Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
Price: US$7500.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: This is a very good copy of the true First State of the First Edition (with the name "Lucien Carr" ?later removed ?on the dedication page). There is some faint staining to the white front cover panel and to the title page, which is SIGNED and dated in ink: "Allen Ginsberg, ?74" beneath a drawing by Ginsberg of the sun and a large flower that utilizes the "O" in "Howl" as its corolla. Perhaps the most important volume of American poetry of the twentieth century, signed and uniquely decorated by the author. First Edition/First State (1 of 1000 copies).
Seller: CHARTWELL BOOKSELLERS, NEW YORK, NY, U.S.A.
Price: US$25000.00 + shipping
Description: First Edition. Signed by the author Allen Ginsberg and dated by him in the year of publication: ÒAllen Ginsberg Sept. 8, 1956.Ó With an inscription just below from Ginsberg to Beat collector and photographer Marshall Clements: ÒFor Marshall Clements much thanks for the relief. A.G. New Years Month, Jan. 7, 1964.Ó Also signed by Marshall Clements at the top of the same page, the bookÕs dedication page. City Lights Pocket Poets Series: Number Four. With the two page introduction by William Carlos Williams. Paperbound, stapled black and white wrappers. With a faint hint of dust soiling to the covers, else a fine copy. Price 75 cents on rear cover. Printed at the Press of Villiers Publications, Holloway, London, England. Enclosed in a custom slipcase with ÒHowl. Allen GinsbergÓ on a paper label affixed to the front and with the same at the spine. Marshall Clements was a noted collector and scholar of Beat Generation works and was the photographer for ÔKerouac's TownÕ by Barry Gifford (1977) - a special look at Jack KerouacÕs hometown of Lowell, Massachusetts, published on the second anniversary of his death.
Seller: James Pepper Rare Books, Inc., ABAA, Santa Barbara, CA, U.S.A.
Price: US$30000.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: First edition, first issue with Lucien Carr listed on the dedication page and a period after Harlem on the rear cover. Signed by Allen Ginsberg on the title page and inscribed "Allen Ginsberg - Dec. 15, 1975, G.B.M. - for Kirby Congdon - Ah." with doodles of a smiling sun and flower. Publisher's black wraps printed in blue with white wraparound printed in black. Very Good+ with light toning, foxing and staining. Minor toning to contents. An important association copy of this undisputed cornerstone of Beat poetry, Ginsberg's initial inspiration came from a terrifying vision he had during a San Francisco peyote trip. Inscribed warmly to fellow poet Kirby Congdon (1924-2023). Like Ginsberg Congdon was openly gay at a time when few people dared to be, and was a flamboyant motorcyclist and leather aficionado who mingled regularly in the Beat community. He published Interim Books, Cycle Press, and the lit mag Magazine, eventually returning to Key West, Florida and becoming its first poet laureate.
Seller: Burnside Rare Books, ABAA, Portland, OR, U.S.A.
Ginsberg, Allen. Howl and Other Poems. City Lights Pocket Bookshop, San Francisco, 1956.
Price: US$35000.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: First edition, first issue with Lucien Carr listed on the dedication page and a period after Harlem on the rear cover. Signed by Allen Ginsberg and inscribed to a former owner on the title page; additionally signed by this book's publisher Lawrence Ferlinghetti on the copyright page, and by William S. Burroughs, Carl Solomon and Gregory Corso on the dedication page. Bound in publisher's original stapled black wraps printed in grey with with white paste-on printed in black. Very Good with light toning and light rubbing to covers with a small abrasion to the top right of the front cover of the white paste-on. Pencil notations to text. The poem that defined a generation and an undisputed cornerstone of beat poetry, signed by five heavy-weights of that era.
Seller: Burnside Rare Books, ABAA, Portland, OR, U.S.A.
Price: US$50000.00 + shipping
Condition: Near Fine
Description: A remarkable Association copy of the 1956 correct 1st edition. This copy not only conforms to all the original issue points but is in beautiful, near-pristine condition. Furthermore, THIS COPY IS SIGNED BY 5 OF THE KEY FIGURES IN THE BOOK'S GENESIS: 1) ALLEN GINSBERG (on the title page); 2) LAWRENCE FERLINGHETTI (on the copyright page); 3) LUCIEN CARR (on the dedication page); 4) WILLIAM BURROUGHS (also on the dedication page); and 5) CARL SOLOMON (on the first blank endpaper). In other words, this copy is signed by the book's author, its publisher and by 3 of its 5 dedicatees (only Jack Kerouac's and Neal Cassady's signatures are missing from this copy). Notably, of the 5 signatures, all critically important to the birth and evolution of "Howl", Lucien Carr's appears to be the most elusive. We know that Carr's relationship with the Beats grew tense early on and that he insisted his name be removed from all subsequent printings of "Howl". We also know that Carr himself introduced William Burroughs (an old friend from their St. Louis upbringing) to Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg --and that Carr's infamous career at Columbia (as documented in the 2013 film "Kill Your Darlings") saw him as a very important muse to this budding literary scene. A fresh, tight copy, immaculate internally and easily Near Fine overall, while legitimately approaching Fine (even down to its unrusted staple). Also includes a hand-made chemise (signed by Ginsberg at a later date), a folded cardboard reproduction of the book's front cover which, among other things, capably protects the fragile 1st edition and no doubt helps to explain its remarkable condition. Of the 1,000 copies of "Howl" initially published, this must certainly rank as among the very most historic and significant.
Seller: APPLEDORE BOOKS, ABAA, WACCABUC, NY, U.S.A.