{"title":"Allen Ginsberg's Centenary Bookshop","description":"\u003cp\u003eTo celebrate Ginsberg’s centenary, our Sotheran’s shop at 8 Cecil Court will become the Allen Ginsberg Centenary Bookshop from 3 to 20 June 2026. We will be swapping our usual stock for books by and about Ginsberg, other members of the Beat Generation (including Burroughs and Kerouac), and the writers who influenced or were influenced by them – from Blake, Whitman and Rimbaud to Patti Smith, Bob Dylan, and a generation of poets who followed. Discover a selection of highlights in celebration of Ginsberg’s centenary below: \u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"allen-donald-m-editor-the-new-american-poetry-1945-1960","title":"ALLEN, Donald M. ( editor ). The New American Poetry. 1945-1960.","description":"\u003ch3 style=\"font-variant: small-caps\"\u003eAllen Ginsberg's Copy\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eALLEN, Donald M. (\u003ci\u003eeditor\u003ci\u003e).\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e The New American Poetry. 1945-1960. \u003ci\u003eNew York: Grove Press Inc., [and] London: Evergreen Books Ltd.\u003c\/i\u003e 1960.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e8vo. Publisher's black cloth, spine and upper board lettered in gilt; in the original illustrated dust wrapper priced $5.95 to the front flap; top edge blue, mustard endpapers; pp. xxiv, 454, [2]; slight toning to wrapper, with a few nicks and light rubbing to extremities; signed without dedication by Donald Allen to the title page, with laid in contract signed by the editor and Allen Ginsberg; internally bright and clean, a fine copy in very good wrapper.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAllen Ginsberg’s copy of Donald M. Allen’s anthology of post-war American poetry, signed by the editor and with Ginsberg’s contract letter laid in, signed by both; the book that introduced Black Mountain, New York School, and Beat poets to an international audience, the anthology was a touchstone and talisman for J. H. Prynne and Andrew Crozier, among others.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFew anthologies are significant books in their own right, and even fewer remain useful and in print sixty-five years after first publication. Donald Allen’s anthology of post-war American poetry is of that select group. Apart from its scope, and inclusion of poets and poems outside the mainstream (many remain outside), available solely in scarce chapbooks, or unpublished, it is the intelligence informing the Allen’s selections, and the juxtapositions between them, that stands out.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs well as introducing a generation of American readers to an extraordinary array of poets, the volume famously brought those poets to the attention of younger writers abroad, notably in England, and specifically in Cambridge, where the book introduced J. H. Prynne, Andrew Crozier and others to figures including Charles Olson (who opens the volume), Ed Dorn, and Robert Creeley, the New York School poets O’Hara, Ashbery and Koch – and not least the Beats. This is Allen Ginsberg’s copy and includes a two-page mimeographed contract, dated September 24, 1958, between Ginsberg and Donald Allen regarding the former’s contribution to the anthology. Signed by both, the contract details royalty terms and Allen's broadly outlined objectives for the collection.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSKU: \u003c\/strong\u003e2120045\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Sotherans","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56420996022649,"sku":"2120045","price":2500.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0045\/2178\/7426\/files\/2120045_06343a3c-0457-4722-8006-3563688cf3dc.jpg?v=1767020937"},{"product_id":"ginsberg-allen-lawrence-ferlinghetti-kenneth-patchen-et-al-the-pocket-poets-series-a-run-of-the-first-25-volumes","title":"[GINSBERG, Allen, Lawrence FERLINGHETTI, Kenneth PATCHEN, et al. ] The Pocket Poets Series. A run of the first 25 volumes.","description":"\u003ch3 style=\"font-variant: small-caps\"\u003ePrinter's ink is the greater explosive - Lawrence Ferlinghetti\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e[GINSBERG, Allen, Lawrence FERLINGHETTI, Kenneth PATCHEN, \u003ci\u003eet al.\u003ci\u003e]\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e The Pocket Poets Series. A run of the first 25 volumes. \u003ci\u003eSan Francisco: The City Lights Bookshop\u003c\/i\u003e. 1955-1968.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTwenty-five volumes; small 8vo. All in original publisher’s typographic card wrappers printed in a variety of colours including yellow, red, blue and green, vols 21 and 22 with cover illustrations\/photographs; some including black-and-white photographs, housed in a custom-made solander box; overall light shelfwear and marking, all minimal; vol. 3 with some light marking to covers, spotting to prelims and outer edge, and toning to spine; vols 5 and 6 with small dampstains to covers; vol. 7 with previous owners ink initials to front cover; vol. 16 spine expertly reinforced; vol. 19 with corner crease to upper cover; vol. 22 with previous ownership name in ink to title; some covers a little rubbed to extremities, others a little toned to the wraps; a remarkably fresh set.