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The Floating Bear

THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 24, edited by Diane di Prima and LeRoi Jones (New York, September-October 1962)

The subtitle “A Newsletter” is the key to The Floating Bear’s chief contribution to literature of the 1960’s; it was a newsletter, a speedy line of communication between experimental poets. Diane di Prima, in the introduction to the reprint edition of Floating Bear, recalls Charles Olson’s tribute to the magazine: “The last time I saw Charles Olson in Gloucester, one of the things he talked about was how valuable the Bear had been to him in its early years because of the fact that he could get new work out that fast. He was very involved in speed, in communication. We got manuscripts from him pretty regularly in the early days of the Bear, and we’d usually get them into the very next issue. That meant that his work, his thoughts, would be in the hands of a few hundred writers within two or three weeks. It was like writing a letter to a bunch of friends.”

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The Floating Bear

The subtitle “A Newsletter” is the key to The Floating Bear’s chief contribution to literature of the 1960’s; it was a newsletter, a speedy line of communication between experimental poets. Diane di Prima, in the introduction to the reprint edition of The Floating Bear, recalls Charles Olson’s tribute to the magazine: “The last time I saw Charles Olson in Gloucester, one of the things he talked about was how valuable the Bear had been to him in its early years because of the fact that he could get new work out that fast. He was very involved in speed, in communication. We got manuscripts from him pretty regularly in the early days of the Bear, and we’d usually get them into the very next issue. That meant that his work, his thoughts, would be in the hands of a few hundred writers within two or three weeks. It was like writing a letter to a bunch of friends.”

One is apt to think of a literary newsletter as a device for talking about poetry but not as a means for transmitting the poem itself; in Floating Bear most of the space was given over to primary work. The first twenty-five issues (up to the point when LeRoi Jones resigned as co-editor) were published over a two year period and comprised 284 pages of poetry, creative prose, and comment. Among the more frequent contributors to Floating Bear during those first two years were Charles Olson, Robert Creeley, Frank O’Hara, Joel Oppenheimer, William Burroughs, Ed Dorn, A.B. Spellman, and George Stanley, as well as editors Diane di Prima and LeRoi Jones.

After 1963, Floating Bear’s function as a swift communicator among poets seems to have diminished (Nos. 29 to 37 appeared over a period of five years). Size and frequency varied widely: No. 27 had 36 pages and included a 19-page section of poems by Philip Whalen; the following numbers had 16 pages and included work by eight authors. The range of contributors widened somewhat during this time, perhaps because a number of guest editors assumed partial responsibility for the magazine’s contents. Billy Linich, Alan Marlowe, Kirby Doyle, John Wieners, and Bill Berkson each appeared on the masthead as guest editor for one of the magazine’s last dozen issues. One last issue (No. 38) appeared in 1971 as a joint issue with Intrepid (its No. 20), and was edited entirely by Diane di Prima.

Floating Bear was supported solely by contributors; it was never offered for sale. Circulation ranged from 117 to 1250 copies over its eight-year span.

– Peter Martin, “An Annotated Bibliography of Selected Little Magazines”, Tri Quarterly 43, Fall 1976.


1. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 1, edited by Diane di Prima and LeRoi Jones
New York City: The Floating Bear, February 1961
First edition, corner-stapled sheets, 8.5” x 11”, 8 pages, mimeograph printed.

  • Contents:
    1. Michael McClure – “The Smile Shall Not Be More Mutable than the Final Extinction of Meat. The Smile with Teeth Sunk in Lower Lip”
      Charles Olson – “All My Life I’ve Heard about Many”
      Charles Olson – “A Note on the Above”
      Max Finstein – “Regional Piece”
      Robin Blaser – “Ode for Museums, All of Them!”
      Robin Blaser – “The Flame”
      Robin Blaser – “A Story after Blake”

2. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 2, edited by Diane di Prima and LeRoi Jones
New York City: The Floating Bear, February 1961
First edition, corner-stapled sheets, 8.5” x 11”, 8 pages, mimeograph printed.

  • Contents:
    1. Frank O’Hara – “Now That I Am in Madrid and Can Think”
      Frank O’Hara – “Song”
      Frank O’Hara – “Cohasset”
      Frank O’Hara – “Beer for Breakfast”
      Steve Jonas – “No Saints in Three Acts”
      Steve Jonas – “Quest”
      Robert Creeley – “A Quick Graph”
      LeRoi Jones – “Revue”
      The Editors – “Notice”

3. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 3, edited by Diane di Prima and LeRoi Jones
New York City: The Floating Bear, March 1961
First edition, corner-stapled sheets, 8.5” x 11”, 12 pages, mimeograph printed.

  • Contents:
    1. Ed Dorn – “The Landscape Below”

4. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 4, edited by Diane di Prima and LeRoi Jones
New York City: The Floating Bear, March 1961
First edition, corner-stapled sheets, 8.5” x 11”, 8 pages, mimeograph printed.

  • Contents:
    1. Fielding Dawson – “Oblivion Calling: Daily News”
      Fielding Dawson – “Oblivion Calling: The Dog People”
      Fielding Dawson – “Oblivion Calling: King of Crystal”
      Tony Weinberger – “For Sylvia”
      Tony Weinberger – “A Wildflower”
      Tony Weinberger – “My Beloved/ The Bee Tree/ The Whore”
      Joel Oppenheimer – “A Grace for Painters”
      Joel Oppenheimer – “Statement for Patterson Society”
      Barbara Guest – “What Am I Going to Do after the King and Queen of Nepal”
      William Mcnaughton – “Footnote to Creeley’s Graph”
      The Editors – “Notice”

According to Diane di Prima in notes to Laurence McGilvery’s facsimile edition of The Floating Bear, “Fielding Dawson went to Black Mountain College as a painter, but after he studied with Kline a few months he decided to give up painting, although he still drew a lot. He drew the original emblem for LeRoi’s Totem Press, and he became a prose writer.”

5. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 5, edited by Diane di Prima and LeRoi Jones
New York City: The Floating Bear, April 1961
First edition, corner-stapled sheets, 8.5” x 11”, 8 pages, mimeograph printed.

  • Contents:
    1. John Thomas – “Nine Stages of a Journey from Caledonia to Harpers Ferry”
      John Thomas – “My Bird”
      LeRoi Jones – [Letter to Diane di Prima]
      William Burroughs – “Out Show Window and We’re Proud of It”
      William Burroughs – [Letter to Allen Ginsberg]
      Aquarian [Joel Oppenheimer] – “New Flick in Town”
      The Editors – “Notice”

According to Diane di Prima in notes to Laurence McGilvery’s facsimile edition of The Floating Bear, “‘Aquarian; is always Joel Oppenheimer.”

6. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 6, edited by Diane di Prima and LeRoi Jones
New York City: The Floating Bear, April 1961
First edition, corner-stapled sheets, 8.5” x 11”, 12 pages, mimeograph printed.

  • Contents:
    1. George Stanley – “1” (“One bird called White…”)
      George Stanley – “2” (“I thought you were savage…”)
      George Stanley – “3” (“At dawn the mosquitoes…”)
      George Stanley – “4” (“What graceless guy…”)
      George Stanley – “5” (“The old train goes…”)
      George Stanley – “6” (“When he asked me…”)
      George Stanley – “7” (“A ball hurted…)
      George Stanley – “8” (“Flit in, little fairy…”)
      George Stanley – “9” (“That sense of indefinite longing…”)
      George Stanley – “10” (“I’m not satisfied with them…”)
      George Stanley – “White Matches”
      George Stanley – “12” (“Simple Simon…”)
      LeRoi Jones – “A Note on the 12 Poems”
      Stan Persky – “Larry Davis Cowboy Poem”
      Stan Persky – “Siege Poem”
      Koenig [LeRoi Jones] – “Note”
      Robert Creeley – “Edward Dorn in the News”
      [Diane] di Prima – [untitled] “arthur machen, what he has hold of…”
      Koenig [LeRoi Jones] – “Note”
      Robert Creeley – “’Statement’ for Patterson Society”
      The Editors – “Notice”

According to Diane di Prima in notes to Laurence McGilvery’s facsimile edition of The Floating Bear, “George Stanley was in New York for a while in 1961. He was a part of Jack Spicer’s very tight circle. Jack had printed a lot of books and a magazine called J, and no copies of his things were allowed to go East. Jack felt the East Coast was Babylon. When George returned to San Francisco he went through a very bad period because Jack and the whole circle ostracized him for having gone to New York and having been published there. They said it was prostitution.”

7. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 7, edited by Diane di Prima and LeRoi Jones
New York City: The Floating Bear, May 1961
First edition, corner-stapled sheets, 8.5” x 11”, 12 pages, mimeograph printed.

  • Contents:
    1. Bill Berkson – “’……’ Times”
      Bill Berkson – “How It Goes”
      Bill Berkson – “Hinterland”
      Bill Berkson – “Never”
      Bill Berkson – “You and Me”
      Bill Berkson – “Saturday Afternoon”
      Charles Olson – “Grammar – ‘A Book’”
      The Editors – “Notices”

8. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 8, edited by Diane di Prima and LeRoi Jones
New York City: The Floating Bear, May 1961
First edition, corner-stapled sheets, 8.5” x 11”, 12 pages, mimeograph printed.

  • Contents:
    1. A.B. Spellman – “Zapata and The Landlord, for Allen Dulles”
      A.B. Spellman – “The Joel Blues, After and For Him”
      anonymous – “Last Will and Testament of an Urban Herbalist and Agrostologist”
      Joel Oppenheimer – “17-18 April, 1961”
      Ed Dorn – “New York, New York”
      The Editors – “Notice”

According to Diane di Prima in notes to Laurence McGilvery’s facsimile edition of The Floating Bear, “April 17-18, 1961 was the Bay of Pigs fiasco.”

9. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 9, edited by Diane di Prima and LeRoi Jones
New York: The Floating Bear, June 1961
First edition, corner-stapled sheets, 8.5” x 11”, 12 pages, mimeograph printed.

  • Contents:
    1. LeRoi Jones – “from The System of Dante’s Hell”
      William Burroughs – “Routine: Roosevelt after Inauguration”
      Philip Whalen – “Itchy”
      unattributed – “Slave Song, 18th Cent.”

According to Diane di Prima in notes to Laurence McGilvery’s facsimile edition of The Floating Bear, “This slave song and the prayer [in issue No. 15] both came from a book on the history of American Negro music that LeRoi was reading then.”

10. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 10, edited by Diane di Prima and LeRoi Jones
New York: The Floating Bear, June 1961
First edition, corner-stapled sheets, 8.5” x 11”, 16 pages, mimeograph printed.

  • Contents:
    1. John Wieners – “On January 20th the Snows Began to Melt”
      John Wieners – “You Can’t Kill These Machines”
      John Wieners – “Long Nook”
      John Wieners – [untitled] “And it would be good to stop…”
      John Wieners – “Ode to the Instrument” [Black Mountain, Spring 1955]
      John Wieners – “Ode to the Instrument”
      John Wieners – “Exchange of the Lady’s Handmaids”
      John Wieners – “Objects from Route 70”
      John Wieners – “Message”
      John Wieners – “Play Land’s Aftermath”
      John Wieners – “Second Flight Across Country”
      John Wieners – “After Meditations, for F O’H”
      John Wieners – “That Old Gang of Mine”

11. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 11, edited by Diane di Prima and LeRoi Jones
New York: The Floating Bear, July 1961
First edition, corner-stapled sheets, 8.5” x 11”, 10 pages, mimeograph printed.

