by Diane di Prima at her contribution. This early number of the literary journal features a poem, "Serpentine," by Diane di Prima, among the foremost original female members of the Beat Generation. di Prima has hand-signed her name at an upward angle just below the end of the poem on the lower right margin of the page (23). Also... More about First Intensity: A Magazine of New Writing, #5, Summer 1995

New York, NY: Jonathan Cape & Harrison Smith, 1930. First Edition. Hardcover. Signed by Lynd Ward. This is the original first edition/first printing of the novel in woodcut by Lynd Ward (1905-1985). Ward's series of novels in woodcuts, of which this is the second, are now in the canon of the Library of America as a two-volume boxed set. Among those inspired by Ward's wordless novels in pictures was Allen... More about Madman's Drum