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e First editions, first printings, comprising the first twenty-five titles in the Pocket Poets Series, from Ferlinghetti's \u003ci\u003ePictures of the Gone World\u003c\/i\u003e (1955) to Pablo Picasso's \u003ci\u003eHunk of Skin\u003c\/i\u003e (1968).\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIssued by Lawrence Ferlinghetti's City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco, the Pocket Poets Series was one of the most influential publishing ventures of post-war America. Conceived as an inexpensive paperback series that would bring contemporary poetry to a wider audience, it provided an early platform for writers including Frank O'Hara, Kenneth Patchen, Bob Kaufman, Allen Ginsberg, and William Carlos Williams, while helping to define the literary identity of the San Francisco Renaissance and the Beat writers. Its distinctive typographic wrappers, indebted to contemporary political pamphlets and little magazines, became, and remains, one the most recognisable designs in twentieth-century American publishing.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe series began in August 1955 with Ferlinghetti's own \u003ci\u003ePictures of the Gone World\u003c\/i\u003e, a volume whose performative energy and conversational style quickly found an audience in the coffeehouses and improvised venues of San Francisco. Over the next thirteen years, the Pocket Poets Series published many of the defining voices of post-war American poetry, combining avant-garde experimentation with unprecedented accessibility, reaching readers beyond traditional literary circles. Among its most celebrated publications was Ginsberg's \u003ci\u003eHowl and Other Poems\u003c\/i\u003e (1956), the fourth title in the series. Ferlinghetti had first heard Howl performed at the now legendary Six Gallery reading of 7 October 1955, an event often regarded as the symbolic beginning of the Beat movement. Returning home, he sent Ginsberg a telegram echoing Emerson's letter to Whitman: 'I greet you at the beginning of a great career. When do I get the manuscript?'\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe publication of \u003ci\u003eHowl\u003c\/i\u003e brought national attention to both City Lights and the Pocket Poets Series. In 1957 Ferlinghetti and City Lights manager Shigeyoshi Murao were arrested for publishing and selling the book. The ensuing obscenity trial culminated in a ruling that \u003ci\u003eHowl\u003c\/i\u003e was not obscene, a landmark victory against censorship that significantly expanded legal protections for literary expression in the United States and cemented the reputation of both the series and its publisher.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eSee Cherkovski, Ferlinghetti: A Biography (1979); Cook, City Lights Books: A Descriptive Bibliography (1992); Miles, Allen Ginsberg: Beat Poet (2010). \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSKU: \u003c\/strong\u003e2120273\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Sotherans","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57325492666745,"sku":"2120273","price":15000.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0045\/2178\/7426\/files\/2120273.jpg?v=1779607333"},{"product_id":"ginsberg-allen-barry-miles-editor-howl-original-draft-facsimile-transcript-variant-versions-fully-annotated-by-author-with-contemporaneous-correspondence-account-of-first-public-reading-legal-skirmishes-precursor-texts-bibliography","title":"GINSBERG, Allen; Barry MILES ( editor ). Howl: Original Draft Facsimile, Transcript \u0026 Variant Versions, Fully Annotated by Author, with Contemporaneous Correspondence, Account of First Public Reading, Legal Skirmishes, Precursor Texts \u0026 Bibliography.","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGINSBERG, Allen; Barry MILES (\u003ci\u003eeditor\u003ci\u003e).\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e Howl: Original Draft Facsimile, Transcript \u0026amp; Variant Versions, Fully Annotated by Author, with Contemporaneous Correspondence, Account of First Public Reading, Legal Skirmishes, Precursor Texts \u0026amp; Bibliography. \u003ci\u003eNew York: Harper \u0026amp; Row.\u003c\/i\u003e 1986.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e4to. Publisher's oatmeal cloth, spine lettered in gilt, in dust jacket; pp. xiv, 194, illustrated throughout with photographs, facsimile typescripts, and reproduced manuscript material; fine.