  • Contents:
    1. Charles Olson – “A Plausible Entry for, like, Man”
      Gil [Sorrentino] – [Letter to LeRoi Jones]
      Peter Hartman – “The Masai ***”
      James VI [King of England] – “from Reulis and Cautelis to be Observit and Eschewit in Scottis Poesie”
      Robert Kelly – “Letter to the Bear. Re: Rome”
      Denise Levertov – “An Argument. (In response to Trobar #2 and Kelly’s ‘Notes on the Poetry of the Deep Image’)”
      Larry Eigner – “Blabbermouth”
      Fred Herko – [Theater Reviews]
      The Editors – “Notices”

12. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 12, edited by Diane di Prima and LeRoi Jones
New York: The Floating Bear, August 1961
First edition, corner-stapled sheets, 8.5” x 11”, 12 pages, mimeograph printed.

  • Contents:
    1. John Ashbery – “The Lozenges”
      John Ashbery – “The Suspended Life”
      John Ashbery – “To the Same Degree”
      John Ashbery – “The Ascetic Sensualists”
      A.B. Spellman – “Nocturne for Eric”
      Carl Solomon – “The Bughouse”
      Carl Solomon – “I Was a Communist Youth”
      Carl Solomon – “The Entrance of the Grand Gladiola”
      The Editors – “Notices”

According to Diane di Prima in notes to Laurence McGilvery’s facsimile edition of The Floating Bear, “Allen Ginsberg dedicated ‘Howl’ to Carl Solomon.”

13. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 13, edited by Diane di Prima and LeRoi Jones
New York: The Floating Bear, September 1961
First edition, corner-stapled sheets, 8.5” x 11”, 12 pages, mimeograph printed.

  • Contents:
    1. A.B. Spellman – “The Beautiful Day”
      A.B. Spellman – “The Second Beautiful Day”
      A.B. Spellman – “The Beautiful Day, III”
      A.B. Spellman – “The Beautiful Day, IV”
      A.B. Spellman – “The Beautiful Day, V”
      A.B. Spellman – “The Beautiful Day VI”
      A.B. Spellman – “The Beautiful Day VII”
      Joe Early – “Les Enfants du Paradis”
      David Ossman – “Comments on Montage”
      Steve Jonas – “Altar”
      John Thomas – “Alba”
      John Thomas – “Memo for Coffeehouse Psychologists”
      Fielding Dawson – “The Turn of the Wheel”
      The Editors – “Notices”

14. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 14, edited by Diane di Prima and LeRoi Jones
New York: The Floating Bear, October 1961
First edition, corner-stapled sheets, 8.5” x 11”, 14 pages, mimeograph printed.

  • Contents:
    1. Michael McClure – “!The Feast!, for Ornette Coleman”
      Philip Whalen – “Goodbye & Hello, Again 6:II:60”

Note: an announcement concerning the arrest of the editors was sent out separately and with some copies of No. 14.

15. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 15, edited by Diane di Prima and LeRoi Jones
New York: The Floating Bear, November 1961
First edition, corner-stapled sheets, 8.5” x 11”, 12 pages, mimeograph printed.

  • Contents:
    1. Bruce Boyd – “Canticles for the Hours: Prime”
      Bruce Boyd – “Thread”
      Bruce Boyd – “1.” (“because it wasn’t sugar…”)
      Bruce Boyd – “2.” (“well, old honey, back to the hard sound…”)
      Bruce Boyd – “3.” (“or say that it is not love…”)
      Allen Ginsberg – “History of the Jewish Socialist Party in America”
      author unknown – “Early South Carolina Gullah Prayer”
      Frank O’Hara – “For the Chinese New Year & for Bill Berkson”
      Joseph Lesueur – [Theater Reviews]
      The Editors – “Notices”

16. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 16, edited by Diane di Prima and LeRoi Jones
New York: The Floating Bear, December 1961
First edition, corner-stapled sheets, 8.5” x 11”, 12 pages, mimeograph printed.

  • Contents:
    1. George Stanley – [untitled] “They would force scrunched…”
      George Stanley – [untitled] “The sailors in their ship…”
      George Stanley – [untitled] “Myriads now fly down…”
      Dave Ossman and Martin Green – “A Film Form: Outline for a Filmscript”
      Charles Olson – “To Empty the Mind”
      Ron Loewinsohn – “The World of the Lie”
      Ron Loewinsohn – “The Mendacity of Windows”
      Ron Loewinsohn – “The Mendacity of Radio”
      Ron Loewinsohn – “The Mendacity of Sculpture”
      Ron Loewinsohn – “Coda: As Far as the Pass”
      Ron Loewinsohn – [untitled] “On the way back from Chicago (September, ’56)…”
      Marian Zazeela – “The Guggenheim Exhibition of Abstract Expressionists and Imagists (to Dec. 31)”
      Alan Marlowe – “Review”
      G. Sorrentino – “Rollins’ Return”

According to Diane di Prima in notes to Laurence McGilvery’s facsimile edition of The Floating Bear, “Marian Zazeela’s review of the Guggenheim exhibit caused a lot of commotion. After that point a lot of the New York painters who had been helping us with the Bear wouldn’t give us any more money because she suggested that Robert Motherwell was copying from his wife Helen Frankenthaler. Motherwell got very mad at us and wrote me a very nasty postcard.”

17. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 17, edited by Diane di Prima and LeRoi Jones
New York: The Floating Bear, January 1962
First edition, corner-stapled sheets, 8.5” x 11”, 12 pages, mimeograph printed.

  • Contents:
    1. Joel Oppenheimer – “A Treatise”
      Hubert Selby, Jr. – “September 24, 1961, A Floating Bear Special”
      Charles Olson – “The Americans”
      Paul Metcalf – “Darlington, South Carolina”
      Max Finstein – “Song”
      Max Finstein – “The Trial”
      Max Finstein – “The Merger”
      Jerry Benjamin – [Theatre Review]
      Fred Herko – “Paul Taylor–A History”
      The Editors – “Notices”

18. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 18, edited by Diane di Prima and LeRoi Jones
New York: The Floating Bear, February 1962
First edition, corner-stapled sheets, 8.5” x 11”, 12 pages, mimeograph printed.

  • Contents:
    1. David Meltzer – “Poem to H.P. Lovecraft”
      David Meltzer – “The Struggle / Poems for the Muse”
      David Meltzer – “Heroes: 7 / The Comics”
      Mike Strong – “After”
      Mike Strong – “Overture”
      Mike Strong – “Mornings”
      LeRoi Jones – “Footnote to a Pretentious Book”
      Charles Olson – “In the Face of the Chinese View of the City”
      Joseph Lesueur – “Random Thoughts about Recent Plays, On and Off Broadway”
      George Brecht – “Statement for James Goldsworthy”
      John King [LeRoi Jones] – “Rejoinder: Concerning the Reviews by Miss Zazeela and Mr. Marlowe in FB 16”
      Frank Buck [pseud.; not Identified] – “Consumer’s Guide”

19. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 19, edited by Diane di Prima and LeRoi Jones
New York: The Floating Bear, March 1962
First edition, corner-stapled sheets, 8.5” x 11”, 12 pages, mimeograph printed.

  • Contents:
    1. Robert Duncan – “Night Scenes”
      Jonathan Williams – “We Take the Golden Road, to Samar, Kansas…”
      Stuart Perkoff – [untitled] “the Christian philo…”
      Stuart Perkoff – “2.” (“we step & and do not step…”)
      Stuart Perkoff – “3.” (“the river was warm, but not warm enough…”)
      Stuart Perkoff – “Three Prayers”
      Stuart Perkoff – “The Swing”
      Gertrude “Ma” Rainey – “Sissy Blues”
      Diane di Prima – “December, 1961”
      LeRoi Jones – “James Waring and Dance Company”
      Edwin Denby – [Letter to the Editors]
      The Editors – “Notices”

20. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 20, edited by Diane di Prima and LeRoi Jones
New York: The Floating Bear, May 1962
First edition, corner-stapled sheets, 8.5” x 11”, 12 pages, mimeograph printed.

  • Contents:
    1. The Editors [LeRoi Jones] – “Hello, Ma I Glad I Win!”
      Bertolt Brecht – “A Letter to His Fascist Friend Arnolt Bronnen in the Summer of 1923”
      Paul Blackburn – “The Cronopios in America–1.”
      J. Williams – “Best Reading List”
      Ed Dorn – “A Wild Blue, Yonder”
      Ed Dorn – “Time Blonde”
      Ed Dorn – “In My Youth I Was a Tireless Dancer”
      Ed Dorn – “The Song Is Ended”
      Ed Dorn – “The Poet Lectures Famous Potatoes”
      Ed Dorn – “Nose from Newswhere”
      Diane di Prima – “from Whale Honey”

21. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 21, edited by Diane di Prima and LeRoi Jones
New York: The Floating Bear, August 1962
First edition, corner-stapled sheets, 8.5” x 11”, 12 pages, mimeograph printed.

  • Contents:
    1. Frank O’Hara – “Mary Desti’s Ass”
      Frank O’Hara – “St. Paul and All That”
      Charles Olson – “A Work”
      Norman Solomon – “A Passion Play. 1.”
      Norman Solomon – “962”
      Peter Orlovsky and Allen Ginsberg – “Our Dear Friend Charles”
      Aquarian [Joel Oppenheimer] – “Best Reading List”
      Diane di Prima – “A Concert of Dance–Judson Memorial Church, Friday, 6 July 1962”
      The Editors – “Notices”

22. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 22, edited by Diane di Prima and LeRoi Jones
New York: The Floating Bear, August 1962
First edition, corner-stapled sheets, 8.5” x 11”, 12 pages, mimeograph printed.

  • Contents:
    1. David Shapiro – “Lament”
      David Shapiro – “The Bluebird”
      David Shapiro – “The Storm”
      David Shapiro – “Canticle as Grieving”
      David Shapiro – “Poem”
      Yu Suwa – “A Poem, 1961-1962”
      LeRoi Jones – “The Politics of Rich Painters”
      Gary Snyder – “The Curse”
      Joseph Lesueur – “Rotten Apple”
      Steve Jonas – “Green”
      Steve Jonas – “Sub Voce”
      George Stanley – “The Italian”
      Abe Harvard [Peter Hartman] – “In Quest of Ugendun”
      Diane Wakoski – [Letter to the Editors]
      The Editors – “Notices”

According to Diane di Prima in notes to Laurence McGilvery’s facsimile edition of The Floating Bear, “David Shapiro was 16 years old. For his age his stuff was brilliant, and people in Frank O’Hara’s crowd were interested in him. He was a very funny person when I met him because all his 16-year-old, adolescent, New Jersey personality was there on the surface, in spite of the fact that he could make these very far-out images. He kept calling me Miss di Prima and Frank Mr. O’Hara, and Frank finally got very embarrassed about it.”

23. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 23, edited by Diane di Prima and LeRoi Jones
New York: The Floating Bear, September 1962
First edition, corner-stapled sheets, 8.5” x 11”, 12 pages, mimeograph printed.

  • Contents:
    1. Kirby Doyle – “from The Happiness Bastard”
      Diane di Prima – “Careers: A Naturalistic Tragedy”
      Frank Lima – “Pudgy”
      James Waring – [Letter to The Floating Bear]
      Anton Webern [Peter Hartman?] – [Letter to the Editors]
      Miles Campion [LeRoi Jones?] – [Letter to the Editors]
      The Editors – “Notices”

24. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 24, edited by Diane di Prima and LeRoi Jones
New York: The Floating Bear, September-October 1962
First edition, corner-stapled sheets, 8.5” x 11”, 12 pages, mimeograph printed.

