Arcana:

(ANKH). Cropsey, Charles & Ed Lange, Editors. Los Angeles. 1967-1968.: Elysium Inc., Publishers. First Edition. 4to. Stapled Pictorial Wrappers. Nudist Periodical. Fine.. 70 + 70 + 66 + 66pp, profusely illustrated in color and b&w. Published by Los Angeles' last great nudist haven, The Elysium Institute, "Ankh" is arguably the most awesome of all the under the counter Hippie psychedelic magazines of the late sixties. Full-frontally illustrated throughout with photographs of well adjusted, hirsute sun worshippers in their teens and twenties (including the always photogenic Michelle Angelo) by the likes of Ed Lange, Walter Chappell, William Rotsler, and Russell Gay, the reader can all but smell the suntan lotion and Patchouli oil. Included are pictorials on communes, nudist colonies, and light shows along with articles such as "Sex in The Sun", "Group Therapy in the Nude" "What Hath God / LSD / God Wrought?", "Thoreau: The First Hippie", and the two-part "Barry McGuire (!) on Sex". A bright, spectacularly well-preserved run of the first four issues of this obscure crowd pleaser. PLEASE NOTE: Due to the explicit nature of some of the content here, you must be at least eighteen years of age to order this item. Inventory Number: 026483

(BERMAN, WALLACE). Glicksman, Hal, Walter Hopps, Robert Duncan & David Meltzer. Los Angeles: Fellows of Contemporary Art & Otis Art Institute Gallery, 1978. First Edition. 4to. Pictorial Wrappers. Artist Monograph. Very Good.. 118pp, profusely illustrated in b&w and color. Designed by Jerry McMillan. This is the comprehensive catalogue on the work of the beloved pioneering Los Angeles beat, collage, and assemblage artist Wallace Berman published in conjunction with a posthumous 1978 retrospective exhibition sponsored by the Fellows of Contemporary Art and the Otis Art Institute Gallery that traveled to The Fort Worth Art Museum, University Art Museum at UC Berkeley, and the Seattle Art Museum. A most handsome example of this important document showing some soft creasing to the bottom foredge tips of the textblock. It has been priced accordingly. LC 78-70599 Inventory Number: 025866

(BERMAN, WALLACE) (SEMINA). Berman, Wallace. Larkspur, CA: Self-Published, 1961. First Edition 1/200. 8vo. Chipboard Portfolio. Artist's Periodical. Good.. np, 18 individual inserts printed offset on cardstock or paper housed a printed paper pocket, 11 monochrome illustrations + front cover. This seventh installment of "Semina" - Wallace Berman's legendary, and legendarily scarce handmade literary and art periodical - is subtitled "Aleph". Published in Larkspur in 1961, unlike its predecessors that anthologized work from the movers and shakers of the West Coast Beat scene, this number is entirely devoted entirely to contributions by Berman himself. It is comprised of eighteen loose reproductions of photographs, drawings, and text - many of which combine these elements. A complete, internally handsome example of this exceedingly uncommon item limited to two hundred unnumbered copies. The eleven photographic reproductions on cardstock are bright and fresh, while several of the text pieces printed on matte paper show typical minor soiling, offsetting, and age-toning. The printed white pocket into which these are gathered is still securely affixed to the inside rear cover. Externally, the title pastedown on the front cover shows some mild rubbing and foxing, and the brittle, highly acidic chipboard covers have light overall wear, age-toning, and soiling. More notably, the covers have separated cleanly along the length of the spine, and there are two triangular chips of paper loss along the bottom edge - one on the rear at the heel of the spine, and a tiny one at the foredge front corner. Both detached fragments are present, and we have decided to let the next owner deal with their preferences for any paper restoration. All in all, this is a most presentable copy of a truly remarkable Wallace Berman item that looks far nicer in hand than it describes that has been priced accordingly. Inventory Number: 026125

