Tag Archives: Motive Press

Judson Crews: Books

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SECTION A:
This index includes books, chapbooks, and booklets

1. Crews, Judson. PSALMS FOR A LATE SEASON
New Orleans: Iconograph Press, 1942
First edition, 16 pages, 500 copies. After-word by Kenneth Lawrence Beaudoin. The author’s first book.

2. Crews, Judson. THE SOUTHERN TEMPER
Waco: Motive Bookshop, 1946
First edition, saddle-stapled wrappers in white dust jacket, 32 pages, 2000 copies. The author’s second book. An essay about the south, southern writers and the people of the South. According to Crews, “Most copies were destroyed or lost by being put out on a consignment basis.”

3. Crews, Judson. NO IS THE NIGHT
Waco: The Motive Bookshop, 1949
First edition, wrappers in printed dust jacket, 32 pages, 125 numbered copies, signed by the author. Hand-printed by Crews at the Wells Press in Taos.

4. Crews, Judson. A POET’S BREATH
Ranches of Taos: Motive Book Shop, 1950
First edition, saddle-stapled illustrated wrappers, 4.25” x 5.5”, 24 pages, 200 copies, offset printed.

5. Crews, Judson. COME CURSE TO THE MOON
(Taos): (Motive), (1951)
First edition, comb-bound printed boards, 6.75″ x 8.75″, 44 pages, 100 copies, letterpress and mimeograph printed.

6. Crews, Judson. THE ANATOMY OF PROSPERPINE
Ranches of Taos: Motive, 1955
First edition, comb-bound boards, 100 copies, mimeograph printed

7. Crews, Judson. THE WRATH WRENCHED SPLENDOR OF LOVE
Ranches of Taos: Motive, 1956
First edition, comb-bound boards, 100 copies.

8. Crews, Judson. THE HEART IN NAKED HUNGER
(Taos): (Motive ), (1958)
First edition, comb-bound printed boards, 5.5″ x 8″, 34 pages, letterpress printed.  The images used to illustrate the book appear to come from nudist, girly, travel, and other magazines. Each copy presumably is unique.

9.Crews, Judson. TO WED BENEATH THE SUN
(Taos): (Motive Book Shop), (1958)
First edition, comb-bound photo-illustrated boards, 5.5” x 8”, 26 pages, 100 copies, letterpress printed. The images used to illustrate the book appear to come from nudist, girly, travel, and other magazines. Each copy presumably is unique.

10. Crews, Judson. THE FEEL OF SUN AND AIR UPON HER BODY
Eureka: Hearse Press, [1959]
First edition, comb-bound photo-illustrated boards, 5.5” x 8”, 32 pages, 125 copies, letterpress and offset printed. Published as the 10th Hearse Chapbook. The images used to illustrate the book appear to come from nudist, girly, travel, and other magazines. Each copy presumably is unique.

11. Crews, Judson. THE OGRES WHO WERE HIS HENCHMEN
Eureka: Hearse Press, [1960]
First edition, comb-bound illustrated boards, 5.5” x 8”, 34 pages, 125 numbered copies, offset printed. Cover illustration by Ben Tibbs. Published as the 12th Hearse Chapbook.

12.  Crews, Judson. INWADE TO BRINEY GARTH
Taos: Este Es Press, 1960
First edition, comb-bound printed boards, 5.5” x 8”, 32 pages, 200 copies, letterpress printed. Illustrations by Eric Gill.

13. Crews, Judson. A UNICORN WHEN NEEDS BE
Taos: Este Es Press, 1963
First edition, comb-bound illustrated boards, 5.5” x 8”, 38 pages, 250 copies, offset printed. Cover by Ben Tibbs.

14. Crews, Judson. HERMES PAST THE HOUR
Taos: Este Es Press, 1963
First edition, comb-bound illustrated boards, 5.5” x 8”, 40 pages, 250 copies, letterpress and offset printed. The images used to illustrate the book appear to come from nudist, girly, travel, and other magazines. Each copy presumably is unique.