  • Contents:
    1. William S. Burroughs – “Spain & 42 St.”
      William S. Burroughs – “Dead Whistle Stop Already End”
      William S. Burroughs – “Where Flesh Circulates”
      Paul C. Metcalf – “In This Corner: Charles Olson”
      Soren Agenoux – “A Movie Review”
      Johannes Koenig [LeRoi Jones] – “Names & Bodies (Notes)”
      Soren Agenoux – “12 Leçons de Ténèbres”
      George Montgomery – [untitled] “Lemons on barber poles…”
      The Editors – “Notices”

25. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 25, edited by Diane di Prima and LeRoi Jones
Topanga: The Floating Bear, November 1962-March 1963
First edition, corner-stapled sheets, 8.5” x 11”, 8 pages plus Auerhahn advertisement flyer, mimeograph printed.

  • Contents:
    1. Lew Welch – “Voice from Rat Flat!”
      Richard Baker – “Struggle”
      Richard Baker – “Beer”
      Dale Landers – “III Of a Growth Of”
      Robert Creeley – “The Skeleton”
      A.B. Spellman – “Baltimore Oriole, for M.R.”
      A.B. Spellman – “A Home Brew”
      The Editors – “Thank Yous”
      [Advertisement for Auerhahn Press]

26. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 26, guest-edited by Billy Linich
New York: The Floating Bear, October 1963
First edition, corner-stapled sheets, 8.5” x 11”, 10 pages, mimeograph printed.

  • Contents:
    1. [George Herms] – [untitled] “Wet floor feet faster than wine…”
      [George Herms] – “Tap City Easter Circus Report”
      Michael Katz – “4 Short Stories for Passover”
      John [Wieners] – [untitled] “Mary Butts, inhabit her Ashe family of Rings…”
      Mary Butts – [untitled] “Until they came to the world’s end…”
      John [Daley?] – [Letter to Billy Linich]
      George Brecht – [Note to Billy Linich]
      Kirby Doyle – “Moon Poem, for Jarry Heiserman”
      Ray Johnson – [Letters to Various Persons]
      Ray Johnson – “Where Is the Palace? Iodine.”
      Duke Mantee [LeRoi Jones] – “Voices from the Art World (or, Bright Sayings)”
      The Editors – “Notices”
      [Diane di Prima] – “This Is a Very Strong Appeal for Funds”

27. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 27, edited by Diane di Prima
New York: The Floating Bear, November 1963
First edition, corner-stapled sheets, 8.5” x 11”, 34 pages, mimeograph printed.

  • Contents:
    1. Philip Whalen – “The Art of Literature”
      Philip Whalen – “The Saturday Visitations”
      Philip Whalen – “Sunday Afternoon Dinner Fung Loy Restaurant San Francisco”
      Philip Whalen – “Hello to All the Folks Back Home”
      Philip Whalen – “The Art of Literature, 2nd Part”
      Philip Whalen – “Heigho, Nobody’s at Home”
      Philip Whalen – “Ignorantaccio”
      Philip Whalen – “The Art of Literature, #3, A Total Explanation, for Dr. A.”
      Philip Whalen – [untitled] “without gills or lungs or brain…”
      Philip Whalen – “Saturday 15:IX:62”
      Philip Whalen – “Fillmore Hob Nob Carburetor”
      Philip Whalen – “The Art of Literature, Part 4th”
      Philip Whalen – “The Gallery, Mill Valley”
      Philip Whalen – “Applegravy”
      Philip Whalen – “The Professor Comes to Call”
      Philip Whalen – “The Art of Literature, Concluded”
      Philip Whalen – “How We Live the More Abundant Life in America”
      Aquarian [Joel Oppenheimer] – “R I P”
      Ray Johnson – “Review by Ray Johnson (in the Style of Floating Bear)”
      Alan Marlowe – [Theatre Review]
      [Michael Rumaker?] – “Wieners & Stein at Judson”
      Michael Rumaker – “The Island, by Robert Creeley” [book review]
      John Wieners – “The Reporters, A Review by John Wieners”
      John Daley – “Billy Linich’s Party”
      [Author Unknown] – “Mss. Found in the Debris at the Living Theatre: The Journal of an IRS Agent”
      Alan Marlowe and Diane di Prima – [Announcement for the New Choreographers Company]
      The Editors – [Notices]
      Ray Johnson – [Letter to the Floating Bear]

28. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 28, edited by Diane di Prima
New York: The Floating Bear, December 1963
First edition, corner-stapled sheets, 8.5” x 11”, 16 pages, mimeograph printed. Cover art by Al Leslie.

  • Contents:
    1. Mary Caroline Richards – “Christmas Sonnet”
      Mary Caroline Richards – “To My New Goat”
      Gregory Corso – “I Dream in Daytime”
      Jack Smith – “Normal Love”
      LeRoi Jones – “In Wyoming Territory (a Title)”
      LeRoi Jones – “In Wyoming Territory (a Veil)”
      LeRoi Jones – “In Wyoming Territory (a Story.”
      LeRoi Jones – “In Wyoming Territory (Music of”
      LeRoi Jones – “In Wyoming Territory (Dance/Like/”
      Edward Field – “Chopin”
      John Wieners – “Journal of the First Night”
      Frank O’Hara – “Pistachio Tree at Château Noir”

29. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 29, edited by Diane di Prima
New York: The Floating Bear, March 1964
First edition, corner-stapled sheets, 8.5” x 11”, 20 pages, mimeograph printed. Cover art by George Herms.

  • Contents:
    1. Robert Grosseteste – “On Light or the Beginning of Forms”
      James Waring – [untitled] “Seen anywhere can art avalanche…”
      Julian Beck – “Acrostic for the Community of Poets and Joel Oppenheimer”
      John Thomas – “Some Books”
      Frank O’Hara – “Adventures in Living”
      Gerard Malanga – “Rollerskate”
      Gerard Malanga – “A Magic Realist Painting, for Alan Marlowe”
      John Herbert Mcdowell – “Special to the Floating Bear”
      Morton Feldman – [Letter to the Floating Bear]
      [Gilbert] Sorrentino – “Signal: A New Magazine”
      Fielding Dawson – “I Confess”
      James Waring – “Art Chronicle”
      The Editors – “Notices”

According to Diane di Prima in notes to Laurence McGilvery’s facsimile edition of The Floating Bear, “Jerry Malanga wrote ‘Rollerskate’ as a tribute to Freddie Herko after Freddie’s death. I don’t know if the film it refers to was ever made.”

30. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 30, edited by Diane di Prima
New York: The Floating Bear, November 1964
First edition, corner-stapled sheets, 8.5” x 11”, 20 pages, mimeograph printed. Cover art by Jeanne Marlowe.

  • Contents:
    1. Ruth Krauss – “As I Passed the Andy Auto Body Works”
      Alan Marlowe – “A Play”
      author unknown [Peter Abelard?] – “Medieval Latin Song” (trans. Diane di Prima)
      Ferencz Mcnaughton [pseud.?] – “May Meeting with C. Goy”
      Carl Solomon – “Pilgrim State Hospital”
      anon., As Told To Hubert Selby, Jr. – “My Return to Pilgrim State”
      Herbert Huncke – [untitled] “I could not believe we had anything…”
      Gilbert Sorrentino – “For the Floating Bear: Prose of Our Time”
      Allan Kaprow – “from the Construction of Boston”
      James Waring – [Letter to the Floating Bear]
      Alex Katz – [Letter to the Editors]
      Howard Schulman – “Jan Muller (1922-58) at the Guggenheim thru 2/25/62”
      Anne Wilson – “October ‘26 Rauschenberg”

According to Diane di Prima in notes to Laurence McGilvery’s facsimile edition of The Floating Bear, “The cover of Number 30 was done by my daughter Jeannie who was six and a half years old at that time.”

31. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 31, guest-edited by Alan Marlowe
New York City: The Floating Bear, June 1965
First edition, corner-stapled sheets, 8.5” x 11”, 16 pages, mimeograph printed. Cover art by Jess Collins.

  • Contents:
    1. author unknown – “Great Prajna Paramita Sutra” (trans. by Shenryu Suzuki)
      John Wieners – “Procrastination”
      John Wieners – “Procrastination”
      John Wieners – “Procrastination”
      John Wieners – “Night Boat to Cairo”
      John Wieners – “The Mole Proposes Solitude”
      John Wieners – “Song Lyric for ‘Shoot the President’”
      Robert Duncan – “Notes from A Reading at the Poetry Center, San Francisco, March 1, 1959”
      The Editors – “Editors Notes”

32. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 32, guest-edited by Kirby Doyle
Kerhonkson: The Floating Bear, February 1966
First edition, corner-stapled sheets, 8.5” x 11”, 16 pages, mimeograph printed. Cover art by Robert Branaman.

  • Contents:
    1. Michael McClure – “Cupid’s Grin”
      John Keats – “A Fragment to Fanny”
      Thomas Chatterton – “Last Verses”
      Sharon Morrill – [untitled] “Body dying of chemical injecto…”
      Thomas Traherne – “from The Centuries”
      Yvonne Rainer – “Some Thoughts on Improvisation”
      Kirby Doyle – “Some Notes Toward a Text for the Unyielding Kings of the New Undead”
      Allen Ginsberg – “Psalm IV”
      Diane di Prima – “Buddhist New Year Song”
      Sheri Martinelli – “Duties of a Lady Female”
      Clive Matson – “The Good-Bye Scene”
      The Editors – “Notes”
      The Editors – [Advertisement for the Poets Press]

33. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 33, guest-edited by John Wieners
Brooklyn: The Floating Bear, February 1967
First edition, corner-stapled sheets, 8.5” x 11”, 36 pages, mimeograph printed. Cover art by Paolo Lionni.

  • Contents:
    1. [John Wieners] – “Our Unborn Child”
      John Broderick – “My Flowers…” [illustration]
      Jack Spicer – “The Bridge Game”
      Jack Spicer – “Lives of the Philosophers: Diogenes”
      Deedee Doyle [Sharon Morill] – [untitled illustration]
      B. O’Driscoll [Bobby Driscoll] – “Sunday”
      John Wieners – “The Drug Addict’s Dilemma: An Answer to America”
      Sanders Russell – “Two Poems”
      Philip Lamantia – “For Real”
      John Reed – “Three Poems”
      Kirby Doyle – “A Valo Poem”
      David Rattray – [untitled] “If only I could…”
      Edward Freeman – “Prints and Prisons”
      David Posner – “In Memory of a Friend”
      Allen De Loach – “The A Train”
      Bob Hartman – “This is the Flip Side of the Record”
      Robert Grenier – “A Race”
      Charles Doria – “from Christine’s Version”
      Stephen Jonas – “Subway Haiku”
      Alan Marlowe – [untitled] “Lady cat is missing…”
      Irving Rosenthal – “The Mouse King”
      Lewis Lipschitz – [untitled] “When I See the small fish…”
      Howard Schulman – [untitled] “When you breathe on me…”
      Elizabeth Sutherland – “B’s Blues”
      Joan Gilbert – [untitled] “this is the beginning of our end…”
      Jeanne Phillips – [untitled] “today we have the good witch…”
      Jeanne Phillips – “Observations”
      Jan Balas – [untitled] “I know its Thursday…”
      Jan Balas – “Meth Madness after Many Days”
      Diane di Prima – “Song for My Spooks”
      Diane di Prima – “First Snow, Kerhonkson, for Alan”
      Shreela Ray – [untitled] “I saw myself in abyss-green…”
      Shiela Plant – “Term Paper for 8 Year Old”
      Shiela Plant – “Autobiography”
      Shiela Plant – “Adamancy”
      Madeline Davis – “To Ronny”
      Janine Pommey – “On Train to Holland, 12-29-65”
      Janine Pommey – “October, 65, Ibiza Spain”
      Janine Pommey – “Paris 9-64, to Alex:”
      Janine Pommey – “Spring, Paris 65, to Fernando:”
      Janine Pommey – “Two Line Poems Written in Paris ‘65”
      The Editors – “Notices”

34. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 34, edited by Diane di Prima
Brooklyn: The Floating Bear, October 1967
First edition, corner-stapled sheets, 8.5” x 11”, 28 pages, mimeograph printed. Cover art by Michael Bowen.