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFirst edition thus, presenting a comprehensive account of the composition and revision of Ginsberg's era-defining poem; an exceptional association copy, twice inscribed by Ginsberg to the documentary filmmaker Jerry Aronson (b. 1945), and additionally embellished with the author’s sunflower drawings.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePublished to mark the thirtieth anniversary of \u003ci\u003eHowl \u003c\/i\u003e, this volume reproduces the poem's surviving drafts, notebooks, and typescripts, tracing the evolution of one of the defining works of post-war American literature. First issued by City Lights in 1956 as the fourth title in Lawrence Ferlinghetti's Pocket Poets Series, \u003ci\u003eHowl \u003c\/i\u003e transformed Ginsberg's reputation and became one of the central texts of the Beat movement. The successful defence of the book against obscenity charges in 1957 established an important precedent for literary freedom in the United States.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis copy bears two substantial inscriptions to the documentary filmmaker Jerry Aronson, best known for \u003ci\u003eThe Life and Times of Allen Ginsberg \u003c\/i\u003e, first screened at the Sundance Film Festival in 1993. Aronson worked closely with Ginsberg over many years while producing the film, and the present volume preserves evidence of their friendship both before and after its completion. On the verso of the flyleaf Ginsberg writes: ‘Boulder Colorado for Jerry | Aronson | from | Allen Ginsberg | in hope | his love life flourishes better | than my own | at the moment. | March 7 1987 | Aetat 60’; while on the title page he adds: ‘for Jerry Aronson, our film completed, in hope his spiritual heart | love life flourishes as well | as my own this year. | Summer Solstice | June 21, 1996’.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe title page is further embellished with Ginsberg's characteristic sunflower drawings incorporating the letters ‘AH’, an allusion to Blake's poem ‘Ah! Sun-flower’ and, by extension, to Ginsberg's own ‘Sunflower Sutra’. At the base of the flowers appear \u003ci\u003ecalaveras \u003c\/i\u003e, reflecting his longstanding fascination with Mexican culture and spirituality. Taken together, the inscriptions and drawings transform the volume from a documentary record of \u003ci\u003eHowl \u003c\/i\u003e’s composition into a highly personal memento of one of Ginsberg's most significant creative and professional relationships.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSKU: \u003c\/strong\u003e2124437\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Sotherans","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57371432288633,"sku":"2124437","price":600.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0045\/2178\/7426\/files\/2124437.jpg?v=1780488468"},{"product_id":"ginsberg-allen-siesta-in-xbalba-and-return-to-the-states","title":"GINSBERG, Allen. Siesta in Xbalba and Return to the States.","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGINSBERG, Allen.\u003c\/strong\u003e Siesta in Xbalba and Return to the States. \u003ci\u003eIcy Cape, Alaska: Printed by the author\u003c\/i\u003e. 1956\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSmall 4to (204 x 165 mm). Single gathering of twelve leaves, stapled twice to the left margin, the title page serving as upper wrapper, lettered in black; pp. 22; vertical crease through all leaves, small spot to the margins of the first four pages; a remarkably well-preserved example; near fine.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFirst and only edition, one of approximately 52 copies, signed by Allen Ginsberg in black ink to the title page; among the rarest separately published Beat publications, with very few copies remaining in circulation.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOne of an estimated fifty-two copies produced by Ginsberg aboard ship off the coast of Alaska in July 1956. While delayed near Icy Cape awaiting the break-up of sea ice, he gained access to the vessel's mimeograph machine and printed the pamphlet himself between 26 and 27 July, distributing copies among friends and fellow travellers. The unusual circumstances of its production make \u003ci\u003eSiesta in Xbalba\u003c\/i\u003e one of the most elusive publications of Ginsberg's early career.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe poem was written in a school exercise book during Ginsberg's travels through Mexico in April and May 1954 and revised over the following months. Writing to Neal Cassady, he expressed a desire to make something lasting from his experiences in Chiapas. ‘Xbalba’ derives from Xibalba, the underworld of the K'iche' Maya epic \u003ci\u003ePopol Vuh\u003c\/i\u003e, and the poem interweaves Mayan mythology and spirituality with Ginsberg's developing search for transcendence, identity, and poetic vocation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePredating the City Lights publication of \u003ci\u003eHowl and Other Poems\u003c\/i\u003e, the work is dedicated to Karena Shields (born Catherine Mary Plant, 1904–1972), with whom Ginsberg stayed at a cacao finca in the Chiapas jungle during 1954. Part of the poem was composed there, and the title preserves Shields's idiosyncratic spelling of ‘Xibalba’ as ‘Xbalba’. Ginsberg later encouraged Kerouac to seek her out during his own travels in Mexico, suggesting that she might install him in a ‘grass hut alone at village outskirt in the midst of forest’, an invitation that failed to entice him: ‘I don't want to see the Senora – I won't move from Bill's pad. I am hungup and very high on Mexican’.