>> return to RON PADGETT main page >>
SECTION D:
This index includes books and periodicals edited by Ron Padgett
1. THE WHITE DOVE REVIEW, Vol. 1, No. 1 – Vol. 2, No. 5 [5 volumes], edited Ron Padgett and Richard Gallup, Joe Brainard, Michael Marsh, Betty Kennedy
Tulsa: The White Dove Review, 1959–1960
The White Dove Review was founded by Ron Padgett, then only 16 years old, and three friends from Central High School, where Padgett and Brainard were juniors, and Gallup and Marsh were seniors. Padgett got his title from the cover of an issue of Evergreen Review [Vol. 2, No. 6, Autumn 1958] that showed a girl holding a white dove. Brainard, who, according to the notes on the contributors, “intends to go into some sort of wild fashion,” was one of the art editors, and contributed the Mondrian-inspired design for the cover of the first number, the cover design for the fourth number, and three drawings and a cover design for the fifth and final number
The editors’ introduction to the first issue states: “The intention of this mag is not to add to this stockpile of criticism, but rather to present literature and art in a constructive light. Admittedly, the White Dove Review is a quiet complaint against the gaudy ideals of our society. Culture, along with some short-lived memories, is all a civilization leaves behind it. We hope the Schleimanns of the year 4000 do not find only beer cans and long cars in their excavations. The editors are not hipsters, even tho they acknowledge certain beat ideas. But no one will ever find any “organization” dogma within these covers. Advancement, cultural or scientific, cannot be achieved without experimentation. The editors feel that the mind is deeper than the universe, and have therefore chosen it for their endeavors. This is a presentation of young thought. We favor experimentation to traditionalism, but our judgements will be based on quality and message. . . .”
Further reading: The White Dove Review
2. THE CENSORED REVIEW, edited by Ron Padgett
New York: The Good Taste Press, April 1963
First edition, corner-stapled in printed cover, 8.5″ x 14″, 20 leaves printed recto only, mimeograph printed.
Contents:
Noble Brainard – “Free Speech”
Jonathan Cott and Mitchell Hall – “Preface 4-17-1963”
Dick Gallup – “Ember Grease”
Jonathan Cott – “Old Whore”
Philip Lopate – “Eli’s Story”
Nancy Ward – “Jacob and the Angel”
Ron Padgett – “Gasteropods, Faint!”
Ted Berrigan – “I Was Born Standing Up, for Carol Clifford”
A one-off publication produced on the occasion of a decision to censor poems written by Ted Berrigan and David Bearden that had previously been accepted for the spring issue of The Columbia Review, edited by Jonathan Cott and Mitchell Hall. The editors resigned in protest, and the contents of the issue were published as The Censored Review under the imprint of The Good Taste Press in April 1963.
Berrigan and Padgett designed the cover, which was the immediate precursor to C: A Journal of Poetry, whose first issue came out the following month. Given the cloud of scandal and censorship that
accompanied The Censored Review, the 800 copies printed were quickly distributed on the Columbia University campus and immediately sold out.
3. Berrigan, Ted. THE SONNETS
New York: Lorenz and Ellen Gude, 1964
First edition, first printing, 8.5″ x 11″, 300 copies, mimeograph printed. Cover art by Joe Brainard. Edited by Ron Padgett. Published by Lorenz and Ellen Gude at C Press. Berrigan dedicated the book to Joe Brainard.
3. Burroughs, William. TIME
a. First edition:
New York: C Press, 1965
Saddle-stapled in printed and illustrated wrappers, 8.5″ x 11″, 32 pages, 1000 copies (886 in a trade edition; 100 numbered and signed; 10 lettered A-J, hardbound, with original manuscript page by Burroughs and original drawing by Gysin, signed; and four hardcover numbered copies hors commerce). Cover art by Burroughs. Illustrated by Brion Gysin. Edited by Ted Berrigan, Ron Padgett, and Joe Brainard.