(BERMAN, WALLACE) (SEMINA). McKenna, Kristine, Michael Duncan, Stephen Fredman & Raymond Foye. Foreword by Elsa Longhauser. New York & Santa Monica, CA. 2005 (2015).: D.A.P. (Distributed Art Publishers) & Santa Monica Museum of Art, 2005. First Edition. 4to. Pictorial Boards. Artist Monograph. As New/No Jacket - As Issued. 384pp, profusely illustrated in color and b&w. Designed by Lorraine Wild and Stuart Smith, Green Dragon Office. With a chronology and exhibition checklist. "The quintessential visual artist of the Beat era, Wallace Berman (1926-1976) remains one of the best kept secrets of the late 20th century. A crucial figure in California's postwar underground, Berman was a catalyst who traveled through many different worlds, transferring ideas and dreams from one circle to the next. His larger community is the subject of "Semina Culture: Wallace Berman & His Circle", the hardbound catalogue to a traveling exhibition organized by the Santa Monica Museum of Art including previously unexhibited works by fifty-two artists. Anchoring this publication is "Semina", a free-form art and poetry journal that Berman published in nine issues between 1955 and 1964. Although privately made and distributed to a mere handful of friends and sympathizers, it was a brilliant compendium of the most interesting artists and poets of its time. Showcasing the individuals who came to define a still potent strand of post-war beat counter-culture, Semina Culture subtly outlines the energies, values, and foibles of this fascinating circle. Also reproduced here are works by various artists and writers who appear in Berman's own photographs - many of which were recently developed from vintage negatives and will be seen here for the first time. Edited by Michael Duncan and Kristine McKenna, it includes paintings and drawings by Cameron, John Altoon, Jay DeFeo, Bruce Conner and Joan Brown; collages and assemblages by Robert Alexander, Stuart Perkoff, John Reed, George Herms and Jess; poetry by Robert Duncan, David Meltzer, Philip Lamantia and John Wieners; and photographs by Charles Brittin, Walter Hopps and Patricia Jordan". A brand new, pristine example of the uncommon 2005 first edition of this beautifully designed, extraordinary document still in the publisher's shrinkwrap. 1-933045-10-8 Inventory Number: 023223

(CLARK, LARRY). Clark Larry. Hancock, NH: Lustrum Limited Editions & Colloquium, Inc., 1974. First Edition. 16mo. Stapled Pictorial Wrappers. Publisher's Prospectus. Fine.. np (12pp), 9 b&w illustrations + b&w cover. In a protective clear acetate dustwrapper. Long before "Kids", "Another Day in Paradise" and "Bully", Larry Clark's groundbreaking first book was the real thing. A gritty, voyeuristic photo essay of the author's life amongst youthful petty criminals and drug addicts in Oklahoma, "Tulsa" forever changed the landscape of acceptability for the photographic book in the latter half of the 20th Century. The 1971 first edition is cited on page 260 of Martin Parr and Gerry Badger's "The Photobook: A History Volume I", pages 272-73 of The Hasselblad Center's "The Open Book", page 25 of "From Fair to Fine: 20th Century Photography Books That Matter", and pages 208-09 of "The Book of 101 Books". A bright, most handsome example of this exceedingly uncommon, tiny (5 ½ x 4 ¼") ephemeral item that was the pre-publication prospectus for the 1974 Lustrum Limited Editions and Colloquium, Inc. portfolio limited to fifty copies containing ten photographic prints from Larry Clark's "Tulsa". Inventory Number: 025838

(CLARK, LARRY). Clark Larry. Zurich, SWITZERLAND & Milan, ITALY: Nieves & Le Case D'Arte, 2006. First Edition 1/150. 8vo. Stapled Pictorial Wrappers. Photography Monograph. Fine. np (18pp), 12 b&w illustrations + b&w cover. In a protective clear acetate dustwrapper. This is the first of two slender catalogues published as part of the Nieves "Zine" series on the occasion of the 2006 exhibition of work by Larry Clark held at the Le Case D'Arte in Milan. Issued without text, it contains images from Clark's landmark "Tulsa" series. A brand new, pristine example of this exceedingly uncommon item limited to one hundred and fifty copies NUMBERED (132/150) on the rear cover in pencil, as issued. Inventory Number: 020751

(DE GEER, KARL JOHAN).Kugelberg, Johan. New York: Ectoplasm Books, 2009. First Edition. Oblong Small 4to. Boards in Pictorial Jacket. Photography Monograph. As New/As New. np (60pp), profusely illustrated in b&w. Designed by Taylor Brigode for Octopuss Limited. "Carl Johan De Geer, born in 1938, grew up in absurd privilege and abject unhappiness as a member of one of Sweden's most powerful aristocrat families. His parents showed no discernable interest in him or his siblings, and so he grew up on a grand country estate with his grandparents, went to art school in the late 1950s, and in an epic choice of rejection lived his life to this day as a perennial Swedish underground artist, working in counterpoint to the privilege of his surname. De Geer, as a masterful Leica M4 snapshot giant à la Van Der Elsken or Daido Moriyama, has the sacred ability to capture the monotone grit of everyday life and demand its reflection. He gives us a glimpse of a Sweden inhabited by people who are the other, whose life experience is impregnated with otherness, providing a visual cue into an unseen world. The visible scratches, fades and imperfections, the wabi-sabi of this collection of vintage prints, is reflected in the images". "The Camera as Consolation" is the hardbound catalogue published in conjunction with the Johan Kugelberg-curated 2009 Boo-Hooray Gallery exhibition of the gritty Vietnam-era social reportage of this unsung Swedish master that parallels the work Ed Van Der Elsken and Anders Peterson. A brand new, pristine example from a handful of ultra-deluxe copies BOLDLY SIGNED by Carl Johan De Geer in black ink on the front pastedown that comes with a 5 ¾ x 4 1/8" SIGNED VINTAGE B&W PHOTOGRAPHIC PRINT in a translucent archival envelope affixed to the inside front cover; and is housed in the publisher's handmade black linen over board slipcase with a SIGNED DRAWING in white marker on the front face by Carl Johan De Geer, as issued. Laid in is the gallery's printed exhibition invitation as well as a special NUMBERED (24/80) silkscreened opening invitation designed and SIGNED by the photographer. Inventory Number: 017909