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eNo copies traced in the United Kingdom; not recorded by Library Hub. \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eMorgan A2. \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSKU: \u003c\/strong\u003e2124409\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Sotherans","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57371436482937,"sku":"2124409","price":18500.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0045\/2178\/7426\/files\/2124409.jpg?v=1780488501"},{"product_id":"ginsberg-allen-howl-for-carl-solomon","title":"GINSBERG, Allen. Howl for Carl Solomon.","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGINSBERG, Allen.\u003c\/strong\u003e Howl for Carl Solomon. [\u003ci\u003eNew York: Gotham Book Mart\u003c\/i\u003e]. 1979.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e17 A4 leaves, stapled at the upper corner and printed on rectos only; Gotham Book Mart ink stamp at foot of title page; fine.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAn exceptionally rare, unauthorised reprinting of Ginsberg's first book, produced from the original ditto masters; one of the most elusive items in the Beat bibliography, and one of very few recorded copies bearing the Gotham Book Mart stamp.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis clandestine edition was produced by Gotham Book Mart without Ginsberg's knowledge or permission while an instalment of his papers was being appraised before their transfer to Columbia University (now preserved at Stanford University). Having obtained access to the original ditto masters used to print the first edition, Gotham reportedly produced around one hundred copies before Ginsberg learned of the project and demanded that the entire edition be surrendered to him.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAccording to Ginsberg's bibliographer, Bill Morgan, Gotham informed the poet that most copies had been destroyed and none offered for sale. A small number nevertheless clearly survived, some bearing the Gotham Book Mart stamp on the title page, as here, and others unstamped. Morgan records that the present example is among the few copies returned to Ginsberg and notes that only three stamped copies are known.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe text itself occupies a foundational place in Beat literature. \u003ci\u003eHowl for Carl Solomon\u003c\/i\u003e, Ginsberg's first separately published work, was originally issued in May 1956 in an edition of just twenty-five copies, preceding the first City Lights edition of \u003ci\u003eHowl and Other Poems\u003c\/i\u003e by several months. The Gotham reprint can be distinguished from the original by its violet ink, more precise alignment of the text on the page, and, where present, the Gotham stamp.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eMorgan A1a2.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSKU: \u003c\/strong\u003e2124407\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Sotherans","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57371438219641,"sku":"2124407","price":9000.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0045\/2178\/7426\/files\/2124407.jpg?v=1780488517"},{"product_id":"ginsberg-allen-gregory-corso-allen-ginsberg-reads-his-poetry-recorded-october-25-1956-1-4-inch-reel-to-reel-tape","title":"GINSBERG, Allen; Gregory CORSO. Allen Ginsberg Reads His Poetry. Recorded October 25, 1956 [1\/4-inch reel-to-reel tape].","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGINSBERG, Allen; Gregory CORSO.\u003c\/strong\u003e Allen Ginsberg Reads His Poetry. Recorded October 25, 1956 [1\/4-inch reel-to-reel tape]. \u003ci\u003eBerkeley, CA: Pacific Tape Library.\u003c\/i\u003e 1956 [but after 1963].\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e[offered with]\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGINSBERG, Allen; Gregory CORSO.\u003c\/strong\u003e 'Allen Ginsberg and Gregory Corso: Reading from Their Work': Program for a Poetry Reading at The Poetry Center at the Telegraph Hill Neighborhood Association, 555 Chestnut, Sunday October 21, 1956.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ea) Original 1\/4-inch reel-to-reel audio tape housed in a grey paper-covered lidded box, with Pacifica label affixed to the lower portion and completed in typescript; ownership signature of Brad Wood to lid. Box lightly toned and rubbed. Reel clean and fully playable, professionally tested and transferred (digital copy supplied). The zip code printed on the label indicates that this copy was produced after 1963.