minutes to go, william burroughs

Book Description: Beach Books, Texts & Documents ; distributed by City Lights Books, San Francisco, 1968. Soft Cover. Book Condition: Very Good. First Thus. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. Early collection of texts using the cut-up technique. 63 pages. First US edition. Slight bump to one corner, otherwise fine, no inscriptions, tight binding. Bookseller Inventory # 003454

Book Description: 1960. Paperback. Two Cities Editions. 63pp. Thin octavo [21 cm] Blue and white printed wraps. Fair. The covers are detached and faded, but present. The gatherings are loose. The top inside corners of the pages are very lightly moisture stained. "the hallucinated have come to tell you that yr utilities / are being shut off dreams monitored thought directed / sex is shutting down everywhere you are being sent / all words are taped agents everywhere / marking down the live ones to exterminate." Includes Burroughs' poem, Viruses Were By Accident?. Bookseller Inventory # 24354

Book Description: Two Cities Editions, Paris, 1960. Soft Cover. First Edition. Very Good staple-bound paperback. One inch tear along the lower spine. Pen marks to 6 pages, otherwise the text is clean. 64 pp. Bookseller Inventory # 002276

Book Description: Beach Books, Texts and Documents, n.p., 1968. Original Wraps. Book Condition: Fine. First edition thus. First edition thus, following the Paris edition of 1960. This edition has a collage by Claude Pelieu on p. [2] which is not included in the original edition. Original printed wraps. One of 1000 copies printed. Some foxing to page edges, else fine. Quite scarce. Maynard & Miles A3b. $100. Bookseller Inventory # 610

Book Description: Two Cities Editions, Paris, 1960. Blue stapled card binding. First edition, first printing. Octavo. About good, wear and fading to spine and edges, front cover loose but still holding. 63 pp. Considered to be the manual for the cut-up technique of composition, precedes the U.S. edition (1968, Beach Books, San Francisco). Without inscriptions or creasing, text remains clean and fresh. Covers are mylar-protected. Bookseller Inventory # 597388

Book Description: Two Cities Editions, Paris, 1960. Book Condition: g. 8vo. 63 pp. Blue paper wrappers. A collection of writings by William Burroughs, Sinclair Beiles, Gregory Corso and Brion Gysin featuring experiments with the "cutup" method of composition, though most of the work is by Burroughs. The cutup technique, also known as fish bowling, is a literary technique or genre in which a text is cut up at random and rearranged to create a new text. The cutup and the closely associated fold-in techniques are literary writing styles that try to break the linearity of common literature. They are designed to be used with common typewriters. This was done by taking a finished and fully linear text (printed on paper) and cutting it in pieces with a few or single words on each piece. The resulting pieces are then rearranged into a new text. The rearranging of work often results in surprisingly innovative new phrases. A common way is to cut a sheet in four rectangular sections, rearranging them and then typing down the mingled prose while compensating for the haphazard word breaks by improvising and innovating along the way. Gil J. Wolman developed cutup techniques as part of his lettrist practice. Also in the 1950s painter and writer Brion Gysin more fully developed the cutup method after accidentally discovering it. He had placed layers of newspapers as a mat to protect a tabletop from being scratched while he cut papers with a razor blade. Upon cutting through the newspapers, Gysin noticed that the sliced layers offered interesting juxtapositions. He began deliberately cutting newspaper articles into sections, which he randomly rearranged. Minutes to Go resulted from his initial cutup experiment: unedited and unchanged cutups which emerged as coherent and meaningful prose. Gysin introduced writer William S. Burroughs to the technique at the Beat Hotel. The pair later applied the technique to printed media and audio recordings in an effort to decode the material's implicit content, hypothesizing that such a technique could be used to discover the true meaning of a given text. Burroughs also suggested cutups may be effective as a form of divination saying. Some aging to wrappers, spine starting, a drawing on endpaper, otherwise book is in good condition. Bookseller Inventory # 18284

Book Description: Paris: Two Cities 1960 1st ed., 1960. Soft cover. Book Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. VG/wraps with Sinclair Beiles, Gregory Corso & Brion Gysin. Somewhat faded with wear to edges and spine, some waterstaining which does not affect text, owner's name , else about very good. Scarce. Literature/Beat. Bookseller Inventory # 5833

Book Description: Two Cities Editions, Paris, France, 1960. Paper Wraps. Book Condition: Fine. First Edition. 8-1/4" x 5-1/4". 63 pp. Blue paper with white lettering on front cover and white design on back cover. Slick paper. Slight fading along the edges and one minor stain on front cover barely noticeable. A collection of writings by William Burroughs, Sinclair Beiles, Gregory Corso and Brion Gysin featuring experiments with the "cut-up" method of composition. Most of the work is by Burroughs. One of 1000 copies published. [Bruccoli FPPA / Vol. 5, p. 48] Scarce. Bookseller Inventory # 001108

