Signed
The Phoenix Book Shop: A Nest of Memories.
Presentation copy, 1997
The Phoenix Book Shop: A Nest of Memories (1997) is a tribute to the legendary Greenwich Village bookshop operated by Bob Wilson from 1953 to 1988, which became one of the most important literary gathering places in postwar New York, particularly associated with the Beat Generation. Edited by Wilson, Kenneth Doubrava, and John LeBow, with essays about Wilson and his remarkable career. Deluxe clamshell boxed edition, John LeBow Press, Candia, NH. One of 65 Roman numeral copies, of which this is copy IX, and one of 15 copies intended for friends of the press and not for sale. Presentation copy to bookseller Bert Babcock, warmly inscribed by both Wilson and LeBow to Bert Babcock, and additionally signed by: Diane di Prima, Michael McClure, Amiri Baraka, John Ashbery, Denise Levertov, James Broughton, Diane Wakoski, John Wieners, Marshall Clements, and Ed Sanders.
Hardcover. First Edition, Deluxe Signed Edition. Octavo, sewn wrappers. Additional items contained in the clamshell box include a small oblong hardcover titled "Phoenix Photographs", hand-bound, and featuring 10 original 5" x 7" photographs of writers and associates of the Phoenix shop. Also laid in is a folded sheet of letterhead for the Phoenix shop, a 4.5" x 6.5" b&w photograph of Michael McClure and Robert Duncan, a 6" x 9" glossy photo of the Phoenix storefront with "Special presentation photograph for contributors and friends" printed underneath, along with three canceled checks from the Phoenix made out to Ed Sanders, Michael McClure, and Gerard Malanga, which all three have also endorsed on the back. There is also a copy of Catalogue #150 (October 1978) from The Phoenix Book Shop, and lastly, a small chapbook "Michael and the Lions" by Robert A. Wilson (Christmas 1980), which states that it was not for sale and printed in an edition of 300 copies as a holiday greeting. All items are in fine condition and housed in a handsome clothbound clamshell box with printed labels on front and spine. A lovely production. Candia, NH: John LeBow, 1997. #11152.
Fine.
Hardcover. First Edition, Deluxe Signed Edition. Octavo, sewn wrappers. Additional items contained in the clamshell box include a small oblong hardcover titled "Phoenix Photographs", hand-bound, and featuring 10 original 5" x 7" photographs of writers and associates of the Phoenix shop. Also laid in is a folded sheet of letterhead for the Phoenix shop, a 4.5" x 6.5" b&w photograph of Michael McClure and Robert Duncan, a 6" x 9" glossy photo of the Phoenix storefront with "Special presentation photograph for contributors and friends" printed underneath, along with three canceled checks from the Phoenix made out to Ed Sanders, Michael McClure, and Gerard Malanga, which all three have also endorsed on the back. There is also a copy of Catalogue #150 (October 1978) from The Phoenix Book Shop, and lastly, a small chapbook "Michael and the Lions" by Robert A. Wilson (Christmas 1980), which states that it was not for sale and printed in an edition of 300 copies as a holiday greeting. All items are in fine condition and housed in a handsome clothbound clamshell box with printed labels on front and spine. A lovely production. Candia, NH: John LeBow, 1997. #11152.
Fine.