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eb) Mimeographed programme, A4 leaf printed on one side only, being the first page of a two-page handout (second page missing, supplied in facsimile).\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAn original Pacifica tape of Allen Ginsberg's first radio broadcast and the earliest known broadcast recording of \u003ci\u003eHowl\u003c\/i\u003e; offered together with a rare programme for a landmark 1956 reading by Ginsberg and Gregory Corso, introduced by Robert Duncan.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAt 10.30 p.m. on 8 December 1956, listeners tuning their radios to KPFA-FM in Berkeley heard a young Allen Ginsberg read from \u003ci\u003eHowl and Other Poems\u003c\/i\u003e, published only weeks earlier by Lawrence Ferlinghetti's City Lights Books. Recorded in the station's studios on 25 October, the programme included three poems from the volume together with the long title poem itself. It was Ginsberg's first appearance on radio and the first broadcast of \u003ci\u003eHowl\u003c\/i\u003e to reach a public audience. Although a recording of portions of a February 1956 reading at Reed College survives, the KPFA programme remains the earliest known radio broadcast of the poem and one of the foundational audio documents of Beat literature.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe significance of the broadcast extends beyond literary history. Bay Area journalist and cultural critic David Lamble later described Ginsberg's appearance on KPFA as ‘the first truly gay broadcast’, a landmark in the public articulation of queer identity through American radio. Yet the occasion was equally important for what it revealed about Pacifica itself. Founded by Lewis Hill, Pacifica sought to transform radio into a medium for cultural exchange, political engagement, and the spoken arts. Poetry occupied a central place in this vision, and KPFA quickly became an indispensable platform for the writers of the San Francisco Renaissance and Beat Generation. Kenneth Rexroth, Robert Duncan, Jack Spicer, Helen Adam, Gary Snyder, Diane di Prima, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, and Ginsberg himself all recognised the possibilities of the relatively new medium.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe recording captures Ginsberg at a particularly revealing moment in the development of his public voice. Introducing \u003ci\u003eHowl\u003c\/i\u003e, he reflects that the poem ‘should be read, the way it should be read, is with people or in front of people’, before proposing ‘to read it quietly and give it a silent chance’. As Lisa Hollenbach has observed, the performance gradually builds from a hesitant and intimate delivery into the incantatory rhythms associated with Ginsberg's later readings. The isolation of the studio setting, removed from the energy of the public poetry reading, lends the recording an unusual emotional intensity, making it one of the most revealing documents of the poet's early career.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOnly months later, \u003ci\u003eHowl and Other Poems\u003c\/i\u003e would become the focus of the celebrated obscenity prosecution against Ferlinghetti and City Lights. KPFA followed the controversy closely and, in June 1957, rebroadcast portions of Ginsberg's recording as part of a programme devoted to the case. At the subsequent trial, the defence cited the station's earlier broadcast as evidence that the poem had already been publicly received as a work of literary and social value.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe accompanying programme preserves an equally important moment in Beat history. Written by Robert Duncan, then assistant director of the Poetry Center, it advertises a reading by Ginsberg and Gregory Corso held on 21 October 1956, four days before the KPFA recording. Duncan enthusiastically describes the event as ‘a historic event’. Despite a large and expectant crowd of more than five hundred, Ginsberg did not read from Howl, as advertised, much to their disappointment.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTogether, the programme and tape document a remarkable week in Beat history, preserving both a contemporary record of the public excitement surrounding Ginsberg and Corso and the earliest broadcast presentation of the poem that would transform American poetry.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eSee Hollenbach, ‘Broadcasting “Howl”’, Modernism\/modernity (2018)\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSKU: \u003c\/strong\u003e2124406\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Sotherans","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57371439923577,"sku":"2124406","price":2750.