Howl by Ginsberg, First Edition, city lights (31 results)

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. First Edition. Introduction by William Carlos Williams. An early printing in the original format and quality of this classic book, Ginsberg's most controversial, just after it was removed from the banned books list. Original format in The Pocket Poets Series (Number four). A clean, bright, unmarked copy.

Hardcover. Condition: As New. No Jacket. First Thus. Like new hardcover 1996 reprint.

Condition: Good. Eighth printing, September 1959. Moderate wear and handling to cover, minor soiling and age-toning. Small ink drawing on first page. Uncommon early printing of this iconic poem. Staple-bound sextodecimo, 44 pages.

Stapled. Condition: Fine. First Edition. Fine. Two sheets printed on rectos only and stapled in the left corner. Issued in Chicago at the American Booksellers Association. A promotional piece for the publication of "the commemorative facsimile of the original edition." Uncommon.

Soft cover. Condition: Very Good. No Jacket. 1st Edition. Eleventh printing from Sept. 1962. A very good copy.

Soft cover. Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. An eighth printing from the end of 1959 in very good condition. Circular stain on cover and the usual yellowing, otherwise a nice early copy.

Hardcover. Condition: Fine. No jacket. Signed by Ginsberg on the title page.

Spiral Bound. Condition: Very Good. First Edition. The rare publisher's bound galleys of a City Lights edition that was 'forthcoming' for April, 2006 - but never released. Instead an edition from HarperCollins was issued later that year. A yellow sticky note has been added by a City Lights rep next to the 'forthcoming note on the cover reading 'well, maybe not!' xiv, 194 pages, xerographic printing in black plastic comb binding (mior wear). B/w facsimiles throughout. It appears that the Ferlinghetti introduction was omitted from the HarperCollins edition as published. A scarce surviving example of what the book would have looked like.

Soft cover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: No Dust Jacket. First Edition. The scarce 2nd Printing of the Original Edition. Pocket Poets No. 4. Black wraps with white printed paste on cover label. Only the First two printings had the paste on label. States 'Second Edition' on the rear cover. 75 cent cover price. Lucien Carr deleted on the dedication page and a comma after 'Harlem' on the rear portion of the pasted down cover wrap. General wear and dustiness, but overall a solid example. Scarce!

Softcover. First Edition; Twenty-Fourth Printing. Very Good+ in wraps. Owner name on title page.

Soft cover. Condition: Very Good. No Jacket. 1st Edition. Sixth printing from September 1958 in almost very good condition. Staining and discoloration to the covers. Small tear to back cover and inked squiggle to final page. An early printing from two years after the first printing.

No Binding. Condition: Clamshell As New. No Jacket. 1st Edition Clamshell Collector's Case. 1st Edition Clamshell Collector's Case. No Binding. Custom Clamshell Case. Ginsberg, Allen. HOWL AND OTHER POEMS. Custom Clamshell Case [Not A Book] White title & rules stamped on a black cloth spine over black custom handmade black marbled paper sides, black velour interior. A superb case for the Modern Masterpiece in very fine condition.

Soft cover. Condition: Good. 1st Edition. City Lights Pocket Bookshop (CA) 1956 First Edition, Fourth Printing (stated on the rear cover), no additional printing information on copyright page. Original 75 cents on the upper left corner of the rear panel. Good in staple bound wraps. Small 16vo. Covers are lightly soiled and have a previous owner name stamp on the top of the front cover as well as a stamp on the top of the title page and the dedication page. The previous owner also underlined with pen three paragraphs of the introduction by William Carlos Williams. An original first edition fourth printing of Ginsbergs first book.

Soft cover. Condition: Very Good. No Jacket. 1st Edition. Fourth printing in very good condition.

