FERLINGHETTI, Lawrence Starting from San Francisco [with] Berlin, and two-sided postcard

ALL WARMLY INSCRIBED TO 'RHINO'

Starting from San Francisco: 

4to., pictorial boards showing a black and white image of Machu Picchu to the upper cover, lettered in red, white and black; pp. [viii], 9-79, [i]; typographic headings; with the original 7” spoken word LP contained within its envelope to the lower paste-down (opened); a good copy, shelf worn and rubbed, cracked along outer lower hinge (holding firm); a little browning and spotting, internally, mostly to the prelims; the record would benefit from a clean, but otherwise VG+, unscratched or damaged. 

First edition, with the author’s New Directions compliments slip to the ffep. 

A collection of autobiographical poems following Ferlinghetti as he roves across the Americas, and predominantly inspired by his trips to Chile and Peru in 1960 with Allen Ginsberg. Designed to be read aloud, it is fitting that the publication includes the LP recording of his readings of these verses. 

[together with] 

Berlin: 

8vo., pp. [viii] pages, stapled, printed throughout in Brown with typographic title to upper cover; some spotting, browning and creasing; good to very good overall. 

First printing, this copy inscribed by Ferlinghetti to the upper cover: ‘To Rolf-Gunter Dienst (EL RHINO)” and signed by him beneath, dated in the year of publication, San Francisco November 1961. Purportedly printed in a run of 1000 copies, the poem was written during the heightened tensions of the Cold War and the erection of the Berlin Wall. 

[and] 

A ‘City Lights Books’ postcard from San Francisco: 

Yellow card (13.5 x 8.5cm approx); the address of Rolf-Gunter Dienst’s Hamburg address written, to one side, in Ferlinghetti’s hand with the original Air Mail and postage stamps; and the message to the reverse; essentially fine. 

Dated 1962, Ferlinghtti writes: “Dear Rhino - Thank you for new issue containing Burroughs - Corso - Creeley - Ginsberg etc. (one with blue cover) - Can you send 10 copies to CITY LIGHTS BOOKSTORE for us to sell? [Send mill with it + we’ll pay]. Salud! Lawrence Ferlingetti”. He adds “It’s a great issue!” to the left hand margin. 

A collection of items, all previously from the library of Rolf-Gunter Dienst (1942-2016), a painter, publisher and editor little known outside of Germany, but who had a prolific career, and was considered to be one of the most important German art critics of the 20th century. For a short period of time between 1960 to 1965, Dienst, along with his brother Klaus-Peter, edited and published an influential concrete poetry and literary magazine which they named Rhinozeros (and which earned him the nickname ‘Rhino’). Ginsberg’s ‘To an Old Poet in Peru’, penned during his travels with Ferlinghetti, was first published in Rhinozeros, which ran for just ten issues, and other contributors included such names as Ezra Pound, Jean Cocteau, Henry Miller and, most prolifically, William Burroughs.

A fascinating mini archive of correspondence between two central publishers of the Beat Generation.

SKU: 1800282