(GINSBERG, ALLEN) (SNYDER, GARY). Ginsberg, Allen, Gary Snyder, Peter Orlovsky & Nanao Sakaki. Nevada County, CA. ND (circa 1975): Nevada City Taxpayers Association. First Edition. Folio. Printed Poster. Poetry Reading Poster. Near Fine.. One 14 x 8½" sheet of goldenrod bond paper printed offset recto only, one illustration. This is the poster for a September 14th - assumed to be 1975 - benefit reading by poets Gary Snyder, Allen Ginsberg, Peter Orlovsky, and Nanao Sakaki held at the American Victorian Museum in Nevada City, California. Entitled "True Gold is of the Heart" in a nod to the locale's Gold Rush heritage, the four appeared in support of the San Juan Ridge Taxpayers Association. "The roots of the Taxpayers Association go back to 1972 when a few dozen local residents founded the San Juan Ridge Study Group to explore issues of community concern. Meetings focused on county planning and building department policies, permits and code requirements for owner/builders; fire preparedness; forestry practices; and involvement with the Ridge's public schools. In 1975 the group founded the SJRTA, whose membership includes residents and non-resident landowners of the San Juan Ridge and other concerned citizens." Both Snyder and Ginsberg maintained residences nearby, and were supporters of the Association and its ideals. A most handsome example of this informally designed, inexpensively produced item that notes the "added attractions!" of Orlovsky and Sakaki to the bill rubber stamped in ink additionally SIGNED "Gary Snyder", "Allen Ginsberg", "Peter Orlovsky", and "Nanao Sakaki" in black and red inks on the evening of the event across the face. Inventory Number: 026261

(HIRST, DAMIEN). Hirst, Damien & J.G. Ballard. New York: Gagosian Gallery, 2005. First Edition. Folio. Decorative Boards. Artist Monograph. Fine/No Jacket - As Issued. np (100 + 16pp), profusely illustrated in color. Designed by Jason Beard. In a protective clear acetate dustwrapper. This is the elaborately produced, opulent hardbound catalogue published in conjunction with Damien Hirst's 2005 New York gallery exhibition entitled "The Elusive Truth". It reproduces as hand-tipped color plates twenty-two recent works on canvas (with commentary by the artist) on the themes of the body, drugs, pharmaceuticals, crime, and death. The cover features a vacuum-formed plastic plaque, debossing and metallic ink, while the interior utilizes heavy paper stocks and die-cutting galore. Bound in is the sixteen page pamphlet "The Intensive Care Unit" featuring a text by J.G Ballard. A brand new, most handsome example of the folio-sized 2005 edition (not to be confused with the smaller condensed paperback publication of the same title from 2006) in the publisher's unprinted cardboard shipping carton, as issued. 1-932598-11-1 Inventory Number: 018574

(HOPPER, DENNIS). Hopper, Dennis, Michael McClure & Walter Hopps. Pasadena, CA: Twelvetrees Press, 1986. First Edition 1/4000. 4to. Cloth in Printed Dust Jacket. Photography Monograph. Fine/Very Good. np, profusely illustrated in gravure. Designed by Jack Woody. With a filmography and exhibition history. Dennis Hopper was the young man with a camera in the right place at the right time in the new Hollywood. Issued in 1986 in gravure with the typically austere and lovely Twelvetrees Press aesthetic, "Out of the Sixties" was the first published collection of Hopper's photographs. Divided into "Artists and Collectors", "Hollywood", "Music", "Civil Rights March, Selma to Montgomery", "Mexico", and "The Scene", it is a tour de force view of the clash of the old and the new in sixties culture! An internally most handsome example of the first edition limited to four thousand unnumbered copies showing two short closed tears near the spine of the dust jacket. It has been priced accordingly. 0-942642-25-2 Inventory Number: 024194

