Tag Archives: Jim Lowell

little magazines

The Silver Cesspool

THE SILVER CESSPOOL, Vol. 1, edited by d.a. levy (1963)

The first of d.a. levy’s periodicals, five issues of The Silver Cesspool were published between 1963 and 1964. The short-lived periodical was letterpress printed by levy and featured block prints from Lester Czaban Jr., Charlene Levey, Russell Salamon, John Konyecsni, and levy. Contributors over the five issues included Kent Taylor, Russell Atkins, Adelaide Simon, Judson Crews, Kirby Congdon, Will Inman, Ted Berrigan, A. Greenshoot [pseud. Jim Lowell], and others.

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The Silver Cesspool

The first of d.a. levy’s periodicals, five issues of The Silver Cesspool were published between 1963 and 1964. The short-lived periodical was letterpress printed by levy and featured block prints from Lester Czaban Jr., Charlene Levey, Russell Salamon, John Konyecsni, and levy. Contributors over the five issues included Kent Taylor, Russell Atkins, Adelaide Simon, Judson Crews, Kirby Congdon, Will Inman, Ted Berrigan, A. Greenshoot [pseud. Jim Lowell], and others.

1. THE SILVER CESSPOOL, Vol. 1, edited by d.a. levy
Cleveland: Renegade Press, 1963

First edition, saddle-stapled in printed and illustrated wrappers, 5.5″ x 8.5″, 20 pages, c.100 copies, letterpress printed by d.a. levy. Illustrated with block prints by Lester Czaban Jr. (Lowell B1, T&H P-08)

  • Contents:
    1. Jau Billera – “Mulligan Stew”
      Jau Billera – “Time”
      Jau Billera – “Bowery”
      Jau Billera – “Legless”
      Jau Billera – “The Party”
      Jau Billera – “Insomnia”
      Russell Salamon – “Night 1”
      Russell Salamon – “Night 2”
      Russell Salamon – “Autumn”
      Russell Salamon – “Season Circle”
      Russell Salamon – [untitled] “The fragile prey that…”
      d.a. levy – “Faustian”
      d.a. levy – “In Van Gogh I View”
      d.a. levy – “Love”
      d.a. levy – “Monument to Death”
      d.a. levy – “Edgewater Park”
      d.a. levy – “Balboa Park”
      Kent Taylor – “Jewelry”
      Kent Taylor – “Trite Things”
      Kent Taylor – “Flotsam”
      Kent Taylor – “To D.B.”
      Kent Taylor – “Changing”
      Kent Taylor – “Visions”

2. THE SILVER CESSPOOL, Vol. 2, edited by d.a. levy
Cleveland: Renegade Press, 1964

First edition, saddle-stapled in printed wrappers, 5.5″ x 8.5″, 16 pages,c.100 copies, letterpress printed by d.a. levy. (Lowell B1, T&H P-34)

  • Contents:
    1. David Jeffery – “Etchings & Such”
      Russell Atkins – “Objects on a Table”
      Loring Williams – “Retrospect”
      Jau Billera – “The Sullen Sound”
      d.a. levy – “The River”
      Kent Taylor – “Shapes”
      Irene Schramm – [untitled] “We wait the downpour…”
      Stephen Massaro – “Waterfront Sketch II”
      Adelaide Simon – [untitled] “To reach the age where…”
      Russell Salamon – “A Morning”

3. THE SILVER CESSPOOL, Vol. 3, edited by d.a. levy
Cleveland: Renegade Press, 1964

First edition, saddle-stapled in printed and illustrated wrappers, 5.5″ x 8.5″, 20 pages, c.100 copies, letterpress printed by d.a. levy. Illustrated with block prints by Charlene Levey (“Ecstatic Nomad”), Lester Czaban Jr. (“Stealing”), and Russell Salamon (“The Trial”). (Lowell B1, T&H P-35)

  • Contents:
    1. Frank Ankenbrand Jr. – “To a Ship’s Figurehead”
      Kent Taylor – “To the Suicides of The Golden Gate Bridge”
      Irene Schramm – “Birthday Poem”
      Russell Atkins – “Lake in a Storm”
      d.a. levy – “Autumn Leaves, for Susan”
      L.S. Torgoff – “Portrait of Lisa”
      Julie Suk – “Life Class”
      Fay Fox – “Figure-Ground”
      L.S. Torgoff – “A Litany for the Alphabet”
      Irene Schramm – “Letter to Joan Brown”
      Russell Salamon – “For a Poet”
      Adelaide Simon – [untitled] “Painting my bathroom purple…”
      d.a. levy – “To Cleveland on the Understanding of a Poet, for Hadassah”

