Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
Ginsberg, Allen. HOWL and other poems (signed & doodled). City Lights Books, San Francisco, 1956.
Price: US$1475.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Wraps. - SIGNED / INSCRIBED - City Lights Books, San Francisco (1956) 1969. 16mo 44 pp. Signed First Edition, 21st printing from 1969. 186,000 copies were printed in-between the 1st printing in October 1956 and this copy, the 21st printing in June 1969. This copy is signed and inscribed by Allen Ginsberg. This date coincides with Allen Ginsberg's book signing and reading at the Boulder Public Library. An original flyer of this event will be included in the sale. the flyer shows the same date/location as the date and location in the book. The original flyer will come folded. The book shows general handling and wear around the edges and lightest soiling. Allen Ginsberg has SIGNED and INSRIBED the title page: For __ __ , Allen Ginsberg. Allen Ginsberg also dated this and included the location, Boulder Colorado. In addition to this, Allen Ginsberg also drew a sketch turning the O in HOWL into a daisy or sunflower. Very faint small stain at top edge along multiple page tops. $1.00 price intact on back cover. A matching price is lightly written in pen on the upper right corner of the 1st page. As for the event, on Wednesday November 10, 1982 the Boulder Colorado Public Library hosted a lecture presented by the Naropa Institute. Naropa's Free Lecture Series: Hidden Knowledge/Public Insight featured Allen Ginsberg sharing a social literary history of 3 decades spanning the 1940s - 1960s. Some of the topics that were touched upon were Sex Liberation, Psychedelics, Cosa Nostra Porn, BeBop, Bohemian Grass, Meditative Practices, Beat - Hip-Me Generation etc. etc. A most special night rivaled by a most special tight copy of the 20th century's most famous poem, signed, inscribed and doodled by Allen Ginsberg that same evening.
Seller: Medium Rare Books, Mountainside, NJ, U.S.A.
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.
Ginsberg, Allen. Howl and Other Poems. City Lights Pocket Bookshop, San Francisco, 1956.
Price: US$20000.00 + 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, Ginsberg has also adorned the page fully with illustrations and written "Viva banjo". Bound in publisher's original stapled black wraps printed in grey with with white paste-on printed in black. Very Good with light toning, light rubbing to wraps and slight creases throughout. A lovely copy of the poem that defined a generation and an undisputed cornerstone of beat poetry.
Seller: Burnside Rare Books, ABAA, Portland, OR, U.S.A.
Ginsberg, Allen. HOWL AND OTHER POEMS. The City Lights Pocket Bookshop, San Francisco, 1956.
Price: US$25000.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Rare signed first edition of HOWL, inscribed in the year of publication, likely at one of Ginsberg's most infamous readings. The most likely opportunities for Ginsberg to sign copies of HOWL in 1956 were few and far between. First, the book was published late in the year. While Ferlinghetti sent Ginsberg "a few advance copies" in August of that year (Morgan, I GREET YOU, 5), and a small number of copies inscribed in September are known (the Sept. 17th issue of PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY lists the official publication date as Sept. 1st), HOWL seems to have only really begun to be distributed in October. Again, according to PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, "[t]he first edition passed through U.S. Customs in October, 1956" (April 29th 1957). In addition, both Gary Snyder and Louis Ginsberg report receiving copies they had ordered at the start of that month, likely from the earliest copies received at City Lights. Morgan's bibliography, however, sets the date of publication as Nov. 5th, which coincides with the book's first notice, again in PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY ("[b]itterly impassioned"), but which further suggests HOWL's distribution wasn't really happening until well into October. And it was during October that the poet gave his only two public readings before the end of the year. The first was Oct. 21st, when both he and Gregory Corso read at the Poetry Center at San Francisco State (Corso's first public reading). But curiously Ginsberg did not read from HOWL that evening despite a large and expectant crowd - more than 500 people - and "[i]mmediately following the reading," both poets "were anxious to get on the road" (Morgan, CELEBRATE, 224). The pair were hitchhiking south on their way to Mexico (where they would spend the month of November), but had an important stop in Los Angeles, where they had a reading scheduled for October 30th. Sponsored by the literary magazine, COASTLINES, this small reading (held in a boarding house) would become one of Ginsberg's most famous, second only to the Six Gallery in terms of notoriety. The best account of the event is from Lawrence Lipton's 1959 memoir THE HOLY BARBARIANS. According to Lipton, Ginsberg was "reading from the book [HOWL], which had just come out," but was repeatedly interrupted by a drunk in the audience who jeered and heckled Ginsberg throughout. Ginsberg finished his portion of the event, but the matter came to a head when Corso got up to read. The drunk renewed his jeers and interruptions, eventually challenging Corso to a fight. At this point, Ginsberg stood up and countered that if the heckler wanted to do something truly brave, he would take off all his clothes. "The poet always stands naked before the world," Ginsberg explained and proceeded to disrobe until he was standing stark naked before the drunk, now stunned into silence. From there the drunk backed down and even reportedly asked Ginsberg after the reading where he could get a copy of HOWL for himself. No matter where it was signed, however, copies signed in the year of publication are quite rare. We trace only a handful inscribed in 1956, with most of those being associations of one form or another. A significant copy from early in the life of this landmark poem that along with Kerouac's ON THE ROAD and Burroughs's NAKED LUNCH form the cornerstone of the Beat movement. It remains Ginsberg's most enduring work. Original stiff black stapled wrappers with pasted white printed wraparound label, as issued. One of a thousand copies. Signed and dated by Ginsberg on the title page: "Allen Ginsberg / Oct 1956." Spine toned, as common. Mild soil, rubbing, edgewear. In a custom, full black goat-skin, clamshell box.