Condition: Very good. First Edition. Third printing (stated) ? and first produced in the U.S. ? of Ginsberg's landmark poem, number four in the Pocket Poets Series. While the first two printings of HOWL were produced in London by Villiers, when U.S. Customs seized more than 500 copies of the latter printing for alleged obscenity (leading to one of the most important censorship trials of the 20th century), publisher Lawrence Ferlinghetti printed this third domestically, bringing the book out from under the jurisdiction of Customs ? a fact conspicuously noted on the copyright page, which clearly states "Manufactured in the United States of America." A significant copy from early in the history of this landmark poem that along with Kerouac's ON THE ROAD and Burroughs's NAKED LUNCH form the cornerstones of the Beat movement. It remains Ginsberg's most enduring work. 6.25'' x 5''. Original stiff black stapled wrappers (75 cents). 44 pages. Introduction by William Carlos Williams. Covers rubbed and toned with a bit of spotting. Else sound and clean.

Soft cover. Condition: Very Good. No Jacket. 1st Edition. Third printing in very good condition. Wrapper is yellowed with wear to edges. Uncommon in this printing.

1st Edition. 1st Edition. "I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked. angelheaded hipsters burning for the ancient heavenly connection to the starry dynamo in the machinery of night, who poverty and tatters and hollow-eyed and high sat up smoking in the supernatural darkness of cold-water flats floating across the tops of cities contemplating jazz". Ginsberg, Allen. HOWL AND OTHER POEMS. San Francisco: City Lights, (1959). First Edition of Allen Ginsberg's defining work of the Beat Generation. 12mo. 44pp. Eight printing A near copy properly priced at 75 cents. Some useage and toning as shown. The Pocket Poet Series, Number Four is housed in a spectacular custom designed case with White title and rules stamped on a black cloth spine over black custom handmade black marbled paper sides, black velour interior. A superb case for the Modern Masterpiece in very fine condition. Near Fine in New Clamshell case.

Softcover. First Edition; Thirtieth Printing. Very Good+ in wraps. ; Personalized by Allen Ginsberg on title page with a drawing. ; Signed by Author.

Condition: Fine- / Fine-. First Edition. First Pressing of this 33 1/3 rpm (12-inch) LP phonograph record (numbered 7006 on sleeve and vinyl), on which the poet recites (screams, begs, urges) "Howl" and other poems. Transparent red vinyl (not the later, more common black vinyl) with burgundy labels, plain paper slip, and original card sleeve printed in green, orange, andblack. Stamped in red: "Promotional Copy / Not for Sale" on rear of sleeve, with ownership of poet John Ciardi faintly stamped on upper right corner of front and neat blue ball-point notes to rear, probably in Ciardi's hand, commenting on the readings (Ginsberg recites "Howl," "The Sunflower Sutra," "Footnote to Howl," "A Supermarket in California," "Transcription of Organ Music," "America," "In the Back of the Real," "Strange New Cottage in Berkeley," "Europe! Europe!," and "Kaddish."). Long printed introduction by Ginsberg on rear sleeve. Offered with Third Printing (so stated on rear cover and priced 75 cents) of the First City Lights Edition of Howl and Other Poems, dedicated to Jack Kerouac, William Burroughs, and Neal Cassady and introduced by William Carlos Williams. Foolscap 8vo (157 x 121mm): 44pp. Black and white stapled card covers, inside covers blank, without separate white paper wraparound label of first two printings (now incorporated into cover design). LP's paper slip wrinkled but intact without tears, card sleeve lightly toned else about Fine. Book about Fine, pages slightly toned but clean throughout. Cook 4. Morgan F2a and A3. In October, 1956, with publication of Howl and Other Poems in an edition of 1000 copies by Lawrence Ferlinghetti's City Lights Bookshop, came fame and notoriety. Ferlinghetti was charged with disseminating obscene literature and arrested, but Judge Clayton W. Horn ruled that "Howl" was not obscene, and the collection ultimately was translated into twenty-eight languages. "Howl" became as famous "as any American poem since Eliot's"The Waste Land"and is still an icon of the Beat generation as powerful as Kerouac'sOn The Road . . . It is meant to be recited, and in his recitations Ginsberg was filled with gusto; he gesticulated and screamed, begged, urged and took off his clothes. . . . He was a lyric genius who, along with William Carlos Williams, was one of the greatest influences on the American poetical voice since Walt Whitman." (Literary Encyclopedia) N. B. With few exceptions (always identified), we only stock books in exceptional condition, carefully preserved in archival, removable mylar sleeves. All orders are packaged with care and posted promptly. Satisfaction guaranteed. (Fine Editions Ltd is a member of the Independent Online Booksellers Association, and we subscribe to its codes of ethics.).

