Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - August - 2015 Issue

The 60's – 80's Underground from Brian Cassidy Bookseller

The 60's come alive.

The 60's come alive.

Brian Cassidy Bookseller has launched his Catalogue #10. This is filled with, what should we call it, "counter culture" material from the 60's to the early 80's? That's a terrible name, but it is a collection of literature, poetry, music, politics, and life in general from outside the mainstream, except perhaps for a brief period in the late 60's when strangeness became mainstream. And then the 70's arrived and it retreated to its traditional, underground mode. A clue of what is to be found here is most works are held together by staples, not bindings, a sure sign of being on the fringes. Others are posters and photographs, in no need of being held together. If you are 45-70 years old, this will rekindle memories of lost youth. If you are younger, it's a chance to discover what you missed (and if you are older, you hated this stuff then and undoubtedly still do). One thing we can say about the era is it was filled with creativity, perhaps in shorter supply today. Here are just a few examples.

 

We start with a more traditional item, a regular book. Then again, this is pre-60's, having been published in 1959. The title is The Butterfly Tree, and it was written by Robert Bell. Bell was an Alabama native, the story is set in Alabama, and the work is considered a significant piece of Alabama literature. Still, it is not a well-known title, and Bell spent most of his working life as a librarian rather than a writer. Nonetheless, it fits in this catalogue because of the cover art. It was drawn by perhaps the greatest symbol of 1960's underground art, the artist of that period to achieve the greatest mainstream recognition (don't plan on buying any of his paintings unless you are very well set financially). Andy Warhol drew the picture of the young man on the dust jacket in the days before his reputation had been established. He was still primarily a commercial artist at the time, drawing advertisements and the like. Warhol has signed the dust jacket on this copy. Item 18. Priced at $1,250.

 

Next we have a pair of photographs of the family that ushered in the 1960's. They were hardly the radicals of the latter half of that decade, but they were the image of youth and change that signified its beginning. These are pictures of the Kennedy family, taken by Mark Shaw, a family favorite who was allowed to join them and take natural, unguarded photographs. Item 42 was taken in their Georgetown home in 1959. The scene is the breakfast table. Caroline, then two years old, is sitting on her father's lap. Jackie is reaching out to her from the side. Plates, glasses, and coffee cups are visible on the clear glass table. Everyone looks happy. $2,500. Item 43 was taken in Palm Beach in 1963. This was before the horror in Dallas later that year. Jackie is holding two-year-old John, who has an impish grin. Jackie's mouth is wide open, either in surprise or to shout out something. Both this and the previous picture were printed in 1964 and appeared in Shaw's photo book of the Kennedy's shortly after JFK was assassinated. $2,500.

 

We move to the other end of the decade and photographs of radicalized youth at the height of the protests against the Viet Nam War. Item 47 is a collection of 21 black and white photographs in an envelope with the business card of photographer Ann Douglas. Date these to circa 1968. The pictures feature members of the Youth International Party, better known as the "Yippies." If traditional left wing organizations tended to be overly serious and angry, the Yippies promoted their beliefs with street theater, laughs, and fun. Pictures include their founders, Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, and Ed Sanders, and Judy Collins as she announced their formation (in front of a sign proclaiming "Abandon The Creeping Meatball"). There is even a nude photograph of Hoffman. You didn't need to do this, Abbie. The Yippies would become best known at the Chicago Democratic Convention of 1968, where the Mayor and police were not amused by their theatrics and sense of humor. Both Hoffman and Rubin would end up as part of the Chicago Seven. They were convicted of crossing state lines to incite a riot, but their convictions were overturned. $2,500.

 

Next we have a flyer for some musical performances in Philadelphia, smack in the middle of the decade (1965). On the left side we have mainly folk and protest type of musicians playing extended runs (several days to more than a week) at the 2nd Fret. Featured performers include Tom Rush, Dave Van Ronk, and Phil Ochs. And then there are The Trolls, who are described as Rock & Roll. I'm not sure who they are, maybe the 60's band out of Chicago whose biggest hit, Every Day and Every Night, made it all the way to #96 on the Billboard charts in 1966. The right side of the flyer promotes a concert at the nearby Camden Convention Center by a man who needs no introduction – Johnny Cash. He is accompanied by the legendary bluegrass duo Flatt & Scruggs. Lester and Earl were the best of their genre, but may only be known to most people for recording the theme song of the Beverly Hillbillies. Item 59. $200.

 

We close with a return to one more traditional item, more fitting for the 70's (it was published in 1973). It comes from the Gahenna Press, the private press of noted artist and wood-engraver Leonard Baskin. It is the first volume of the never-completed The Gahenna Shakespeare. This is a folio publication and a "first thus," so perhaps we can call it the "First Thus Folio." Naturally, this limited edition features Baskin's engravings along with Shakespeare's text, and is one of 150 copies signed by the artist. Item 34. $2,000.

 

Brian Cassidy Bookseller may be reached at 301-589-0789 or books@briancassidy.net. The website is www.briancassidy.net.