Seller: Brian Cassidy Books at Type Punch Matrix, Silver Spring, MD, 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$29073.88 + shipping
Description: First edition, sole impression, one of an estimated 53 copies, the author's second publication, and a renowned Ginsberg rarity, one of few copies remaining in private hands. This copy is signed twice by Ginsberg - once in his contemporary 1956 hand, and additionally inscribed "This copy circa 1986 belongs to Donald R. Reisfield / Allen Ginsberg / Rutgers March 16 / AH", both on the first text page. Siesta in Xbalba is a truly rare Ginsberg item, self-printed and self-published in the summer of 1956 while aboard a Navy ship off the coast of Alaska, before he returned to San Francisco and realized his literary destiny and fame as the author of Howl, which was published in November 1956 by Lawrence Ferlinghetti's City Lights. Upon printing this work, Ginsberg sent 13 copies to his publisher Lawrence Ferlinghetti, instructing him on 4 August 1956 to "[k]eep one yourself and put the other dozen on sale at 50 cents each if you think you can sell them. Give the proceeds to Mike McClure for us for Moby Magazine. You can advertise them as a charity type shot for Moby. I made up another forty and am keeping them or sending them out as whim strikes me" (Morgan p. 5). Ginsberg sent one such copy to his father, Louis, who responded encouragingly, "It's very interesting with cinematic flashbacks of scenes and people. There is entangled in your lines a nostalgia for the past and for ruins that make a pulpit for mortality. Congratulations!" (Miles, p. 206). Siesta in Xbalba is Ginsberg's second publication, preceded only by a printing of Howl in May 1956 in 25 copies. The poem, written during his travels in Mexico in 1954, is dedicated to Karena Shields, a historian and anthropologist whom Ginsberg met in the Palenque ruins during this trip. Shields lived on the cocoa plantation on which the ruins stood, and had written a number of scholarly papers on Mayan culture, and a popular book, Three in the Jungle (1944). Shields had lived in Palenque since the age of three and had discovered a number of lost cities in the area, meaning that "she was just the sort of person Allen needed to meet in order to see the real Mexico and when she invited him to visit her cocoa finca, he readily accepted" (Miles, p. 156). Siesta in Xbalba is a considerable rarity in the Ginsberg canon. Around 53 copies were produced - Ginsberg cites 53 in the above letter to Ferlinghetti, though 52 in another letter to Kerouac, which his bibliographer Morgan cites. The true figure is certainly not far removed, give or take a copy or two. Of these 33 are now held institutionally, and many others must have been lost leaving precious few available to collectors. A bare handful are recorded at auction or in the trade. This copy was sold in the Parke-Benet sale, "Modern and Avant-garde First Editions", 14 April 1970, lot 67; a priced catalogue is included, and original auction house envelope. Miles, Allen Ginsberg: Beat Poet, 1989; The Selected Correspondence of Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Allen Ginsberg 1955-1997, 2015; Morgan A2. Small quarto (204 x 165 mm), pp. 22. Mimeographed typescript, printed on both sides, stapled as issued. Together with auction catalogue (see note). Housed in a black quarter morocco solander box by the Chelsea Bindery. Slight rusting around staples, faint soiling to initial and terminal page, minor orange crayon mark to former, notwithstanding an excellent copy of a scarce and fragile production.
Seller: Peter Harrington. ABA/ ILAB., London, United Kingdom
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.