15. Crews, Judson. SELECTED POEMS
Cleveland: Renegade Press, 1964
First edition, side-stapled printed wrappers, 4.75″ x 7″, 16 pages, 100 copies, letterpress printed. Block prints by Lester Czaban Jr. (T&H P-19)

16. Crews, Judson. YOU, MARK ANTHONY, NAVIGATOR UPON THE NILE
Taos: Este Es Press, 1964
First edition, comb-bound illustrated boards, 5.5” x 8”, 62 pages, 350 numbered and signed copies. According to Crews only 350 copies, not 500 as planned, were completed, letterpress and offset printed. The images used to illustrate the book appear to come from nudist, girly, travel, and other magazines. Each copy presumably is unique.

17. Crews, Judson. ANGELS FALL THEY ARE TOWERS
Taos: Este Es Press, 1965
First edition, comb-bound illustrated boards, 5.5” x 8”, 40 pages, letterpress printed. The images used to illustrate the book appear to come from nudist, girly, travel, and other magazines. Each copy presumably is unique.

18. Crews, Judson. THE STONES OF KONARAK
Santa Fe: American Poet Press, 1966

19. Crews, Judson. NATIONS AND PEOPLES
Cherry Valley Editions, 1976

20. Crews, Judson. NOLO CONTENDERE
Houston: Wings Press, 1978

21.  Crews, Judson. THE NOOSE: A RETROSPECTIVE
Placitas: Duende/Tooth of Time Books, 1980

22. Crews, Judson. TO HELP YOU MAN
Ranches of Taos: Motive, 1981

23. Crews, Judson. THE CLOCK OF MOSS
Boise: Ahsahta Press, 1983

24. Crews, Judson. HICA OSIT
Albuquerque: Suck-Egg Mule, 1985

25. Crews, Judson. TO A DEAD VEHICLE
Albuquerque: Namaste, 1986

26. Crews, Judson. ACTIVITY TICKET
Pittsburgh: Harry Calhoun, 1985

27. Crews, Judson. AGAINST ALL WOUNDS
Parkdale: Trout Creek Press, 1987

28. Crews, Juson. GROSS MOTHER OF VERSE
Albuquerque: Suck-Egg Mule, 1988

29. Crews, Judson. TROJAN HORSES
San Francisco:Incendiary Publications, 1989

30. Crews, Judson. INCOGNITO
Long Beach: Guillotine Press, 1989

31. Crews, Judson. SYMBIOSIS
Chicago: Oyster Publications / New Romantics Publications, 1990

32. Crews, Judson. BLOOD DEVISABLE BY SAND
Las Cruces: Buzzard’s Roost, 1991

33. Crews, Judson. HENRY MILLER AND MY BIG SUR DAYS
El Paso: Vergin Press 1992

34. Crews, Judson. MANNEQUIN ANYMORE THAT
Albuquerque: Zerx Press, 1993

35. Judson Crews. THE BRAVE WILD COAST: A YEAR WITH HENRY MILLER
Los Angeles: Dumont Press, 1997

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Anecdotal bibliographic notes are from a letter to Marvin Malone from Judson Crews in The Wormwood Review, Issue No. 19 (Storrs: Wormwood Review Press, 1965

Judson Crews

crews_buk

Judson Crews, poet, editor, publisher, and book dealer, was born June 30, 1917, in Waco, Texas. Crews received both the B.A. (1941) and M.A. (1944) in Sociology from Baylor University, and during 1946-1947 studied fine arts at Baylor. In addition, Crews did graduate study at the University of Texas, El Paso in 1967. He has worked as an educator at Wharton County Junior College, New Mexico (1967-1970), the University of New Mexico, Gallup Branch (1971-1972), and at the University of Zambia (1974-1978). He has also been involved in social work. After two years in the U. S. Army Medical Corps during World War II, Crews moved his family and business, Motive Press, from Waco, Texas, to Taos, New Mexico, where he began his writing and publishing career in earnest.