(LORD BUCKLEY). Buckley, Richard Myrle. San Francisco. 1960 (1980): City Lights Books. Later Printing. 8vo. Stapled Pictorial Wrappers. Performing Arts Monograph. Very Good.. 32pp. Cover photograph by Jim Marshall. The hippest of the hip, and the flippest of the flip! "Hiparama of the Classics" contains typographic transcriptions taken from recordings of seven of the late, great Lord Buckley's signature monologues. These include "The All-Hip Mahatma", "Gettysburg Address", "Hipsters, Flipsters, and Finger Poppin' Daddies (by "Willie the Shake")", "Nero", "The Religious History of Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca", "The Bad Rapping of the Marquis De Sade", and of course the Lord's standout... "The Naz"! An internally bright, most handsome example of the 1980 City Lights Books edition of this delight showing some mild wear to the wrappers along with a previous owner's ink drawing of a spiral at the top corner of the inside front cover. It has been priced accordingly. Inventory Number: 026398

(MAN RAY) (PAOLINI, GIULIO) (BOLAFFIARTE). Man Ray & Giulio Paolini. Torino, ITALY: Bolaffi & Mondadori Editori, 1973. First Edition 1/5000. 4to. Illustrated Wrappers. Periodical. Very Good -.. 136pp, profusely illustrated in color and b&w, with two 11 ¾ x 9 ¼" original graphics laid in. Text in Italian. This is the thirty-first installment of the Italian Arts magazine "BolaffiArte". Amongst the more interesting articles here are features on American Land Art (Michael Heizer and Robert Smithson) and Hippie Communes in the Southwest - both with photographs by Gianfranco Gorgoni, collectors Dorothy and Herbert Vogel, Conceptual Art and Arte Povera 1966 - 1969, and a section devoted to Man Ray. For the issue, Man Ray was commissioned to create an original work of art utilizing the letter "R" (as part its "L'Alfabebeto di BolaffiArte" series), which was then reproduced utilizing the photolithographic process and included as a loose insert. It consists of an embossed sheet of cardstock which has been overprinted with a stylized "Man Ray" in dark green, save for the "R" printed in red. In addition, noted Italian Arte Povera/Conceptual artist Giulio Paolini has contributed an original insert entitled "Vedo, 1969 (la decifrazione del mio campo visivo)". A most presentable example with like inserts showing a bit of overall light wear along with a slight dent at the heel of the spine. It has been priced accordingly. Inventory Number: 009218

(MISRACH, RICHARD). Misrach, Richard. Berkeley, CA: Cornucopia Press, 1974. First Edition 1/3000. 4to. Cloth in Pictorial Dust Jacket. Photography Monograph. Near Fine/Fine. np (90pp), profusely illustrated in duotone. Designed by Roger Minick and Richard Misrach. Published in 1974, "Telegraph 3 A.M." is Richard Misrach's very first book. Predating his topographic surveys of the western landscape, it is very much the Berkeley equivalent of "Tulsa" featuring gritty black and white portraits at home and on the street of the marginalized post "Summer of Love" youths that populated Telegraph Avenue. A bright, most handsome example of this powerful essay additionally BOLDLY SIGNED "Richard Misrach" in pencil on the front pastedown showing a bit of spotting along the top edge of the textblock buyt very little of the typical age-toning to the dust jacket associated with this title. LC 74-16786 Inventory Number: 025781

(MISRACH, RICHARD). Misrach, Richard. Berkeley, CA: Cornucopia Press, 1974. First Edition 1/3000. 4to. Cloth in Pictorial Dust Jacket. Photography Monograph. Fine/Fine. np (90pp), profusely illustrated in duotone. Designed by Roger Minick and Richard Misrach. Published in 1974, "Telegraph 3 A.M." is Richard Misrach's very first book. Predating his topographic surveys of the western landscape, it is very much the Berkeley equivalent of "Tulsa" featuring gritty black and white portraits at home and on the street of the marginalized post "Summer of Love" youths that populated Telegraph Avenue. A bright, most handsome example of this powerful essay additionally SIGNED "Richard Misrach" in black ink on the front pastedown showing virtually none of the typical age-toning to the dust jacket associated with this title. LC 74-16786 Inventory Number: 020278