4. THE SILVER CESSPOOL, Vol. 4, edited by d.a. levy
Cleveland: Renegade Press, 1964

First edition, saddle-stapled in printed wrappers, 5.5″ x 8.5″, 16 pages,c.100 copies, letterpress printed by d.a. levy. Illustrated with block prints by John Konyecsni (“Birds”) and d.a. levy (“A Night at Uxmal”). (Lowell B1, T&H P-36)

  • Contents:
    1. Judson Crews – “Thoughts on Returning”
      Kirby Congdon – “Flaring Trees”
      James D. Callahan – “Ethics”
      d.a. levy – “Pollock”
      Ronald Caplan – “From Forbes & Shady”
      Keith Davie – “Written after a Poetry Reading by M. Marcus”
      Lewis Turco – “Song”
      L.S. Torgoff – “To Catch a Thief”
      Judson Crews – “The Brain in the Weather”

5. THE SILVER CESSPOOL, Vol. 5, edited by d.a. levy
Cleveland: Renegade Press, 1964

First edition, side-stapled in printed wrappers, 5.5″ x 8.5″, 16 pages, c.100 copies (including 14 special illustrated copies), letterpress printed by d.a. levy.
(Lowell B1, T&H P-37)

  • Contents:
    1. Will Inman – “from 108 Handles”
      Milton Phillips – “from Which Side of the Mirror”
      David Federman – [untitled] “No longer…”
      Dave Rasey – “At Times”
      Ted Berrigan – “Jumping from Pottawottamie (for Martin Cochran)”
      Adelaide Simon – “Nocturne”
      Kent Taylor – [untitled] “we watch sponges…”
      A. Greenshoot [Jim Lowell] – “Cleveland Greenery”
      Ariella – [untitled] “Who created you that you…”
      Kent Taylor – [book review of Hermes Past the Hour by Judson Crews]
      Rick Klein – [untitled] “i come to you…”

Russell Atkins – Contributions to Books and Anthologies

>> return to RUSSELL ATKINS main page >>

SECTION B:
This index includes contributions to books and anthologies

1. THE CLEVELAND MANIFESTO OF POETRY
First edition:
Cleveland: The Asphodel Bookshop, 1964
Single sheet printed on both sides, 8.5″ x 11″, mimeograph printed. Dated June 1, 1964 with statements by d.a. levy Kent Taylor, Jau Billera, Russell Atkins, Russell Salamon, and Adelaide Simon.
(T&H B-01)

465, AN ANTHOLOGY OF CLEVELAND POETS, edited by d.a. levy
levy_465First edition:
Cleveland: 7 Flowers Press, 1966
Side-stapled sheets in silk-screened cover, 8.5″ x 11″, 64 pages, 500 copies. Contributors: Russell Atkins, Judith Hawthorne Albrecht, Grace Butcher, Geoffrey Cook, John Cornillon, Susan Cornillon, Joel Marc Deutsch, Joel Friedman, Bennet Hassink, Walter R. Keller, Joyce Guion, T.L. Kryss, Jacob Leed, d.a. levy, Mara, Franklin W.W. Osinski, r.j.s., Thom Szuter, Kent Taylor, Don Thomas, Kathie Lenehan. Preface by Rene Char. Cover silkscreen by Ralph and Diedra Poplar. Mimeograph printed by d.a. levy.
(T&H P-106)

2. THE MUNTU POETS OF CLEVELAND
First edition:
Cleveland: The United Black Artists of Cleveland and Free Lance Poets Press, 1968
Saddle-stapled in illustrated wrappers, 5.5″ x 8.5″. Introduction by Russell Atkins.
Atkins contribution: “Spyrtual” [poem]

3. A TRIBUTE TO JIM LOWELL
First edition:
Cleveland: Ghost Press, June 1967
Side-stapled illustrated wrappers, 8.5″ x 11″, 500 copies, mimeograph printed. Cover and silkscreens by T.L. Kryss.  Contributors include (in order of appearance) B.P. Nichol, T.L. Kryss (Preface), R. Wolter, Jonathan Williams, Mitchell Goodman & Denise Levertov, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Charles Olson, Russell Atkins, Marvin Malone, William Wantling, Jacob Leed, T.L. Kryss, Dwight MacDonald, Paul Carroll, Carl Woideck, d.a. levy, Douglas Casement, George Dowden, Mike Murphy, Franklin W.W. Osinski, Geoffrey Cook, Kent Taylor, D.R. Wagner, Charles Bukowski, Donald Cauble, J.M. Edelstein, James Laughlin, Robert Lowell, Douglas Blazek, Brown Miller, Phillip Kaplan, Gilbert Sorrentino, Guy Davenport, Felix Pollak, Michael McClure, rjs, Dave Cunliffe, Ron Caplan, Carl Weissner, David W. Harris, Walter Lowenfels, John Cornillion, Allen De Loach, Jasper Wood, Walter R. Keller , Ted Berrigan.