Judson Crews was a prominent figure in the Southwest poetry scene as a poet, editor, and publisher of contemporary poetry and art magazines. Crews admittedly wrote under numerous pseudonyms. Of these pseudonyms, Willard Emory Betis, Trumbull Drachler, Cerise Farallon (Mrs. Trumbull Drachler, maiden name Lena Johnston), and Tobi Macadams have been clearly identified. In the instance of these, and possibly many other pseudonymous names, Crews created a fantasy world of writers to encompass, perhaps, the breadth of his literary ambitions.

Crews’ publishing activities began in earnest after his move from Texas to the Taos area. He started the Este Es Press in 1946, which remained in operation until 1966. The little magazines with which he was involved from 1940 to 1966 include The Deer and Dachshund, The Flying Fish, Motive, The Naked Ear, Poetry Taos, Suck-Egg Mule: A Recalcitrant Beast, Taos: A Deluxe Magazine of the Arts, and Vers Libre. Together with Scott Greer, he was co-editor of Crescendo: A Laboratory for Young America, and worked with Jay Waite on Gale. Crews published not only his own chapbooks and magazines but also those of his friends and colleagues, including the Zambian poet Mason Jordan Mason, among others. In conjunction with this printing activity, Crews operated the Motive Book Shop which became a focal point for the dissemination and advocacy of avant-garde poetry, important little magazines and literary reviews, as well as so-called pornographic materials. The material that Crews sold ranged from literary classics such as the works of D. H. Lawrence and Henry Miller, to hard-to-obtain domestic and foreign avant-garde journals, and nudist magazines. Crews was also a friend as well as an advocate of Henry Miller and continued to sell Miller’s works after they were banned in the United States.

Judson Crews Checklist:

Section A: Books
Section B: Contributions to Books and Anthologies
Section C: Contributions to Periodicals
Section D: Books Edited and Published
Section E: Periodicals Edited and Published [Naked Ear]

A Select and limited sampling…

Mason Jordan Mason
THE YARDARM OF MURPHEY’S KITE
crews_theyardarmRanches of Taos: Motive Press, 1956
First edition, 4to., [48] pp. Introduction by Chris Bjerknes, “Mason Jordan Mason: An Appreciation”. White, plastic comb binding with decorated board covers. Photographs cut from magazines on both sides of covers, with title and author name letterpress printed in blue on front. Additional magazine images throughout. The images appear to come from nudist, girly, travel, and other magazines. Each copy presumably is unique. [Some have suggested that Mason Jordan Mason is a pseudonym for Judson Crews who admitedly used several pseudonyms. See biographical sketch.] 

Judson Crews, editor 
POETRY TAOS, Number One.
crews_poetrytaosRanches of Taos: n.p., 1957
First edition, 4to., [64] pp. White, plastic comb binding with decorated board covers. Photographs cut from magazines on both sides of covers, with title and author name letterpress printed in blue on front. Numerous similar leaves in text. The images appear to come from nudist, girly, travel, and other magazines. Each copy presumably is unique. Introduction by Judson Crews. Contributors include: Wolcott Ely, Gaston Criell, William Carlos Williams, Mason Jordan Mason, Robert Creeley, Robert Burdette, Max Fenstein, Hyacinthe Hill, Joseph Foster, Cerise Farallon, Judson Crews, Donn Cantonwine, Murry Moore, Wendell B. Anderson. 

Further research and reading:

Biographical information

References consulted:

Anderson, Wendell. THE HEART’S PRECISION (Carson: Dumont Press, 1994)

Taylor, Kent  and Alan Horvath.  LOOKING FOR D.A. LEVY (RANDOM SIGHTINGS): THE D.A. LEVY BIBLIOGRAPHY, Volume 1 and 2 (Kirpan Press, 2006, 2008)

THE WORMWOOD REVIEW, Issue No. 19 (Storrs: Wormwood Review Press, 1965)