Hapt (1 results)

A striking collection of Hapt publications by the Dutch arm of the DIY magazine. Hapt was considered the best of the free magazines of the 1960s. The Dutch Diggers, inspired by their English counterparts, were "a leaderless entity that kept changing and included different people". They usually met at the weekly "love-ins" in Vondelpark, and their periodical Holland Hapt was an exercise in democratic printing. One of the key organizers, Jan Swagerman, recalled that "every reader (estimated total: around 500) could submit mostly mimeographed sheets; these were stapled and distributed to the authors, who could then mail their friends into the community. Now that was freedom of the press!". Each contributor would print 500 pages, and the collective would meet monthly at different locations to staple the sheets together and distribute them among themselves. "The host/hostess group would then design the cover. These were very different, and sometimes things went wrong, so improvisation was necessary. The date would be entered at the last minute with a stamp. It was nothing more than an organic group of like-minded people". Swagerman has added a handwritten note in Dutch to the head of a circular requesting submissions, asking the recipient of these issues, Tjeerd Deelstra, if he is interested in submitting work. Deelstra is an architect, urban planner, and important collector of avant-garde art. Bas Vossen, "Dutch Diggers", 30 May 2023, ReportersOnline. Together, 15 items. Text in Dutch. 10 Holland Hapt publications, quarto (2 copies of No. 1 with variant wrappers), original wire-stitched coloured wrappers, contents printed on variously coloured papers, nos 2 & 10 stamped in pink and red ink with "anti-copyright" and "free", ephemera loosely inserted or stapled into several issues: posters loosely inserted into both copies of No. 1, No. 2, and stapled as issued into No. 3; printed circular in No. 1; order form and calendar for 1968 listing other underground publications in No. 2; hand-titled envelope in No. 3; duplicate of rear cover and 2 single-leaf articles (one on the evils of the pharmaceutical industry, one on mysticism) in No. 4. Also included are 2 circular letters requesting feedback and submissions to Hapt, 1 with handwritten note at head; single leaf of Tjeerd Deelstra's brief handwritten notes on Technische Hogeschool Delft-headed memo paper; single sheet of orange paper handwritten with "Holland Hapt"partially glued to small wooden stick; and a stamped and franked envelope with typed addressed to Deelstra, "Rotterdamseweg 109, Delft". Small ink inscriptions at head of No. 2 and No. 7. Faint toning and minor creasing to a few issues, short closed tears to outer edge of wrappers of No. 1, stain to rear wrapper of No. 7 extending to a few leaves. A very good collection. A full description and condition report are available at request.