  • Contents:
    1. Jack Spicer – “The Day Five Thousand Fish Died in the Charles River”
      Jack Spicer – “Poem, by a Computer at Mit, Which Was Fed the Elements of English Grammar, and Directed to Produce Sentences”
      Keith Wilson – “Graves Registry XII, Body at Sea”
      Keith Wilson – “Graves Registry XIV, Sea Songs for Women”
      Gary Snyder – [untitled] “Could she see the whole real world…”
      Gary Snyder – “The Coyote Breath”
      Emily Bronte – “Cold in the Earth”
      Stuart Perkoff – [untitled] “what a city is…”
      Rajkamal Chowdhury – “The Cycle or the Yoni-chakra (a Tantric Song)”
      Lorenzo Thomas – “Poem in Lieu of the Marriage of Andrew Zolem”
      Arcane School, N.Y.C. – “Zodiac”
      George Stanley – [untitled] “I thought and thought…”
      George Stanley – [untitled] “the past (as if in parenthesis)…”
      Bertolt Brecht – “Of Poor B. B.” (trans. Jack Collom)
      Frank O’Hara – “Dérangé sur un Pont de l’Adour”
      Frank O’Hara – “Hôtel Particulier”
      Johannes Koenig [LeRoi Jones] – “The Structure of the Academy Is: Against, the Street, or, Versus.”
      Yukio Matsuda – “The Landing” (trans. Syunichi Niikura)
      Yu Suwa – “Jacob’s Ladder” (trans. Syunichi Niikura)
      Atsushi Sekiguci – “New Year Greeting” (trans. Syunichi Niikura)
      Philip Lamantia – “Rest in Peace”
      Jack Kerouac – “How to Meditate”
      Jack Kerouac – “Hitch Hiker”
      David W. Mckain – “Street Corner Song”
      David W. Mckain – “Special Eye”
      David W. Mckain – “Newark Black Survival Committee Press Conference”
      The Editors – “Notices”

35. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 35, edited by Diane di Prima
New York: The Floating Bear, April 1968
First edition, corner-stapled sheets, 8.5” x 11”, 26 pages, mimeograph printed. Cover art by John Reed.

  • Contents:
    1. Philip Lamantia – “Inscription for the Vanishing Republic”
      Philip Lamantia – “Orphic Poem”
      Philip Lamantia – “The Call”
      Philip Lamantia – “Politics Poem”
      Philip Lamantia – “Lava”
      Philip Lamantia – “Cool Apocalypse”
      Philip Lamantia – “Visions”
      Philip Lamantia – [untitled] “That I burned by the screech owl castle…”
      Steve Jonas – “A Poem for Tony Sherrod”
      John Thomas – “The Empty Blues”
      Lenore Kandel – “Junk/Angel”
      LeRoi Jones – “Indians”
      LeRoi Jones – “A Traffic of Love”
      LeRoi Jones – “Old Men’s Feet”
      LeRoi Jones – “Nick Charles Meets the Wolf-Man”
      LeRoi Jones – “West of Dodge”
      Michael Rumaker – “The Island, by Robert Creeley” [book review]
      Michael Rumaker – “WFME Interview with Night Editor of Newark Evening News”
      The Editors – “Notices of All Kinds”

36. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 36, guest-edited by Bill Berkson
New York City: The Floating Bear, January-July 1969
First edition, corner-stapled sheets, 8.5” x 11”, 40 pages, mimeograph printed. Cover art by Ray Johnson.

  • Contents:
    1. Larry Fagin, Bill Berkson, and Ron Padgett – “Beautiful Music”
      Larry Fagin, Bill Berkson, and Ron Padgett – “Dog Salt”
      Larry Fagin, Bill Berkson, and Ron Padgett – “The Secret of Jane Bowles”
      Max Ernst – “From”
      Michael Brownstein – “Driving Through Belgium”
      Michael Brownstein – “The Shining Hand”
      Michael Brownstein – “Woman Walking Slowly Downstairs and Waving”
      Anne Waldman – “Be Happy O Sad World Be Happy”
      Anne Waldman – “Bright Side”
      Tom Clark – “Where I Live”
      Clark Coolidge – “Nothing at Newbegins”
      Clark Coolidge – “Noun Adder”
      Blaise Cendrars – “Dorypha” (trans. Ron Padgett)
      Bill Berkson – “Forked Dah”
      Bill Berkson – “Stanky”
      David Shapiro – “For the Princess Hello”
      Diane di Prima – “Stone Take”
      Kenneth Koch – “I Am from Argentina”
      John Thorpe – “Shaman’s Pain”
      John Thorpe – “When”
      John Thorpe – “Dust Eater”
      Ron Padgett – “Movable Basketballs”
      Lewis Warsh – “Opening the Day”
      John Ashbery – “Upper Silesia”
      The Editors – “Readables”

37. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 37, edited by Diane di Prima
New York City: The Floating Bear, March-July 1969
First edition, corner-stapled sheets, 8.5” x 11”, 24 pages, mimeograph printed. Cover art by Wallace Berman.

  • Contents:
    1. Lenore Kandel – “Hymn to Maitreya in America”
      LeRoi Jones – “What the Arts Need Now”
      Kirby Doyle – “An Unfinished Letter, Amir id-Emaid”
      Kirby Doyle – [untitled] “The belly of the moon…”
      Kirby Doyle – [untitled] “Again the butterfly visits me…”
      Kirby Doyle – [untitled] “I came to the top of this…”
      Kirby Doyle – “Upon Jail”
      Kirby Doyle – “-1- the Alchemist”
      Kirby Doyle – “-2- the Angel”
      Kirby Doyle – “-3- the Singer”
      Kirby Doyle – “-4- the Fallen”
      Kirby Doyle – “-5- the Risen”
      Gary Snyder – “Buddhism & The Coming Revolution”
      Victor Hernandez Cruz – “Poem for the Empire”
      Victor Hernandez Cruz – “Third World”
      Diane di Prima – “Canticle of St. Joan, for Robert Duncan”
      Michael McClure – “Tear Gas”
      Janine Pommy-Vega – “Poem for David”
      Janine Pommy-Vega – “Poem to Pitt/ If That Is Your Name…..”
      Tao Te Ching – “from Tao Te Ching” (trans. Paul Carus)
      Dave Cunliffe and Tina Morris – “Invocation”
      Freewheelin’ Frank [Frank Reynolds] – “’The Hymn’ to ‘Lucifer’”

According to Diane di Prima in notes to Laurence McGilvery’s facsimile edition of The Floating Bear, “The poem by Freewheelin’ Frank [Frank Reynolds] came out of a book that was done here in San Francisco. It was issued as a portfolio and ws the last printing effort of the Free City people; they had been doing a free publishing thing. They did Brautigan’s Please Plant This Book, poems printed on packets of seeds. They also did a dittoed version of Kirby Doyle’s Angelfaint, which he wouldn’t let them release because it had too many typographical errors in it. One thousand copies of it are probably still in Irving Rosenthal’s basement, without covers. Frank’s book was beautifully printed, all on separate sheets in about four colors. Freewheelin’ Frank’s name somehow didn’t get on this poem, so we had to write it in by hand on all the copies.”


References Consulted:

Clay, Steven and Rodney Phillips. A SECRET LOCATION ON THE LOWER EAST SIDE: ADVENTURES IN WRITING, 1960-1980
New York: New York Public Library / Granary Books, 1998

di Prima, Diane and LeRoi Jones. editors. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER. Numbers 1-37, 1961-1969
La Jolla: Laurence McGilvery, 1973


Online Resources:

· Beat Visions and the Counterculture – Floating Bear
· From a Secret Location – The Floating Bear
· Reality Studio – Floating Bear Archive

Auerhahn Press: Broadsides

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Section B:
This index collects Auerhahn Press broadsides from 1959 through 1965.


1. Whalen, Philip. SELF-PORTRAIT FROM ANOTHER DIRECTION
First edition:
San Francisco: Auerhahn Press, 1959
Folded broadside tipped into printed wrappers, broadside measures 9″ x 19.5″ unfolded. Handset and printed by Jay McIlroy and Dave Haselwood.


2. Page, David. BABYWHIPLAND
First edition:
San Francisco: Auerhahn Press, 1961
Broadside folded once as issued, 5.25″ x 7.5″ (5.25″ by 15″ when open), 350 copies.



3. Duncan, Robert. A BOOK OF RESEMBLANCES
First edition:
San Francisco: Auerhahn Press, n.d.
Broadside, 8″ x 15.5″, illustrated by Jess




4. Blaser, Robin. APPARITORS
First edition:
San Francisco: Auerhahn Press 1963
Broadside, 13″ x 20″, 300 copies signed by the author and artist. illustrated by Fran Herndon.



5. Shelley, Percy Bysshe. A VALENTINE FROM THE AUERHAHN
First edition:
San Francisco: Auerhahn Press, [1964]
Broadside, 7.25″ x 4″.

6. Whalen, Philip. GODDESS
First edition:
(San Francisco): Auerhahn Press, December 1964
Broadside, 8 1/2″ x 12″, 125 copies.




7. Welch, Lew. RICHER THAN THE RICHEST FALCONER
First edition:
(San Francisco): Auerhahn Press, (1965)
Broadside, 9.5″ by 15.5″, 125 copies printed for Don Carpenter.



Dave Haselwood Books

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Section D:
This index collects books and other items printed by Dave Haselwood from 1965 to 1970.