(RUSCHA, EDWARD). Kerouac, Jack & Edward Ruscha. Bob Monk, Coordinating Editor. New York & Gottingen, GERMANY: Gagosian - Steidl, 2009. First Edition 1/350 Deluxe. Oblong Folio. Full Leather in Slipcase. Illustrated Book. Fine/No Jacket - As Issued. 228pp, 55 b&w photographic illustrations. Text in English. Designed by Ed Ruscha. Ed Ruscha's personal affinity with Jack Kerouac's seminal novel "On the Road" has been wonderfully resolved in this sumptuous limited edition volume. Ruscha has designed the book - illustrating Kerouac's classic of Beat literature with his own photographs. The text is printed by letterpress on 220 gram Hahnemühle paper with each of the fifty-five photographic plates die-cut, blind-embossed, and tipped in by hand to create an exquisite and original edition of "On the Road". The book is bound in sensual full grey leather with the title silkscreened using Kerouac's handwriting on the front cover and spine. It is housed in a matching grey leather slipcase accompanied by the publisher's pair of protective white gloves, as issued. A brand new, most handsome example of the first and only printing of this lavish reworking of Kerouac's magnum opus limited to three hundred and fifty copies NUMBERED (260/350), SIGNED AND DATED "Ed Ruscha 2009" in pencil on the rear colophon, as issued in its somewhat worn and reinforced printed outer shipping carton. It is additionally accompanied by a copy of the publisher's thirty-two page hors commerce prospectus that photographically documents the collaboration between Ed Ruscha and Gerhard Steidl to bring this magnum opus to fruition. 3-86521-947-0 Inventory Number: 022706

(SMITH, PATTI) (N.Y. DAILY PLANET). Luckman, Mike, Editor & Publisher. New York: Planet Media Co., 1976. First Edition. Folio. Pictorial Tabloid Wrappers. Underground Newspaper. Near Fine.. 32pp, profusely illustrated in b&w. The "N.Y. Daily Planet" was a seventies New York underground newspaper devoted to a mix of music, art, erotica, and counterculture political coverage. This May 1976 issue boldly features a cover story entitled "Patti Smith in a Rage Over Nude Pictures" that presents six images of Ms. Smith taken in 1973 in varying states of undress. Credited to The Daily Planet's "Lois Lane", these have been speculatively attributed in print to New York photographer Judy Linn, who indeed took nude portraits of both Patti Smith and Robert Mapplethorpe in this period. However, as none of these pictures or sittings are reproduced in her comprehensive 2011 book "Patti Smith: 1969-1976", we find no basis for that attribution. The accompanying article gives details on the artist's attorneys' attempt to unsuccessfully block the disputed photographs from being published here. In addition, the issue features nudes of Marilyn Chambers and Paloma Picasso along with contributions about Phil Ochs, John Lennon, Bob Dylan, Jerry Garcia, Tiny Tim, David Bowie, Iggy Pop and Wayne County, The Rolling Stones, John Giorno, Candy Darling, Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, Paul Krassner, The Weather Underground, Jimmy Carter, Howard Hughes, Harry Houdini, Flying Saucers, Steve Reeves, and much, much more. A most handsome example of this uncommon item perfect for the Patti Smith completeist showing just a bit of age-toning and fraying to the edges of its acidic newsprint pages. Inventory Number: 026514

(STERNFELD, JOEL). Sternfeld, Joel. Gottingen, GERMANY: Steidl, 2006. First Edition Thus. Oblong 4to. Cloth in Pictorial Dust Jacket. Photography Monograph. Fine/Fine. np (136pp), 60 color illustrations. Designed by Steidl Design / Bernard Fischer. With a bibliography. "In the years between 1810 and 1850, hundreds of secular and religious societies bravely tried to build a "perfect" life for their members. In the twentieth century experimentation began again, reaching a fever pitch in the turbulent days of the Vietnam War. Some of the late 1960s communes still survive and continue to flourish. The 1990s and the early years of the new millennium have become yet another hotbed of social experimentation. The Co-Housing movement is sweeping America with at least seventy communities fully completed and occupied and numerous others planned. At the same time, the rapid global expansion of sustainable communities known as Ecovillages has been widely adopted in America. Joel Sternfeld has selected sixty representative historic or present American utopias, and a photograph of each is accompanied by a brief text that summarizes the most salient aspects of the history or organization of the community. Neither a conventional history nor a conventional book of photography, "Sweet Earth" brings together what might otherwise seem disparate, individualized social phenomena and makes visible the community of communities. As laissez-faire market forces sweep the globe and the earth's future seems endangered, the dream of living in concert with nature and with one another is increasingly essential". A pristine copy of the 2006 first Steidl printing of this lovely, thought-provoking volume BOLDLY SIGNED by Joel Sternfeld in black ink on the title page. 3-86521-124-0 Inventory Number: 020095