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0045\/2178\/7426\/files\/2124406.jpg?v=1780488532"},{"product_id":"ginsberg-allen-howl-and-other-poems","title":"GINSBERG, Allen. Howl and other Poems.","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGINSBERG, Allen.\u003c\/strong\u003e Howl and other Poems. \u003ci\u003eSan Francisco: City Lights Books.\u003c\/i\u003e 1956.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e12mo. Publisher’s stiff black wrappers with wraparound white title label lettered in black, priced 75 cents in light blue to the rear cover; saddle-stitched with a single staple; pp. 44; spotting to title label, corners lightly creased; very good.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFirst edition, first impression, identifiable by the presence of Lucien Carr’s name on the dedication page; one of the landmark poetry collections of the twentieth century and a defining work of the Beat Generation.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe fourth title in Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s (1919–2021) Pocket Poets Series, and Allen Ginsberg’s first formally published book, \u003ci\u003eHowl and Other Poems\u003c\/i\u003e stands among the defining works of post-war American literature. The collection opens with the title poem, whose candid treatment of sexuality, drug culture, and mental illness marked a radical break with prevailing poetic conventions. It is followed by several of Ginsberg’s most celebrated early poems, including the Blake-inspired ‘Sunflower Sutra’, ‘America’, and ‘A Supermarket in California’.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePublished in October 1956, the volume became the centre of one of the most consequential censorship cases in modern American literary history. In 1957, Ferlinghetti and Shigeyoshi Murao, manager of City Lights Bookstore, were arrested for publishing and selling the book. The ensuing obscenity trial culminated in a ruling that \u003ci\u003eHowl\u003c\/i\u003e was not obscene, a landmark decision that significantly expanded legal protections for literary freedom and freedom of expression in the United States.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eCook, 4; Morgan, A3.a1.1.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSKU: \u003c\/strong\u003e2124379\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Sotherans","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57371442119033,"sku":"2124379","price":3000.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0045\/2178\/7426\/files\/2124379.jpg?v=1780488549"},{"product_id":"ginsberg-allen-plutonian-ode-1","title":"GINSBERG, Allen. Plutonian Ode.","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGINSBERG, Allen.\u003c\/strong\u003e Plutonian Ode. \u003ci\u003e[Boulder, CO: Renaissance Press.]\u003c\/i\u003e 1978.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOriginal yellow card folder containing four loose sheets, titled in black to the front cover in mock-calligraphic style, printed to rectos only; ff. [4]; fine.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe true first edition, first printing of Ginsberg's anti-nuclear poem; signed and dated by the author in 1978, with a holograph emendation establishing the accepted reading of a key line in the text.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePrinted in an edition of 400 copies, \u003ci\u003ePlutonian Ode\u003c\/i\u003e was distributed free of charge on 3 August 1978 in conjunction with protests against the Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant near Denver, Colorado. Ginsberg composed the poem on the eve of the demonstration, during which he joined protesters occupying railway tracks used for the transport of nuclear materials. Combining political protest, Buddhist meditation, and prophetic lament, the poem stands among the most important achievements of his later career.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIssued for the demonstration itself, this edition precedes the City Lights publication by four years. The present copy is signed and dated by Ginsberg to the verso of the folder and bears his correction in black ink to the second leaf, altering the line from ‘I vocalize \u003ci\u003eyou\u003c\/i\u003e consciousness’ to ‘I vocalize \u003ci\u003eyour \u003c\/i\u003econsciousness’. The emendation establishes the reading subsequently adopted in later printings and editions.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eMorgan A40.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSKU: \u003c\/strong\u003e2121554\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Sotherans","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57371442708857,"sku":"2121554","price":1500.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0045\/2178\/7426\/files\/2121554.jpg?v=1780488564"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0045\/2178\/7426\/collections\/claret_ceddfc1b-95cd-4883-b2e9-7482e83fe55a.jpg?v=1780500798","url":"https:\/\/sotherans.co.uk\/collections\/3junebeat.oembed","provider":"Sotherans","version":"1.0","type":"link"}