Jim Lowell’s levy checklist

JAMES R. LOWELL

A Preliminary Checklist of the Writings of d.a. levy (1942-1968)

DEAR D.A.,
Well, old friend, the sackcloth of respectability has been laid upon you. A scholarly and respected library journal is devoting an issue to you and your writings. Imagine your ashes will ignite the Cuyahoga over it, but at least it will be a pure flame. It certainly isn’t a complete checklist but it is a start. Your good friends, Douglas Blazek and Kent Taylor have been most helpful in preparing it.  With a couple exceptions I’ve limited the list to those publications entirely by you, and those edited by you. As your old gadfly, Colonel  J. Williams, would exclaim, ONWARD!

A. Books and Pamphlets by d.a. levy.

1. VARIATIONS ON FLIP.  Wrappers.  Renegade Press, Cleveland (1963). One of 100 numbered copies.

2. FRAGMENTS OF A SHATTERED MIRROR. Wrappers. Renegade Press. Cleveland (1963). One of 100 numbered copies.

3. MORE WITHDRAWED OR LESS. Wrappers. Renegade Press, Cleveland (1963). One of 100 numbered copies.(N.B. The above three titles were largely destroyed by the author and there are probably no more than 10-15 copies extant of each title.)

4. MORE WITHDRAWED OR LESS.  Second Printing (Revised). Wrappers. Renegade Press, Cleveland (1963).

5. fortuItOns MotHeRFuCer (with Kent Taylor). Wrappers. Renegade Press, Cleveland (1964). One of 75 copies.

6. FAREWELL THE FLOATING CUNT. With prints by author. Wrappers. RenegadePress, Cleveland (1964). One of 105 copies.

7. 5 CLEVELAND PRINTS. 5 Prints laid in wrappers. Renegade Press, Cleveland (1964). Between 50-53 copies.

8. CLEVELAND PRINTS.  Vol. 2. Six prints laid in wrapper.  Renegade Press, Cleveland (1964). Between 50-54 copies.

9. “IN Group” A One-Act Play.  In 3 ONE-ACT PLAYS. Wrappers. Hors Commerce Press, Torrance, Ca. (1964). One of 150 copies.

10. “UNTITLED”. Wrappers. (Cleveland 1964). One of only 5 numbered copies. A spontaneous levy assemblage employing sheets from earlier publications & new drawings.

11. 50 SECONDS TIL BLASTOFF.  Published under pseudonym of Allan Denis. Wrappers. Renegade Press, Cleveland (1965).  One of 37 copies.

12. NORTH AMERICAN BOOK OF THE DEAD. Part I and 2. Wrappers. Free Lance Press, Cleveland (1965). A typically bad Free Lance production with horrendous errors throughout.  A few copies had three small paintings by levy bound in.

13. ALEATORY ATTEMPTS AT MONEY MAKING. Wrappers. Renegade Press, Cleveland (n.d.).  One of 4 copies.

14. CHALCHIHUITLICUE. Wrappers. Renegade Press, Cleveland (1965). One of 37 copies.

15. CLEVELAND UNDERCOVERS. Wrappers. 7 Flowers Press, Cleveland (1966). One of 500 copies. There was also an edition of 65 special copies with “freak covers” by the author, no two alike.

16. VISUALIZED PRAYERS & HYMN FOR THE AMERICAN $GOD$. Wrappers. Renegade Press, Cleveland (1966). One of 115 copies.

17. THE GREAT TIBETAN TRAIN ROBBERY MYSTERY PLAY IN COLOR. Wrappers. Cleveland (1966). One of 73 copies.

18. ROBERT MOTHERWELL. A Poem. Wrappers, Cleveland (1966). One of a very few copies with poem in typescript & original drawing by author.

19. CLEVELAND: THE RECTAL EYE VISIONS. Introduction by Douglas Blazek. Wrappers. press:today:niagara, Niagara Falls, NY (1966). One of 126 copies.