1. McClure, Michael. UNTO CAESAR
mcclure_untoFirst edition:
(San Francisco): (Dave Haselwood), (1965)
Hand-sewn in printed wrappers, 6.5″ x 4″,  24 pages, circa 60 copies. (Haselwood 1)

2. Hoyem, Andrew. THE MUSIC ROOM
First edition:
San Francisco: Haselwood, 1965
Hand-sewn in printed wrappers, 6.5″ x 4″,  16 pages, circa 100 copies. Illustrated by Bruce Conner. (Haselwood 2)

3. Wieners, John. CHINOISERIE
First edition:
San Francisco: Dave Haselwood, 1965
Hand-sewn in printed wrappers, 6.5″ x 4″,  20 pages, circa 100 copies. (Haselwood 3)

4. Wieners, John. THE HOTEL WENTLEY POEMS
Second edition revised:
San Francisco: Dave Haselwood, 1965
Saddle-stapled in illustrated wrappers, 6″ x 8.5″, 28 pages. Illustration by Robert La Vigne. These are the “original versions” of the poems. (Haselwood 4)

5. McClure, Michael. DREAM TABLE
First edition:
San Francisco: Dave Haselwood, 1965
30 double-sided printed cards, 2.5″ x 3.5″, 200 sets (30 signed). Each card is printed with a Lion and a Tree ornament on one side and two words on the other. (Haselwood 5)

6. Williams, Jonathan. PAEAN TO DVORAK, DEEMER & McCLURE
First edition:
San Francisco: Dave Haselwood, 1966
Hand-sewn in printed wrappers, 6.5″ x 4″,  32 pages, circa 100 copies. (Haselwood 6)

7. Johnson, Ronald. ASSORTED JUNGLES: ROUSSEAU
First edition:
San Francisco: Dave Haselwood, 1966
Hand-sewn in printed wrappers, 6.5″ x 4″,  32 pages, circa 100 copies. (Haselwood 7)

8. Hoyem, Andrew. CHIMERAS
First edition:
San Francisco: Dave Haselwood, 1966
Hand-sewn in printed wrappers, 6.25″ x 9.5″,  28 pages. (Haselwood 8)



9. Plymell, Charles. APOCALYPSE ROSE
First edition:
San Francisco: Dave Haselwood, 1966
Saddle-stapled in printed wrappers, 6″ x 9″,  52 pages. Introduction by Allen Ginsberg. (Haselwood 9)


10. McClure, Michael. LOBE KEY STILLED LIONMAN LACED WINGED APRIL RAPHAEL DANCE WIRY
First edition:
(San Francisco): (Dave Haselwood), (1966)
24 cards in printed envelope, 2″ x 2″, envelope measures 4.5 x 5.75″. Each card is printed with  four words one side and a “hallucinogram” on the other. Illustrated by Bruce Conner. (Haselwood 10)

11. McClure, Michael and Bruce Conner. MANDALAS
First edition:
San Francisco: Dave Haselwood, 1966
Saddle-stapled in printed wrappers, 10″ x 10″, 32 pages, 1200 copies. Illustrated by Bruce Conner. (Haselwood 11)

Note: Printed announcement issued.

12. Ferlinghetti, Lawrence. AFTER THE CRIES OF THE BIRDS
First edition:
San Francisco: Dave Haselwood: 1967
Saddle-stapled in printed wrappers, 6″ x 8″, 16 pages. (Haselwood 12)



13. Whalen, Philip. T/O
First edition:
San Francisco: Dave Haselwood, 1967
Hand-sewn in printed wrappers, 6.5″ x 4″,  32 pages, circa 80 copies. (Haselwood 13)

14. Burroughs, William S. and Brion Gysin. THE EXTERMINATOR
First edition, second printing:
San Francisco: Dave Haselwood, 1967
Perfect-bound in illustrated and printed wrappers, 6″ x 9″, 51 pages, 1000 copies. (Haselwood 14)



15. McClure, Michael. DARK BROWN
First edition, second printing:
Perfect-bound in illustrated and printed wrappers, 5.5″ x 8.5″. (Haselwood 15)

16. Brown, Geoffrey. TENDING BAR AT THE FILLMORE AUDITORIUM ON ARTISTS’ LIBERATION FRONT BENEFIT NIGHT
First edition:
San Francisco: Dave Haselwood Books, 1967
Folded broadside, 8.6″ x 10.75″.




17. Welch, Lew. COURSES
First edition:
San Francisco: Dave Haselwood, 1968
Hand-sewn in printed suede wrappers, 6.5″ x 4.25″, 28 pages, 50 copies. (Haselwood 16)

18. McClure, Michael. THE SERMONS OF JEAN HARLOW & THE CURSES OF BILLY THE KID
a. First edition, regular copies:
San Francisco: Four Seasons Foundation with Dave Haselwood Books, 1968
Saddle-stapled in printed wrappers, 6″ x 9.25″, 24 pages, 1200 copies. (Haselwood 17)

b. First edition, hardcover, signed copies:
San Francisco: Four Seasons Foundation with Dave Haselwood Books, 1968
Hardcover in printed paper-covered boards, 6″ x 9.25″, 24 pages, 50 copies signed. (Haselwood 17)

19. Ginsberg, Allen. INDIAN JOURNALS
a. First edition, regular copies:
San Francisco: City Lights Books with Dave Haselwood Books, 1970
Perfect bound in illustrated and printed wrappers, 5.5″ x 8.25″, 212 pages. (Haselwood 18)

b. First edition, hardcover, signed copies:
San Francisco: City Lights Books with Dave Haselwood Books, 1970
Hardcover in cloth-covered boards in printed and illustrated dust jacket, 5.5″ x 8.25″, 212 pages. (Haselwood 18)

Auerhahn Press: Books & Pamphlets

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Section A:
This index collects Auerhahn Press publications from 1958 through 1965: from Dave Haselwood’s first publishing venture through the dissolution of his partnership with Andrew Hoyem and the end of Auerhahn Press.


1. Wieners, John. THE HOTEL WENTLEY POEMS
wieners_wentley1
First edition:
San Francisco: Auerhahn Press, 1958
Saddle-stapled in illustrated wrappers, 6.25″ x 7.75″, 20 pages, circa 500 copies. Printed (and edited without prior notice to Dave Haselwood) by East West Printers. Cover photo by Jerry Burchard. Illustration by Robert La Vigne. (Auerhahn 1)

Note: Printed announcement issued.

2. Wieners, John. THE HOTEL WENTLEY POEMS
wieners_wentley2
Second revised edition:
San Francisco: Auerhahn Press, 1959
Saddle-stapled in illustrated wrappers, 6.25″ x 7.75″, 20 pages, 500 copies. Cover photo by Jerry Burchard. Illustration by Robert La Vigne. (Auerhahn 2)

Note: this edition has the original text restored.

3. Lamantia, Philip. EKSTASIS
lamantia_ekstasisFirst edition:
San Francisco: Auerhahn Press, 1959
Perfect-bound in printed wrappers, 5.75″ x 7″48 pages, circa 950 copies. Titling by Robert La Vigne. (Auerhahn 3)

Note: Printed announcement issued.

4. McClure, Michael. HYMNS TO ST. GERYON…
mcclure_hymnsFirst edition:
San Francisco: Auerhahn Press, 1959
Perfect-bound in illustrated wrappers, 7.25″ x 10″, 62 pages, 950 copies. Cover illustration by McClure. (Auerhahn 4)


5. Lamantia, Philip and Antonin Artaud. NARCOTICA
lamantia_narcotica
First edition:
San Francisco: Auerhahn Press, 1959
Saddle-stapled in illustrated wrappers, 6.25″ x 8.5″, 16 pages, 750 copies. Cover photographs by Wallace Berman. Published as “Auerhahn Pamphlet No. 1”. (Auerhahn 5)

Note: Printed announcement issued.

6. Whalen, Philip. MEMOIRS OF AN INTERGLACIAL AGE
whalen_memoirsa. First edition, regular copies:
San Francisco: Auerhahn Press, 1960
Perfect-bound in illustrated wrappers, 8.75″ x 11.25″, 64 pages, (1250 copies). Cover illustration by Robert La Vigne. (Auerhahn 6)

b. First edition, hardcover, signed copies:
San Francisco: Auerhahn Press, 1960
Hardcover in printed paper-covered boards with leather spine, 8.75″ x 11.25″, 64 pages,  60 copies with 25 signed and another 15 signed with holograph poem and illustration, bound by the Schuberth Bindery. Cover illustration by Robert La Vigne. (Auerhahn 6)

Note: Printed announcement issued.

7. Welch, Lew. WOBBLY ROCK
lew_wobblyFirst edition:
San Francisco: Auerhahn Press, 1960
Saddle-stapled in printed wrappers, 6″ x 8″, 12 pages, 500 copies, illustrated by Robert LaVigne. (Auerhahn 7)

Note: Dedication: “for Gary Snyder / ‘I think I’ll be the Buddha of this place’ / and sat himself / down”

8. Burroughs, William S. and Brion Gysin. THE EXTERMINATOR
burroughs_exterminator
First edition:
San Francisco: Auerhahn Press, 1960
Perfect-bound in illustrated wrappers, 6.25″ x 9.25″, 64 pages, (1000 copies). Illustrated by Brion Gysin. (Auerhahn 8)

Note: Printed announcement issued.

9. Marshall, Edward. HELLAN, HELLAN
marshall_hellanFirst edition:
San Francisco: Auerhahn Press, 1960
Saddle-stapled in illustrated wrappers, 6″ x 8.75″, 24 pages, (750 copies). Illustrated by Robert Ronnie Branaman. (Auerhahn 10)

Note: Printed announcement issued.

10. McClure, Michael. DARK BROWN
mcclure_darkbrowna. First edition, regular copies:
San Francisco: Auerhahn Press, 1961
Perfect-bound in printed wrappers, 6″x 9″, 56 pages, 725 copies. (Auerhahn 13)

b. First edition, hardcover, signed copies:
San Francisco: Auerhahn Press, 1961
Hardcover in cloth-bound boards, 6″ x 9″, 56 pages, 25 numbered and signed copies, bound by the Schuberth Bindery. (Auerhahn 13)

Note: Printed announcement issued.

11. Olson, Charles. MAXIMUS FROM DOGTOWN
olson_maximusFirst edition:
San Francisco: Auerhahn Press, 1961
Hand-sewn in printed wrappers, 9″ x 11.25″, 12 pages, 500 copies. Foreword by Michael McClure. (Auerhahn 14)


12. Reps, Paul. GOLD FISH SIGNATURES
a. First edition, regular copies:
San Francisco: Auerhahn Press, 1961
Japanese binding, 8.5″ x 11″, 84 pages, (1000 copies). (Auerhahn 15)

b. First edition, signed copies:
San Francisco: Auerhahn Press, 1961
Japanese binding, 8.5″ x 11″, 84 pages, (50 copies in slipcase), signed. (Auerhahn 15)

Note: Printed announcement issued.

13. THE AUERHAHN PRESS CATALOGUE
auerhahn_catalogueFirst edition:
San Francisco: Auerhahn Press, 1962
Saddle-stapled in printed wrappers, 4″x 5″, 16 pages includes poems by Wieners and Meltzer.
(Auerhahn 17)


14. Lamantia, Philip. DESTROYED WORKS
lamantia_destroyeda. First edition, regular copies:
San Francisco: Auerhahn Press, 1962
Perfect-bound in illustrated wrappers, 7″ x 8.75″, 48 pages, 1250 copies. (Auerhahn 18)

b. First edition, hardcover, signed copies:
San Francisco: Auerhahn Press, 1962
Hardcover in cloth-bound boards, 7″ x 8.75″, 48 pages, 50 numbered and signed copies, bound by the Schuberth Bindery. (Auerhahn 18)

15. Meltzer, David. WE ALL HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY…
meltzer_weFirst edition:
San Francisco: Auerhahn Press, 1962
Saddle-stapled in illustrated wrappers, 6.25″ x 8.5″, 12 pages, 750 copies. Published as “Auerhahn Pamphlet No. 2”. (Auerhahn 19)


16. Williams, Jonathan. IN ENGLAND’S GREEN &
williams_englandsFirst edition:
San Francisco: Auerhahn Press, 1962
Hand-sewn in printed wrappers, 6.5″ x 9.25″, 20 pages, 750 copies. Illustrated by Philip Van Aver.
(Auerhahn 20)


17. Spicer, Jack. THE HEADS OF THE TOWN UP TO THE AETHER
spicer_headsa. First edition, regular copies:
San Francisco: Auerhahn Press, 1962
Perfect-bound in illustrated wrappers, 4.75″ x 6.75″, 109 pages, 750 copies. Illustrated by Fran Herndon. (Auerhahn 21)

b. First edition, hardcover, signed copies:
San Francisco: Auerhahn Press, 1962
Hardcover in cloth-covered boards with leather spine, 4.75″ x 7.25″, 109 pages, 50 copies signed by the author and artist, with an original drawing, bound by the Schuberth Bindery. Illustrated by Fran Herndon. (Auerhahn 21)

Note: Printed announcement issued.