Book Description: Paris: Two Cities Editions, 1960. Soft cover. Book Condition: Very Good. No Jacket. 1st Edition. A very good first edition in blue wrappers lettered in white, not chipped or marked with only light fading at spine edge. A presentation by Gysin "in the hopes that you too are a cut-up, Paris 2nd Day of Space, Brion Gisin" (Twice) Refers to the cut-up method of his composition. Inscribed by Author(s). Bookseller Inventory # 2047

Book Description: Two Cities Editions, Paris, 1960. Paperback. Book Condition: Near Fine. First Edition Collectible. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾". SIGNED by co-author Brion Gysin on title page (exceptionally rare thus). A virtual snapshot of Gysin's experiments with the cutup method of composition, which he exposed Burroughs, Corso, and Beiles to at the Beat Hotel. Original blue wraps (spine slightly faded, slight traces of wear). A truly exceptional copy of this fugitive Beat icon. Signed by Co-Author. Bookseller Inventory # 0785581

Book Description: [Paris]: Two Cities Editions, [1960]., 1960. Softbound (no hardbound issued). First edition of Burroughs' third book, an exploration of the "cut-up" technique of composition that Gysin discovered and shared with Burroughs. A superb presentation copy inscribed by Gysin to his long-time, very dear friend, Felicity Mason: "for Felicity with love / New York 22.10.74 / Brion." Additionally, Burroughs and Gysin have signed next to their names on the title page. Felicity, "a beautiful British adventuress," first met Gysin in Marrakech in the fifties and they became instant soul mates---Gysin would sometimes introduce her as his sister. Over the years they traveled together, on occasion lived together, and upon Brion's death it was Felicity who flew to Paris to arrange his funeral, and later dispersed his ashes. There are numerous references to her in Geiger's biography of Gysin, Nothing is True Everything is Permitted, and likewise Mason's second book, The Love Quest, also documents her relationship with Gysin who she describes as "the most interesting man I had ever met." An important association copy to one of Gysin's closest friends (in a 1974 version of Gysin's will Felicity was to receive 1/3 of his estate). Some fading to spine, else near fine. Bookseller Inventory # SKB-14707

Book Description: [Paris]: Two Cities Editions, [1960]., 1960. Softbound (no hardbound issued). First edition of Burroughs' third book, an exploration of the "cut-up" technique of composition that Gysin discovered and shared with Burroughs. A spectacular presentation copy inscribed by Gysin to his long-time, very dear friend, Felicity Mason in Paris shortly after publication: "for Felicity Mason / in the hope that she, / too, will cut-up. / Brion." Additionally, Burroughs and Gysin have signed next to their names on the title page and Burroughs has written "Paris March 16, 1961" towards the bottom of the page. Felicity, "a beautiful British adventuress," first met Gysin in Marrakech in the fifties and they became instant soul mates---Gysin would sometimes introduce her as his sister. Over the years they traveled together, on occasion lived together, and upon Brion's death it was Felicity who flew to Paris to arrange his funeral, and later dispersed his ashes. There are numerous references to her in Geiger's biography of Gysin, Nothing is True Everything is Permitted, and likewise Mason's second book, The Love Quest, also documents her relationship with Gysin who she describes as "the most interesting man I had ever met." An important association copy to one of Gysin's closest friends (in a 1974 version of Gysin's will Felicity was to receive 1/3 of his estate). Some fading to spine and edge of covers, else very good plus to near fine. One of the nicest imaginable associations. Bookseller Inventory # SKB-14726

Book Description: The English Bookshop, Paris, 1960. The text originated from various cut-ups, made by all four of these friends staying at the Beat Hotel in Paris in the late 50’s. Signed by Burroughs, Gysin and Beilis. The signed copies (of which this is one) were produced ad hoc at the night of the launch party at the English Bookshop in Paris, whilst Corso was in Munich finalizing the Beat Anthology he and Anselm Hollo were bringing out. (Copies with Corso’s signature are a bit suspect.) Fading to cover as usual, though mystery why the fading goes from blue to grey-brown. Near fine otherwise. Bookseller Inventory # INDE-C70124

Book Description: William S. Burroughs, 1989. Hardcover. First Edition; First Printing. Very Good. Painted Christmas card. A museum piece. ; Painted signed card by William S. Burroughs to Whitely and Anne, Mentioning Laurie Barnes. Signed Twice and once by Bill Rich. ; Signed by Author. Bookseller Inventory # 34116