[WEBB, Jon Edgar (editor).] The Outsider. New Orleans: Loujon Press. 1968-69.
Two vols bound in one, as issued, 8vo. Original paper covered boards; pp. [ix], 2-191, [7]; extremities slightly rubbed; a very good copy.
First edition.
The combined Volume 4 and 5 is of particular importance to collectors, as it brings together many of Charles Bukowski’s early works at a moment when the periodical was one of his most ardent champions. This distinctive issue was edited and printed – “handset mostly” – at Loujon’s Desert Workshop Printery in Arizona. It is notable for its strikingly personal touches: pressed flowers gathered “inside a mile of Geronimo’s grave” are bound within, while a loosely inserted good-luck charm promises “Something wild will happen in your life that never happened before… if you let it happen”.
The volume is also dedicated to the poet Kenneth Patchen, to whom a substantial 46-page homage is offered. More broadly, the magazine stands as a vibrant testament to the Beat Generation of the early 1960s, championing both male and female voices and featuring contributions by such figures as Diane di Prima, Gregory Corso, Gary Snyder, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Allen Ginsberg, and Jack Kerouac, among others.
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