Rare Book Monthly

  • Dominic Winter Auctioneers

    April 9
    Printed Books, English Bibles, Maps & Decorative Prints
    Dominic Winter, Apr. 9: Johnson (C.). A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the most Notorious Pyrates, 1724. £3,000-4,000
    Dominic Winter, Apr. 9: Ordonez de Cevallos (Pedro). Viage del Mundo, 1st edition, Madrid: Luis Sanchez, 1614. £1,000-1,500
    Dominic Winter, Apr. 9: North America. Merian (Matthaus), Virginia..., 1627 or later. £1,500-2,500
    Dominic Winter Auctioneers

    April 9
    Printed Books, English Bibles, Maps & Decorative Prints
    Dominic Winter, Apr. 9: World. Waldseemuller (Martin), Tabula Nova Totius Orbis, Vienne: 1541. £2,000-3,000
    Dominic Winter, Apr. 9: Erasmus (Desiderius). The ... paraphrase of Erasmus... 2 volumes, 1st edition, 1549. £3,000-5,000
    Dominic Winter, Apr. 9: Bible [English]. [The Bible and Holy Scriptures conteyned in the Olde and Newe Testament, 1562]. £3,000-5,000
    Dominic Winter Auctioneers

    April 9
    Printed Books, English Bibles, Maps & Decorative Prints
    Dominic Winter, Apr. 9: Smith (Lucy). Biographical Sketches of Joseph Smith the Prophet, 1st edition, 1853. £1,000-1,500
    Dominic Winter, Apr. 9: Derain (Andre). Pantagruel, signed limited edition, Albert Skira, 1943. £2,000-3,000
    Dominic Winter, Apr. 9: Austen (Jane). Pride and Prejudice, illustrated by Hugh Thomson, Large Paper edition, 1894. £1,500-2,000
    Dominic Winter Auctioneers

    April 9
    Printed Books, English Bibles, Maps & Decorative Prints
    Dominic Winter, Apr. 9: Ellison (Ralph). Invisible Man, 1st edition, New York: Random House, 1952. £200-300
    Dominic Winter, Apr. 9: Taschen Collector's Edition. Annie Leibovitz, limited edition, 2014. £1,000-1,500
  • Sotheby's
    Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts
    Sotheby’s: The Shem Tov Bible, 1312 | A Masterpiece from the Golden Age of Spain. Sold: 6,960,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: Ten Commandments Tablet, 300-800 CE | One of humanity's earliest and most enduring moral codes. Sold: 5,040,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: William Blake | Songs of Innocence and of Experience. Sold: 4,320,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: The Declaration of Independence | The Holt printing, the only copy in private hands. Sold: 3,360,000 USD
    Sotheby's
    Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts
    Sotheby’s: Thomas Taylor | The original cover art for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Sold: 1,920,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: Machiavelli | Il Principe, a previously unrecorded copy of the book where modern political thought began. Sold: 576,000 GBP
    Sotheby’s: Leonardo da Vinci | Trattato della pittura, ca. 1639, a very fine pre-publication manuscript. Sold: 381,000 GBP
    Sotheby’s: Henri Matisse | Jazz, Paris 1947, the complete portfolio. Sold: 312,000 EUR
  • Bonhams, Apr. 8: First report outside of the colonies of the American Revolution, from American accounts. Printed broadsheet, The London Evening-Post, May 30, 1775. $20,000 - $30,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 8: Joyce, James. The earliest typescript pages from Finnegans Wake ever to appear at auction, annotated by Joyce, 1923. $30,000 - $50,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 8: Joyce's Ulysses, 1923, one of only seven copies known, printed to replace copies destroyed in customs. $10,000 - $15,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 8: ATHANASIUS KIRCHER'S COPY, INSCRIBED. Saggi di naturali esperienze fatte nell' Accademia del Cimento, 1667. $2,000 - $3,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 8: Bernoulli's Ars conjectandi, 1713. "... first significant book on probability theory." $15,000 - $25,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 8: Aristotle's Politica. Oeconomica. 1469. The first printed work on political economy. $80,000 - $120,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 8: John Graunt's Natural and political observations...., 1662. The first printed work of epidemiology and demographics. $20,000 - $30,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 8: William Playfair's Commercial and Political Atlas, 1786. The first work to pictorially represent information in graphics. $15,000 - $25,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 8: Anson's A Voyage Round the World, 1748. THE J.R. ABBEY-LORD WARDINGTON COPY, BOUND BY JOHN BRINDLEY. $8,000 - $12,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 8: La Perouse's Voyage de La Perouse autour du monde..., 1797. LARGE FINE COPY IN ORIGINAL BOARDS. $8,000 - $12,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 8: Francesca Woodman's Some Disordered Interior Geometries, 1981. Untrimmed publisher's proof sheets. $4,000 - $6,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 8: Charles Schulz original 8-panel Peanuts Sunday comic strip, 1992, pen and ink over pencil, featuring Charlie Brown, Snoopy and Lucy as a psychiatrist. $20,000 - $30,000

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