20. BLACK HAT AT THE END OF THE BAR. Wrappers. 7 Flowers Press, Cleveland (1966). One of 100 copies.

21. GREAT MAN SLEEPING IN A CLOSET, Wrappers. 7 Flowers Press, Cleveland (1966).

22. LINES FOR LADY JANE. Wrappers. 7 Flowers Press, Cleveland (1966). One of 100 copies.

23. THE NORTH AMERICAN BOOK OF THE DEAD. Parts 1-5. Second Revised Edition. Wrappers. 7 Flowers Press, Cleveland (1966).  One of 210 copies.

24. THE CEMENT FUCK. Wrappers. 7 Flowers Press, Cleveland (1966). One of 110 copies.

25. PLASTIC SAXOPHONE FOUND IN AN EGYPTIAN TOMB. Wrappers. 7 Flowers Press, Cleveland (1966). One of 100 copies.

26. SCARAB. Wrappers. 7 Flowers Press, Cleveland (1966). One of 45 copies.

27. WHITE LIGHT. Wrappers. 7 Flowers Press, Cleveland (1966).

28. THE EGYPTIAN STROBOSCOPE. With d.R. Wagner. Wrappers. 7 Flowers Press, Cleveland (1966). One of 108 copies.

29. KIBBUTZ IN THE SKY. Book 1. Wrappers. 7 Flowers Press. Cleveland (1967). One of 150 copies.

30. KIBBUTZ IN THE SKY.  Book 11. Wrappers. 7 Flowers Press, Cleveland (1967). One of 200 copies.

31. POEM FOR JULIE. Wrappers. Grass Coin Publishing Company, Cleveland (1967). One of 260 copies.

32. THE BOX LUNCH TRAVEL-OG OF FREMONT GULCH. Wrappers. 7 Flowers Press, Cleveland (1967). About 60 copies.

33. LITTLE BLEW BOOK. Numbers 1-2. Two Volumes. Wrappers. 7 Flowers Press, Cleveland (1967). Each one of 45 copies.

34. UNMAILED LETTERS TO ED PEDERSON AND (THE MYSTERIOUS) ANNBURGERS. Wrappers. Issue #3 of GRONK, Fleye Press, Toronto (1967). About 250 copies.

35. TANTRIC STROBE.  Parts I & 2. Wrappers. Ghost Press, Cleveland (1967). One of 150 copies.

36. LETTRE TO ALAN KATZMAN. Wrappers. Parma Heights, Ohio (1967). One of 200 copies.

37. TOMBSTONE AS A LONELY CHARM.  Parts I-III. Three Volumes. Wrappers. Runcible Spoon, Sacramento (1967-68). Each one of 500 copies.

38. PROSE: on poetry in the wholesale education & culture system. Wrappers. Gunrunner Press, Milwaukee (1968).  One of 300 copies.

39. ZEN CONCRETE. Pictorial wrappers. Blewointment Press, Vancouver (1968). One of 300 copies.

40. POEM FOR BEVERLY. Wrappers. Cold Mountain Publishing Company. Cleveland (1968). One of 400 copies.

41. POEMS. Wrappers. Quixote Press, Madison (1968). One of 150 copies.

42. SUBURBAN MONASTERY DEATH POEM. Wrappers. Zero Edition, Cleveland (1968). One of 500 copies.

43. THE BEGINNING OF SUNNY DAWN. Pictorial wrappers. Ghostflower Press, Cleveland  (1968). One of 236 copies.

44. THE TIBETAN STROBOSCOPE. Wrappers. Ayizan Press, Cleveland (1968). Approximately 4,000 copies were printed of which 3,000 were destroyed prior to author’s suicide.

45. UKANHAVYRFUCKINCITIBAK. D.A.LEVY: A TRIBUTE TO THE MAN. AN ANTHOLOGY OFHIS POETRY. Pictorial wrappers. Ghost Press, Cleveland (1968). One of 1,000 copies.

46. THE MADISON POEMS. Loose sheets laid in silk-screened envelope. Quixote Press, Madison (1969). One of 500 copies. Collages, concrete poems & poems.

47. THE BEGINNING OF SUNNY DAWN & RED LADY. Wrappers. Open Skull Press, San Francisco (1969). One of 500 copies.

48. SONGS FOR DEAD CHILDREN. Wrappers. Black Rabbit Press, San Francisco (1969). About 100 copies.

49. NOTES: VARIATIONS ON A SHORT POEM. Wrappers. Runcible Spoon, Sacramento (1970).  One of 300 copies.

B. Books, periodicals, series, edited by d.a. levy

1. THE SILVER CESSPOOL. Numbers 1-5. Renegade Press, Cleveland (1963-64).

2. THE MARRAHWANNA QUARTERLY. Volume 1, Number 1-Volume 4, Number 2 (14 issues), Renegade Press, Cleveland (1964-68).

3. POLLUTED LAKE SERIES. Numbers 1-12. Renegade Press, Cleveland (1965).

4. OHIO CITY SERIES. Numbers 1-7. 7 Flowers Press, Cleveland (1965).

5. 465.  An Anthology of Cleveland Poets. Wrappers. 7 Flowers Press, Cleveland (1966). One of 500 copies.