18. Hoyem, Andrew. THE WAKE
hoyem_wakeba. First edition, regular copies:
San Francisco: Auerhahn Press, 1963
Perfect-bound in printed wrappers, 6″ x 8.5″, 30 pages, 750 copies. (Auerhahn 22)

b. First edition, hardcover, signed copies:
San Francisco: Auerhahn Press, 1963
Hardcover in paper-covered boards and leather spine, 6″ x 9″, 30 pages, 35 copies signed, bound by the Schuberth Bindery. (Auerhahn 22)

Note: Three printed announcements issued.

19. di Prima, Diane. THE NEW HANDBOOK OF HEAVEN
diprima_newa. First edition, regular copies:
San Francisco: Auerhahn Press, 1963
Perfect-bound in printed wrappers, 5.25″ x 7.5″, 48 pages, 1000 copies. (Auerhahn 23)

b. First edition, hardcover, signed copies:
San Francisco: Auerhahn Press, 1963
Hardcover in printed paper-covered boards with cloth spine, 6″ x 9″, 30 pages, 30 copies signed, bound by the Schuberth Bindery. (Auerhahn 23)

20. Brother Antoninus. THE POET IS DEAD
antoninus_poetFirst edition:
San Francisco: Auerhahn Press, 1964
Hardcover in paper-covered boards with leather spine with paper label in plain paper dust jacket, 8.25″ x 10.5″, 28 pages, 205 copies signed. Bound by Jane Grabhorn and Sally Hoyem. (Auerhahn 24)

Note: Printed announcement issued.

21. Deemer, Bill. POEMS
deemer_poemsba. First edition, regular copies:
San Francisco: Auerhahn Press, 1964
Saddle-stapled in illustrated wrappers, 6.25″ x 9.25″, 20 pages, 500 copies. Introduction by Andrew Hoyem. (Auerhahn 37)

b. First edition, hardcover, signed copies:
San Francisco: Auerhahn Press, 1964
Hardcover in printed paper-covered boards with leather spine, 6.5″ x 9.25″, 20 pages, 25 copies signed, bound by the Schuberth Bindery. Introduction by Andrew Hoyem. (Auerhahn 37)

Printed announcement issued.

22. Davis, William. JANUS
davis_janusFirst edition:
San Francisco: The Auerhahn Society, Spring 1965
Perfect-bound in printed wrappers, 6.5″ x 9.75″, 64 pages,  750 copies. (Auerhahn 38)



23. Van Buskirk, Alden. LAMI
First edition:
San Francisco: The Auerhahn Society, 1965
Perfect-bound in printed wrappers, 7.75″ x 9.75″, 91 pages, 1000 copies. (Auerhahn 39)



24. Olson, Charles. HUMAN UNIVERSE AND OTHER ESSAYS
olson_humanFirst edition:
San Francisco: The Auerhahn Society, 1965
Hardcover in silk-screened cloth-covered boards with leather spine, 7.75″ x 11″, 160 pages, 250 copies, bound by the Schuberth Bindery. Cover art by Robert La Vigne. Author photo by Kenneth Irby. Edited by Donald Allen. (Auerhahn 40)

Foot

Poet Richard Duerden was born in Utah and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. He joined the Merchant Marines and the Marine Corps and was educated at the University of California.

A member of the San Francisco Renaissance poetry movement, Duerden founded the literary journals Foot and the Rivoli Review. His books of poetry include The Fork (1965), The Left Hand & The Glory of Her (1967), and The Air’s Nearly Perfect Elasticity (1979). His poetry was anthologized in The New American Poetry, 1945–1960 (1960, edited by Donald Allen). A selection of his manuscripts and correspondence is archived in the Stanford University Libraries and a smaller selection of his correspondence with poet Philip Whalen is archived at the Reed College Library.


Foot, No.1, edited by Richard Duerdan
mags_foot01San Francisco, September 1959
First edition, hand-sewn illustrated wrappers, 6.75″ x 8.5″, 56 pages. Cover illustration by Robert Duncan.

Contributors: Ebbe Borregaard, Richard Brautigan, Jess Collins, Richard Duerden, Robert Duncan, Larry Eigner, Eloise Nixon, Philip Whalen, Gary Snyder.

Foot, No. 2, edited by Richard Duerden and William Brown
mags_foot02San Francisco, 1962
First edition, saddle-stapled illustrated wrappers, 6.75″ x 8.75″, 80 pages. Illustrations by Philip Roeber and Philip Whalen.

Contributors: Philip Whalen, Philip Roeber, Joanne Snyder, Richard Duerden, Robert Duncan, Jack Spicer, Kenneth Rexroth, William Brown, Lew Welch, Leslie Thompson, Jess Collins, Gary Snyder, Michael McClure, Suzanne Duerden.

Foot, No. 3, edited by Richard Duerden
mags_foot03San Francisco, Spring 1977
First edition, saddle-stapled illustrated wrappers, 7″ x 8.5″, 12 pages. Cover illustration by Robert Duncan.

Contributors: Robert Creeley, Duncan McNaughton, Richard Duerden, John Thorpe, Lawrence Kearney.

Foot, No. 4, edited by Richard Duerden
mags_foot04San Francisco, Summer 1977
First edition, saddle-stapled illustrated wrappers, 7″ x 8.75″, 16 pages. Cover illustration by Terry Bell.

Contributors: Lawrence Kearney, Jerry Ratch, Duncan McNaughton,   Don Cushman, James Koller.

Foot, No. 5, edited by Richard Duerden
mags_foot05San Francisco, Fall 1977
First edition, saddle-stapled illustrated wrappers, 7″ x 8.5″, 12 pages. Cover illustration by Leslie Scalapino.

Contributors: Leslie Scalapino, Richard Duerden, Michael Wolfe, Ron Loewinsohn.

Foot, No. 6, edited by Leslie Scalapino and Richard Duerden
mags_foot06Berkeley, 1978
First edition, perfect bound illustrated wrappers, 7″ x 9″, 40 pages. Cover illustration by Diane Sophia.

Contributors: Diane Sophia, Leslie Scalapino, Larry Kearney, John Thorpe, Philip Whalen, Diane Sophia, Don Cushman, Sherril Jaffe, Michael Davidson, Michael Wolfe, Duncan McNaughton, Robert Duncan, Norman Fischer, Bernadette Mayer, Peter Rabbit, Richard Duerden.

Foot, No. 7, edited by Richard Duerden
mags_foot07Berkeley, 1979
First edition, perfect bound illustrated wrappers, 7″ x 5.5″, 40 pages. Cover illustration by Terry Bell.

Contributors: Lawrence Kearney

Foot, No. 8, edited by Leslie Scalapino and Richard Duerden
mags_foot08Berkeley, 1980
First edition, perfect bound illustrated wrappers, 7″ x 9″, 52 pages.

Contributors: Keith Shein, Leslie Scalapino, Diane Sophia, Norma Smith, Sarah Menefee, Don Cushman, Joanne Kyger, Larry Eigner, Bill Berkson, Bob Grenier, Jackie Cantwell, Ted Pearson, Marc Lecard, Lawrence Kearney, Jeanne Lance, Duncan McNaughton, Michael Wolfe, Carla Harryman.

Four Seasons Foundation

Donald Merriam Allen (Iowa, 1912 – San Francisco, August 29, 2004) was an influential editor, publisher, and translator of contemporary American literature. He is perhaps best known for his project The New American Poetry 1945-1960 (Grove Press, 1960), a seminal anthology that introduced a revolutionary new generation of postwar poetry that was to change the course of American literature.

In 1960, Allen moved from New York to San Francisco, where he established Grey Fox and the Four Seasons Foundation, two significant literary presses where he continued to publish work from Beat, San Francisco Renaissance, Black Mountain, and New York School writers, as well as younger new voices.  Among the authors he published were Richard Brautigan, Robert Creeley, Edward Dorn, Robert Duncan, Jack Kerouac, Joanne Kyger, Philip Lamantia, Frank O’Hara, Charles Olson, John Rechy, Aaron Shurin, Gary Snyder, Jack Spicer, Lew Welch, and Philip Whalen.


Four Seasons Foundation, A Preliminary Checklist

1. Welch, Lew. STEP OUT ONTO THE PLANET
San Francisco: Four Seasons Foundation 1963
First edition, broadside, 9.5″ x 12.5″, 300 signed copies, offset printed. Printed for the occasion of a reading at Longshoreman’s Hall, San Francisco, June 12, 1964.

2. Whalen, Philip. THREE MORNINGS
San Francisco: Four Seasons Foundation 1963
First edition, broadside, 9.5″ x 12.5″, 300 signed copies, offset printed. Printed for the occasion of a reading at Longshoreman’s Hall, San Francisco, June 12, 1964.

3. Snyder, Gary. NANAO KNOWS
San Francisco: Four Seasons Foundation 1964
First edition, broadside, 9.5″ x 12.5″, 300 signed copies, offset printed. Printed for the occasion of a reading at Longshoreman’s Hall, San Francisco, June 12, 1964.

4. Olson, Charles. A BIBLIOGRAPHY ON AMERICA FOR ED DORN
San Francisco: Four Seasons Foundation (1964)
First edition, saddle-stapled printed wrappers, 6″ x 8″, 16 pages. Published as Writing 1

5. Dorn, Edward; Rumaker, Michael; Tallman, Warren. PROSE 1
San Francisco: Four Seasons Foundation, 1964
First edition, saddle-stapled printed wrappers, 36 pages. Published as Writing 2

6. 12 POETS & 1 PAINTER
San Francisco: Four Seasons Foundation, 1964
First edition, saddle-stapled printed and illustrated wrappers, 32 pages. Contributors include: LeRoi Jones, Joanne Kyger, Robert Creeley, Denise Levertov, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Robert Duncan, Gary Snyder, Lew Welch, Allen Ginsberg, Charles Olson, Max Finstein, Bruce Boyd. Illustrated by Jess Collins. Published as Writing 3

7. Loewinsohn, Ron. AGAINST THE SILENCES TO COME
San Francisco: Four Seasons Foundation, 1965
— a. First edition, stapled wrappers, 7.75″ x 9.75″, 16 pages, 1000 copies.
— b. First edition, stapled wrappers, 7.75″ x 9.75″, 16 pages, 26 lettered and signed copies.
Published as Writing 4

8. Kyger, Joanne. THE TAPESTRY AND THE WEB
San Francisco: Four Seasons Foundation, 1965
— a. First edition, paperback, 61 pages
— b. First edition, hardcover, 61 pages
Published as Writing 5

9. Olson, Charles. PROPRIOCEPTION
San Francisco: Four Seasons Foundation, 1965
First edition, saddle-stapled wrappers, 18 pages. Published as Writing 6

10. Snyder, Gary. RIPRAP & COLD MOUNTAIN POEMS
San Francisco: Four Seasons Foundation, 1965
First edition, stapled wrappers, 7.75″ x 9.75″, 50 pages. Published as Writing 7

11. Welch, Lew. HERMIT POEMS
San Francisco: Four Seasons Foundation, 1965
— a. First edition, saddle-stapled wrappers, 16 pages, 974 copies.
— b. First edition, saddle-stapled wrappers, 16 pages, 26 numbered and signed copies.
Published as Writing 8

Snyder, Gary. SIX SECTIONS FROM MOUNTAINS AND RIVERS WITHOUT END
San Francisco: Four Seasons Foundation, 1965
stapled wrappers, 42 pages, 1000 copies. Published as Writing 9

Koller, James. THE DOGS & OTHER DARK WOODS
San Francisco: Four Seasons Foundation, 1966
— a. stapled wrappers, 33 pages, 1000 copies
— b. hardcover, 33 pages, 26 copies, numbered signed
Published as Writing 10

McClure, Michael. LOVE LION BOOK
San Francisco: Four Seasons Foundation, 1966
— a. stapled wrappers, 24 pages, 1000 copies
— b. hardcover, 24 pages, 40 copies, numbered, signed
Published as Writing 11

Olson, Charles. STOCKING CAP: A STORY
San Francisco: Four Seasons Foundation, 1966
stapled wrappers, 15 pages
Published as Writing 13

Olson, Charles. IN COLD HELL, IN THICKET
San Francisco: Four Seasons Foundation, 1967
[Published as Writing 12 ?]

