GINSBERG, Allen. Kaddish and other poems 1958-1960. San Francisco: City Lights Books. After 1961.
Small 4to. Perfect bound black and white wrappers, black lettering to spine, black and white lettering to upper and lower wrapper, price of $1.50 to top left corner of lower wrapper; pp. 100; wear and creasing to spine, minor sunning to wrappers, internally clean; near fine.
Later printing.
Kaddish is Allen Ginsberg's second collection of poetry to be published, after Howl in 1956. The title refers to the Jewish mourning prayer of the same name and is dedicated to his mother, Naomi Ginsberg. At his mother's funeral the kaddish could not be recited as the funeral was done on short notice, which meant there were not enough Jewish men (a minyan) to perform the rite. In her final letter to her son, which arrived after her death, she wrote: "I hope you are not taking any drugs as suggested by your poetry", an ironic request, which Ginsberg references in the poem itself.
Seven line printing notice to rear cover, indicating that this is a later printing
(Cook, A30)
(Morgan, p. 219-220)
SKU: 2120389