Original wraps. Condition: Near Fine. 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.

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 bookĠs 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 TownĠ by Barry Gifford (1977) - a special look at Jack KerouacĠs hometown of Lowell, Massachusetts, published on the second anniversary of his death.

Saddle-stitched. Eighth Printing. Small Octavo, 44 pages. In Good condition. Black and white covers with two staples in spine. Covers have light age toning, slight tearing to spine edges, slight bending to corners, and rusting to staples. Textblock has slight creasing to pages. Shelved Case 0. 1374084. Shelved Dupont Bookstore.

Unbound. Condition: Fine. First edition. Promotional broadside. Quarto sheet, mechanically reproduced as issued, printed on recto only. A fine copy. Reproduces in facsimile, Allen Ginsberg's commentary written to promote the publication of his *Planet News: Poems 1961-1967*, as well as his signature and drawing of three fish, in the margins of the text. *OCLC* lists two holdings.

Saddle-stitched. Fourth Printing. Small Octavo, 44 pages. In Good condition. Black and white covers with two staples in spine. Covers have age toning to covers, tearing to tail edge of rear cover, slight bending to corners, and creasing to spine. Textblock has slight creasing to pages. Shelved Case 0. 1374083. Shelved Dupont Bookstore.

Condition: Very Good +. First edition. First issue, priced 75 cents with Lucien Carr noted in the dedication, a 2-page introduction by William Carlos Williams, and no mention of printing on the copyright page. Signed by the author on the title page, dated ?74, and with a large drawing of a flower in the sun. A Very Good+ copy overall. Minor staining to the white label on the front cover and to the title page. A little worn at the extremities, but otherwise presenting well. The internal contents are generally clean. Housed in a cloth clamshell case. Howl is one of the great works of Beat Generation literature. Ginsberg had begun work on the titular poem years before its publication in 1956, partly at the urging of his therapist. The writer Kenneth Rexroth, one of Ginsberg?s close friends, reviewed early drafts, and found it too forced and constrained. In response, Ginsberg rewrote the poem, removing many of the linguistic and syntactical limits he had originally labored under. The new freedom allowed him to develop the unpredictable, unconstrained style that would become his hallmark. Inspired by the experiences of Ginsberg?s fellow travelers and beatniks of 1950s San Francisco, the collection was met with no small amount of controversy upon its release. In fact, the owner of City Lights, which first published the work, would be charged with ? and later acquitted of ? obscenity. Very Good +.

Staple Bound. Condition: Good. First Edition. Photos on request. First edition, first printing. Front cover has a two inch neatly closed tear to upper right corner and has brown tape stain over it, a couple of brown stains to right edge of front, smudges around spine to front and back, a few more brown stains to back, some overall modest toning, previous owner name on publisher's page, a few small spots of foxing to a couple of pages, a few pages with eraseable pencil marks. otherwise a somewhat presentable copy with a good binding. Detailed photos on request. This book does have a strange oddity on pages 20-21; on those two pages only half of the page printed correctly with someone typing in very carefully so the lines match up to the other half. Not sure if this is just a misprint that someone corrected (seems unlikely because it is very well done), or if this was some early review copy that failed to print correctly and was "fixed" by someone at City Lights.

Condition: Very Good+. First Edition. 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.

Condition: Very Good. First Edition. 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.

Condition: Very Good. First Edition. 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.

Condition: Very Good. First Edition. First edition, first issue with Lucien Carr listed on the dedication page and a period after Harlem on the rear cover. Publisher's black wraps printed in blue with white wraparound printed in black. Near Fine with toning, light lifting to bottom corner of wrap-around band at rear cover, former owner name and date to title page, small area of wear at staple and verso of front wrap, pages lightly thumbed. An undisputed cornerstone of beat poetry, Ginsberg's initial inspiration came from a terrifying vision he had during a San Francisco peyote trip. The poem defined a generation.