Brautigan, Richard. TROUT FISHING IN AMERICA
San Francisco: Four Seasons Foundation, 1967
paperback
Published as Writing 14

Hadley, Drummond. THE WEBBING
San Francisco: Four Seasons Foundation, 1967
stapled wrappers, 52 pages, 500 copies
Published as Writing 15

McClure, Michael. THE SERMONS OF JEAN HARLOW & THE CURSES OF BILLY THE KID
San Francisco: Four Seasons Foundation with Dave Haselwood Books, 1968
— a. First edition, saddle-stapled printed wrappers, 1200 copies, letterpress printed. Printed by Dave Haselwood.
— b. First edition, hardcover, 50 numbered and signed copies, letterpress printed. Printed by Dave Haselwood.
[Published as Writing 12 ?]

Olson, Charles. CAUSAL MYTHOLOGY
San Francisco: Four Seasons Foundation, 1969
— a. paperback, 40 pages
— b. hardcover, 40 pages
Published as Writing 16

Blaser, Robin. CUPS
San Francisco: Four Seasons Foundation, 1968
— a. First edition, saddle-stapled printed wrappers, 24 pages, 1000 copies, letterpress printed. Printed by Graham Mackintosh.
— b. First edition, hardcover, 24 pages, 40 numbered and signed copies, letterpress printed. Printed by Graham Mackintosh.
Published as Writing 17

McClure, Michael. GHOST TANTRAS
San Francisco: Four Seasons Foundation, 1969
paperback. [Published as Writing 18 ?]

Upton, Charles. TIME RAID
San Francisco: Four Seasons Foundation, 1969
stapled wrappers, 30 pages
Published as Writing 19

Brautigan, Richard. THE PILL VERSUS THE SPRINGHILL MINE DISASTER
San Francisco: Four Seasons Foundation, 1968
— a. First edition, perfect-bound photo-illustrated wrappers, 108 pages.
— b. First edition, hardcover, 108 pages, 50 numbered and signed copies.
Published as Writing 20

Brautigan, Richard. IN WATERMELON SUGAR
San Francisco: Four Seasons Foundation, 1968
— a. First edition, perfect-bound photo-illustrated wrappers, 5.25″ x 8″, 138 pages.
— b. First edition, hardcover, 138 pages, 50 numbered and signed copies.
Published as Writing 21

Creeley, Robert. A Quick Graph: Collected Notes & Essays
San Francisco: Four Seasons Foundation, 1969
— a. First edition, perfect-bound photo-illustrated wrappers, 365 pages, 1000 copies
— b. hardcover, 365 pages
— c. hardcover in dust jacket, 365 pages
Published as Writing 22.

Creeley, Robert. THE CHARM: EARLY AND UNCOLLECTED POEMS
San Francisco: Four Seasons Foundation, 1969
— a. First edition, perfect-bound photo-illustrated wrappers, 97 pages
— b. First edition, hardcover, 97 pages
— c. First edition, hardcover, 97 pages, 100 numbered and signed copies,
Published as Writing 23

Whalen, Philip. SEVERANCE PAY
San Francisco: Four Seasons Foundation, 1970
— a. paperback, 51 pages
— b. paperback, 51 pages, 50 copies, numbered, signed
Published as Writing 24

Lamantia , Philip. THE BLOOD OF THE AIR
San Francisco: Four Seasons Foundation, 1970
— a. paperback, 45 pages
— b. hardcover, 45 pages, 50 copies, numbered, signed
Published as Writing 25

Millward, Pamela. MOTHER: A NOVEL OF REVOLUTION
San Francisco: Four Seasons Foundation, 1970
paperback, 57 pages
Published as Writing 26

Olson, Charles. POETRY AND TRUTH: THE BELOIT LECTURES
San Francisco: Four Seasons Foundation, 1971
— a. paperback, 75 pages
— b. hardcover, 75 pages
Published as Writing 27

Schaff, David. THE MOON BY DAY
San Francisco: Four Seasons Foundation, 1971
paperback, 114 pages
Published as Writing 28

Herd, Dale. EARLY MORNING WIND AND OTHER STORIES
Bolinas: Four Seasons Foundation, 1972
paperback
Published as Writing 29

Snyder, Gary. MANZANITA
San Francisco: Four Seasons Foundation, 1972
paperback

Creeley, Robert. CONTEXTS OF POETRY: INTERVIEWS 1961-1971
Bolinas: Four Seasons Foundation, 1973
First edition, perfect-bound photo-illustrated wrappers, 214 pages.
Published as Writing 30

Conze, Edward. THE PERFECTION OF WISDOM IN EIGHT THOUSAND LINES AND ITS VERSE SUMMARY
Bolinas: Four Seasons Foundation 1973
Published as Wheel Series, 1

Olson, Charles. ADDITIONAL PROSE: A BIBLIOGRAPHY ON AMERICA, PROPRIOCEPTION, & OTHER NOTES & ESSAYS
Bolinas: Four Seasons Foundation, 1974
— a. paperback, 109 pages
— b. hardcover, 109 pages
Published as Writing 31

Lamantia, Philip. TOUCH OF THE MARVELOUS
Bolinas: Four Seasons Foundation, 1974
— a. paperback, 47 pages
— b. hardcover, 47 pages
Published as Writing 32

Whalen, Philip. THE KINDNESS OF STRANGERS: POEMS 1969-1974
Bolinas: Four Seasons Foundation, 1976
paperback, 57 pages
Published as Writing 33

Dorn, Edward. THE COLLECTED POEMS 1956-1974
Bolinas: Four Seasons Foundation, 1975
— a. paperback, 277 pages
— b. hardcover, 277 pages
Published as Writing 34

Olson, Charles. MUTHOLOGOS; COLLECTED LETTERS & INTERVIEWS 
Bolinas: Four Seasons Foundation, 1979
— a. paperback, 230 pages, 2 volumes
— b. hardcover, 230 pages, 2 volumes
Published as Writing 35

Olson, Charles. THE FIERY HUNT AND OTHER PLAYS
Bolinas: Four Seasons Foundation, 1977
paperback, 125 pages
Published as Writing 36

Whalen, Philip. OFF THE WALL: INTERVIEWS WITH PHILIP WHALEN
Bolinas: Four Seasons Foundation, 1978
paperback, 88 pages
Published as Writing 37

Dorn, Edward. INTERVIEWS
Bolinas: Four Seasons Foundation, 1980
paperback, 117 pages
Published as Writing 38

Creeley, Robert. WAS THAT A REAL POEM & OTHER ESSAYS
Bolinas: Four Seasons Foundation 1979
— a. paperback, 149 pages
— b. hardcover, 149 pages
Published as Writing 39

Dorn, Edward. VIEWS
Bolinas: Four Seasons Foundation, 1980
— a. paperback, 142 pages
— b. hardcover, 142 pages
Published as Writing 40

Gluck, Robert. ELEMENTS OF A COFFEE SERVICE
San Francisco: Four Seasons Foundation, 1982
paperback, 97 pages
Published as Writing 41

Whalen, Philip. HEAVY BREATHING: POEMS 1967-1980
San Francisco: Four Seasons Foundation, 1983
paperback, 207 pages
Published as Writing 42

Shurin, Aaron. THE GRACES
San Francisco: Four Seasons Foundation, 1983
paperback, 72 pages
Published as Writing 42


References consulted:

Bohn, Dave. OYEZ: THE AUTHORIZED CHECKLIST
Berkeley: n.p., 1997

Hawley, Bob. CHECKLISTS OF SEPARATE PUBLICATIONS OF POETS AT THE FIRST BERKELEY POETRY CONFERENCE 1965
Berkeley: Oyez/Cody’s, 1965

Johnston, Alastair. A BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE AUERHAHN PRESS & ITS SUCCESSOR DAVE HASELWOOD BOOKS
Berkeley: Poltroon Press, 1976

Lepper, Gary M. A BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INTRODUCTION TO SEVENTY-FIVE MODERN AMERICAN AUTHORS
Berkeley: Serendipity Books, 1976

 

Auerhahn Press

While stationed with the U.S. Army in Germany during the 1950s, David Haselwood conceived the idea of becoming a publisher. At the time he was corresponding with his friend Michael McClure (also a native of Wichita, Kansas) who was living in San Francisco. McClure’s first book of poems, Passage (1956), was being published by Jonathan Williams’ Jargon Press. “Jonathan was having books printed in Germany because of the high quality and low cost,” Haselwood says, “and I began looking into things.”

When Haselwood was released from the Army, he came to live in San Francisco. According to Haselwood, “During the summer of 1958 I drifted around San Francisco talking endlessly with painters such as Robert LaVigne and Jesse Sharpe and poets [Philip] Lamantia, [Michael] McClure, [John] Wieners, and reading all the live poetry and prose I could get my hands on. It was at this time that it occurred to me that the press could mean a great many things … ” From this intense exposure to the active literary scene in the Bay Area grew the desire to see these writers published without the great delays imposed by larger printing establishments.


Auerhahn Press Checklist:

Section A: Auerhahn Press: Books & Pamphlets 1958-1965
Section B: Auerhahn Press: Broadsides 1959-1965
Section C: Auerhahn Press: Commissioned Publications 1961-1965
Section D: Dave Haselwood Books 1965-1969


A short while later in 1958 appeared the first publication of the Auerhahn Press, John Wieners’s The Hotel Wentley Poems. After this initial experience, in which the actual printing was done by a commercial printer (and edited by the printer without Haselwood’s knowledge), Haselwood was convinced that he should not only design all future books himself, but also print them: “The first and final consideration in printing poetry is the poetry itself. If the poems are great they create their own space, the publisher is just a midwife during the final operation…” With this ideal in mind, Haselwood tackled the publication of Philip Lamantia’s Ekstasis, and went on to the printing of Michael McClure’s Hymns to St. Geryon.

Though its limited financial resources were drained by this last publication, the press continued its publication of controversial and avant-garde works, such as Lamantia’s pamphlet Narcotica.

