Hasheesh Eater, First Edition (7 results)

Soft cover. Condition: Fine. 1st Edition. First printing. 8vo. xxxvi, 314 pp. + [1] page About the Editor. Original glossy pictorial gray-brown wrappers. This is a tight, fine book.

Condition: Good. First edition copy. . 1st paperback. Limited to 5000 copies. (autobiographical fiction).

Soft Cover. Condition: Very Good Plus. Satty (illustrator). First Printing Thus. soft cover., slight wear to exterior - a little rubbing, some small, faint creases. clean. no writing, markings, labels. no bumps or tears. strong binding. 5000 printed in soft cover. a fitz hugh ludlow memorial library edition. edited by michael horowitz. 223pp. 12 b/w illustrations by satty. thoughtful reissue of 19th century classic. often scarce thus. Size: 4to - over 9¾" - 12" tall.

Hardcover. Condition: Near Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. A Fitz Hugh Ludlow Memorial Library Edition. First edition thus, first printing: Hardcover issue. Limited to 300 SIGNED numbered copies. This is copy number 285, SIGNED by Satty, the illustrator to a special limitation page. Striking full page black-and-white, haseesh inspired illustrations of mind-expanding experiences by Satty. The detailed journal of a 20-year old student in the 1850s to 1860s who begin with the advice of a doctor, and afterward constantly imbibed in haseesh (hashish), wrote about his experiences, observations, and personal responses to it. The original 1857 & 1903 publications of this journal led to making hashish and marijuana illegal, and became an early informational source book for scholars as well as becoming a significant influence on Ginsberg and the Beat generation. Small stain to page fore-edges, covers somewhat bowed, else about near fine in waxed blue linen with gilt embossed titles to the spine; in a very good silver dust jacket with moisture ripples to all panels, a bit of thin chipping to the upper front panel and a tiny tear to the lower front with psychedelic front panel illustration by David Singer and Satty. Quarto; 224 pages. Signed by Author(s).

Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. A first edition, first printing of the âfirst full-length work of American drug literature" (Horowitz). Fitz Hugh Ludlow (1836â"1870) was a bold and curious voice in 19th-century American literatureâ"a writer whose life and work straddled the fine line between transcendental exploration and the darker edges of chemical indulgence. Born in New York and educated at Union College, at just 21, Ludlow published The Hasheesh Eater, a mesmerizing chronicle of his experiences with cannabis extractâ"then a little-known psychoactive substance available in American apothecaries. The book electrified a Victorian audience with its poetic intensity and philosophical reflections, revealing a mind unafraid to wander the outer edges of consciousness. More than a memoir of drug use, The Hasheesh Eater is a journey through the psycheâ"a spiritual and psychological map written in the florid, earnest prose of the Romantic tradition. Ludlowâs writing sits comfortably beside that of De Quincey and Poe, yet carries its own distinctly American vision: a blend of frontier curiosity, religious yearning, and unflinching self-examination. As a journalist and travel writer, he went on to explore the American West and document its shifting cultural landscapes, offering dispatches filled with empathy and sharp observation. Though Ludlowâs life was shortâ"marked by struggles with addiction and illnessâ"his legacy endures as a pioneer of psychedelic literature and a forerunner to the introspective style that would resurface a century later in the works of the Beat Generation. His rare, original editions remain sought after not only for their historical significance but for the singular voice they contain: one that dares to ask what lies beyond the boundaries of the ordinary mind. 8vo. 371 pages, Publisher's plum-brown cloth stamped in gilt and blind; spine faded, extremities rubbed, some foxing throughout. James B. Weller ownership signature in pencil on title. This is the nicest copy we've seen for sale or handled. G1 .

Hardback. Condition: Very Good. 371p original dark green cloth with original gilt lettering to spine, light rubbing to top of spine and corners, name in pencil and Torrance Book Shop stamp to endpaper, a clean copy, firm, hinges intact inside and out, title page a hint loose, very light lean, top condition considering age and topic, first edition Language: English.

First edition of the author's first book, and the pioneering work by an American treating the subject of hashish usage in a literary fashion. While plainly indebted to DeQuincey, Ludlow's narrative nonetheless offers its own singular merits, based on his personal experience while a student at Union College (this work was published the year after his graduation). In later years, Ludlow achieved further distinction as a journalist, and as the author of a very peculiar account of his overland journey to California. As would be expected for the times, this title turns up in a number of colors and types of cloth. It also appears with different types of stamping; this is one of the variants without the date at the toe of the spine. "After Bayard Taylor the next great commentator on the phenomenon of hashish was the irrepressible Fitz Hugh Ludlow. This little-known bon vivant of nineteenth-century literature began a tradition of pharmo-picaresque literature that would find later practitioners in William Burroughs and Hunter S. Thompson.Ludlow creates a literary persona not unlike the poet John Shade in Nabokov's Pale Fire, a character who allows us to see deeper into his predicament than he can see himself. Part genius, part madman, Ludlow lies halfway between Captain Ahab and P.T. Barnum, a kind of Mark Twain on hashish" - McKenna. WRIGHT II:1592. Terence McKenna, Food of the Gods: The Search for the Original Tree of Knowledge (New York: Bantam, 1992), pp.163-4. Original gray cloth, stamped in gilt and blind. Head and toe of spine slightly frayed, with minimal loss, several signatures starting at center of textblock, with signs of early 'tightening' and light discoloration from same at a couple of gutters, early bookplate and some modest staining to endsheets, typical light foxing, otherwise a good copy of a book seldom seen even approaching fine condition.