6. POETS AT THE GATE. Numbers 1-4. Cleveland (1966).

7. THE PUKING PIDGEON #1 OR THE FUCKING DUCK #1 OR THE SEARCH FOR THE HOLY HOUKAH REVEALED #1. Wrappers. 400 Rabbit Press, Cleveland (1966). One of 115 copies.

8. SHIT SHEET. Numbers 1-2. Cleveland (1966).

9. MARRAHWANNAH NEWSLETTER. Numbers 1-2. Cleveland (1966).

10. 306. An Anthology of Cleveland Poets. Pictorial wrappers. 7 Flowers Press, Cleveland (1967). One of 306 copies.

11. BUDDHIST 3RD CLASS JUNKMAIL ORACLE. Numbers 1-17. Cleveland (1967-68). Levy edited the first 17 numbers; the series was continued by Steve Ferguson & appears irregularly.

That’s about it for now, d.a. Hope you and Robert Conway have made it through the pass.
Love,Jim

This checklist first appeared in THE SERIF, Kent State University Library Quarterly, Vol. VIII, No. 4, December, 1971

d.a. levy

· Jim Lowell’s d.a. levy checklist

· Alan Horvath and Kirpan Press

References Consulted:

THE BUDDHIST THIRD CLASS JUNKMAIL ORACLE: The Art and Poetry of d.a. levy, edited by Mike Golden. NY: Seven Stories Press, 1999.

D.A. LEVY & THE MIMEOGRAPH REVOLUTION, edited by Larry Smith and Ingrid Swanberg. Huron: Bottom Dog Press, 2007

LOOKING FOR D.A. LEVY (RANDOM SIGHTINGS): THE D.A. LEVY BIBLIOGRAPHY, Volume 1 [1963-1966], edited by Kent Taylor and Alan Horvath. Vancouver: Kirpan Press, 2006

LOOKING FOR D.A. LEVY (RANDOM SIGHTINGS): THE D.A. LEVY BIBLIOGRAPHY, Volume 2 [1967-1968], edited by Kent Taylor and Alan Horvath. Vancouver: Kirpan Press, 2008

ZEN CONCRETE & ETC. BY D.A. LEVY, edited by Ingrid Swanberg. Madison: Ghost Pony Press, 1991

Online Resources:

· Cleveland Memory Project
· d.a. levy home page
· Deep Cleveland
· Literary Kicks

Some notes on printing methods:

Mimeograph:
The stencil duplicator or mimeograph machine is a low-cost duplicating machine that works by forcing black ink through a stencil onto levy_greattibetanpaper. The mimeograph process should not be confused with the spirit duplicator process.

Unlike spirit duplicators (where the only ink available is depleted from the master image), mimeograph technology works by forcing a replenishable supply of ink through the stencil master. In theory, the mimeography process could be continued indefinitely, especially if a durable stencil master were used (e.g. a thin metal foil). In practice, most low-cost mimeo stencils gradually wear out over the course of producing several hundred copies. Typically the stencil deteriorates gradually, producing a characteristic degraded image quality until the stencil tears, abruptly ending the print run. If further copies are desired at this point, another stencil must be made.

Spirit Duplicator:
A spirit duplicator (also referred to as a Ditto machine in North America, Banda machine in the UK or Roneo in Australia, France and South Africa) was a printing method invented in 1923. The term “spirit duplicator” refers to the alcohols which were a major component of the solvents used as “inks” in these machines.

The usual wax color was aniline purple (mauve), a cheap, moderately durable pigment that provided good contrast, but masters were also manufactured in red, green, blue, black, and the hard-to-find orange, yellow, and brown. All except black reproduced in pastel shades: pink, mint, sky blue, and so on.

Spirit duplicators had the useful ability to print multiple colors in a single pass, which made them popular with cartoonists. Multi-colored designs could be made by swapping out the waxed second sheets; for instance, shading in only the red portion of an illustration while the top sheet was positioned over a red-waxed second sheet. This was possible because the duplicating fluid was not ink, but a clear solvent.