Haselwood took on a partner, Andrew Hoyem, in 1961. By then, a number of Kansans had arrived in San Francisco — including Robert Branaman, who shared living quarters with Haselwood for a time, and Glenn Todd, who later worked as a pressman and editor at Arion Press, which Hoyem founded after an amicable dissolution of his Auerhahn interests in 1964. Todd remembers the partners at work at 1334 Franklin Street: “The Auerhahn was a small press in a small room. Andrew would be setting type, and Dave running the press, passing single sheets of paper through. They’d be in their blue printer’s aprons.” Branaman adds, “Dave looked like someone out of Dickens to me. His shop was a center for artists. It was a well-known center of the culture.”

Another of San Francisco’s cultural hot-spots was the Batman Gallery, first owned by William Jahrmarkt, a.k.a. Billy Batman, whose art interests leaned to the visionary, the experimental and the mystical. According to Jack Foley in O Her Blackness Sparkles! The Life and Times of the Batman Art Gallery, 1960-65 (1995), the opening of the gallery was a “spectacular affair” and featured 99 pieces of Bruce Conner’s work. Auerhahn produced the announcement. In 1962, the gallery was sold to Michael Agron, a psychiatrist and University of California Medical Center associate professor who researched LSD as a therapeutic tool. Collaborating with Haselwood, Agron conceived of each exhibition’s announcement as a work of art. The first Agron show, Master-Bat, showcased the works of, among others, Conner and Branaman.

As the Beat scene faded with the ascent of Hippie culture, Haselwood continued to collaborate with artists on Dave Haselwood Books projects. He worked for a time at Arion Press and designed books for other presses, but his interest in publishing had waned by the close of the ’60s. It was time, he says, to choose another path.


References consulted:

Clay, Steven and Rodney Phillips. A SECRET LOCATION ON THE LOWER EAST SIDE: Adventures in Writing, 1960-1980
New York: New York Public Library / Granary Books, 1998

Clements, Marshall. A CATALOG OF WORKS BY MICHAEL MCCLURE, 1956-1965
New York: The Phoenix Book Shop, 1965

Johnston, Alastair. A BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE AUERHAHN PRESS & ITS SUCCESSOR DAVE HASELWOOD BOOKS
Berkeley: Poltroon Press, 1976

Lepper, Gary M. A BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INTRODUCTION TO SEVENTY-FIVE MODERN AMERICAN AUTHORS
Berkeley: Serendipity Books, 1976

 —

Lew Welch

lew_haiku

Lew Welch was born August 16, 1926 in Phoenix, Arizona, and moved with his family to California in 1929. At Reed College in the late 1940s, Welch lived with Gary Snyder and Philip Whalen. In the fall of 1949 Welch was co-editor of the school’s literary magazine and was writing constantly; he wrote his senior thesis on Gertrude Stein and graduated in 1950.

Donald Allen included one of Welch’s poems in The New American Poetry anthology published in 1960. That same year Welch’s first book, Wobbly Rock, was published by Auerhahn Press. For a time he lived in Reno, Nevada, and then in a cabin in the Trinity Alps. He moved back to San Francisco in 1963, and in 1965 published three books.

In 1965, Welch began teaching a poetry workshop offered through the extension program of the University of California at Berkeley. In 1971 Welch returned to the mountains. On May 23, 1971, Gary Snyder went up to Welch’s campsite and found a suicide note in Welch’s truck. Despite an extensive search, Welch’s body was never recovered.


A. Books & Broadsides

1. Welch, Lew. WOBBLY ROCK
lew_wobblySan Francisco: Auerhahn Press, 1960
First edition, saddle-stapled printed wrappers, 6″ x 8″, 12 pages, 500 copies, illustrated by Robert LaVigne. Dedication: for Gary Snyder / “I think I’ll be the Buddha of this place” / and sat himself / down
(Auerhahn 7)

2. Welch, Lew. EARLY SUMMER HERMIT SONG
(San Francisco: San Francisco Arts Commission, 1963)
First edition, broadside, 13” x 20”, 300 copies, signed by author and illustrator, illustrated by W. Weber. Laid into portfolio entitled San Francisco Arts Festival: A Poetry Folio: 1963, which included Robin Blaser, Helen Adam, Phillip Whalen, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Allan Ginsberg, Robert Duncan, And Lew Welch.

3. Welch, Lew. STEP OUT ONTO THE PLANET
(San Francisco: Four Seasons Foundation, 1964)
First edition, broadside, 9.5” x 12.5”, 300 copies, signed by the author. Printed for the occasion of a reading by Welch, Philip Whalen, and Gary Snyder at the Longshoremen’s Hall in San Francisco on June 12, 1964 known as the Free Way Reading.

4. Welch, Lew. RICHER THAN THE RICHEST FALCONER
(San Francisco): Auerhahn Press, (1965)
First edition, broadside, 9.5″ by 15.5″, 125 copies printed for Don Carpenter.




5. Welch, Lew. ON OUT
lew_onoutBerkeley: Oyez, 1965
First edition, stapled sheets bound into printed wrappers, 6″ x 9.25″, 36 pages, 500 copies. Printed by Graham Mackintosh, photograph of poet by Jim Hatch. Dedication: This book is for Magda.


6. Welch, Lew. HERMIT POEMS
San Francisco: Four Seasons Foundation, 1965
First edition, wrappers, 7″ x 9″, 14 pages, 974 trade copies and 26 copies numbered and signed by the author. Published as Writing 8.



7. Welch, Lew. “AT TIMES WE’RE ALMOST ABLE TO SEE…”
(San Francisco): Don Carpenter, December 1965
First edition, broadside, 7.5″ x 6.25″, 125 copies. Printed by Andrew Hoyem.


8. Welch, Lew. A MOVING TARGET IS HARD TO HIT
San Francisco: Communication Company, 1967
First edition, broadside, 8.5″ x 11″.

A long poem by Welch about dispersing to spread the countercultural message: “Disperse. Gather into smaller tribes. Use the beautiful public land your state and national governments have already set up for you, free. If you want to. Most Indians are nomads. The haight-ashbury is not where it’s at – it’s in your head and hands. Take it anywhere.”

9. Welch, Lew. THE BASIC CON
(Santa Barbara: Unicorn Press, 1967)
First edition, wrappers, 450 copies of the trade edition and 26 copies lettered and signed by the author, two variants printed in brown and black and red and black, printed by Nicolas Muska. Printed on the occasion of Welch’s reading on April 22, 1967 at the Unicorn Book Shop.

10. Welch, Lew. COURSES
lew_coursesSan Francisco: Dave Haselwood, 1968
First edition, hand-sewn suede wrappers, 6.5″ x 4″, 28 pages, 50 copies, letterpress printed. (Haselwood 16)

11. Welch, Lew. COURSES
San Francisco: Cranium Press, 1968
Second “facsimile” edition, hand-sewn printed wrappers, 6.5″ x 4″, 28 pages, letterpress printed.

12. Welch, Lew. SAUSALITO TRASH PRAYER
(San Francisco): n.p., July 1969
First edition, broadside, 3.5” x 6”, letterpress. According to Lepper this was preceded by a photocopied edition of 40 done by Welch at the Public Library in Sausalito and given away.


13. Welch, Lew. THE SONG MT. TAMALPAIS SINGS
lew_thesongSan Francisco: Maya, 1969
First edition, hand-sewn wrappers with printed label, 7.5″ x 10″, 16 pages, 250 trade copies and 50 copies numbered and signed by the author. Published as Maya Quarto Five. Designed and printed by Clifford Burke at Cranium Press.

14. Welch, Lew. FROM WOBBLY ROCK
(San Francisco: Cranium Press, 1969)
First edition, broadside

15. Welch, Lew. THE SONG MT. TAMALPAIS SINGS
lew_the song2Berkeley: Sand Dollar,  December 1970
Second expanded edition, side-stapled printed wrappers, 6″ x 8″, 20 pages, 1000 copies. Published as Sand Dollar 3 and contains three  additional poems not included in the first edition. Published by Jack Shoemaker and designed by Clifford Burke.

14. Welch, Lew. INFLATION FOR NEIL DAVIS, INNKEEPER
(Portland): Yes Press, 1970
First edition, broadside, 5” x 11”

15. Welch, Lew. GETTING BALD
(San Francisco): (Cranium Press), March 1970
First edition, postcard, 4” x 6”.


16. Welch, Lew. SOMETIMES I TALK TO KEROUAC…
Portland: Yes Press, 1971
First edition, broadside, 7″ x 6″.




17. Welch, Lew. SPRINGTIME IN THE ROCKIES, LICHEN
San Francisco: Cranium Press, 1971
First edition, broadside, 8.5” x 14”, variants on pink, grey, and green stock.




18. Welch, Lew. REDWOOD HAIKU & OTHER POEMS
lew_redwoodSan Francisco: Cranium Press, 1972
First edition, hand-sewn printed wrappers, 5.75″ x 5.75″, 20 pages, 250 copies. Printed by Clifford Burke and Nancy Lehman.



19. Welch, Lew. RING OF BONE: SELECTED POEMS 1950-1971
Bolinas: Grey Fox Press, 1973
First edition, wrappers and hardcover issued, 233 pages with index.

20. Welch, Lew. HOW I WORK AS A POET
Bolinas: Grey Fox Press, 1973
First edition, wrappers and hardcover issued, 139 pages.

21. Welch, Lew. A GREETING FOR THE SPRING SOLSTICE
Albany: Sand Dollar, 1976
First edition, Single sheet, folded to make 4 pages. Printed by Wesley Tanner and James Monday at the Arif Press.



22. Welch, Lew. SELECTED POEMS
Bolinas: Grey Fox Press, 1976
First edition, wrappers, 94 pages including index, preface by Gary Snyder.

23. Welch, Lew. I, LEO: AN UNFINISHED NOVEL
Bolinas: Grey Fox Press, 1977
First edition, wrappers, 82 pages.

24. Welch, Lew. INFLATION FOR NEIL DAVIS, INNKEEPER
(Buffalo): White Pine Press, 1979
Second edition, broadside, 4” x 6”.





25. Welch, Lew. I REMAIN – THE LETTERS OF LEW WELCH & THE CORRESPONDENCE OF HIS FRIENDS (Volume 1: 1949-1960)
Bolinas: Grey Fox Press, 1980
First edition, wrappers and hardcover issued, 200 pages.

26. Welch, Lew. I REMAIN – THE LETTERS OF LEW WELCH & THE CORRESPONDENCE OF HIS FRIENDS (Volume 2: 1960-1971)
Bolinas: Grey Fox Press, 1980
First edition, wrappers and hardcover issued, 200 pages.

27. Welch, Lew. HOW I READ GERTRUDE STEIN
Bolinas: Grey Fox Press, 1995
First edition, wrappers, originally written late-1940’s

28. Welch, Lew. LETTERS FROM LEW WELCH
Coventry: The Beat Scene Press, 2010
First edition, wrappers, 125 copies


References consulted:

Bohn, Dave. OYEZ: THE AUTHORIZED CHECKLIST
Berkeley: n.p., 1997

Hawley, Bob. CHECKLISTS OF SEPARATE PUBLICATIONS OF POETS AT THE FIRST BERKELEY POETRY CONFERENCE 1965
Berkeley: Oyez/Cody’s, 1965

Johnston, Alastair. A BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE AUERHAHN PRESS & ITS SUCCESSOR DAVE HASELWOOD BOOKS
Berkeley: Poltroon Press, 1976

Lepper, Gary M. A BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INTRODUCTION TO SEVENTY-FIVE MODERN AMERICAN AUTHORS
Berkeley: Serendipity Books, 1976