The Consul

Rumney, Ralph

ISBN 10: 0872863980 / ISBN 13: 9780872863989

Published by City Lights Books, San Francisco, 2002

About this Item

122 pages, illustrations; 23 cm. Conversations with Gerard Berreby with the help of Giulio Minghini and Chantal Osterreicher; translated from the French by Malcolm Imrie. Contributions to the history of Situationist International and its time; vol. 2. Tight, clean copy. A fine copy of the first printing. *** "Ralph Rumney has been in constant flight from the wreckage of postwar Europe. Crossing paths with every avant-garde of the past fifty years, he was one of the founding members of the Situationist International. Rumney's traveling companions--Guy Debord, Yves Klein, Marcel Duchamp, Georges Bataille, William Burroughs, Felix Guattari, E. P. Thompson--are recalled here with sharp intelligence and dry wit. Profusely illustrated with Rumney's own photos, paintings, and collages and other documentary materials. / Ralph Rumney (b. 1934), a vicar's son, turned down places at Oxford and art school to go to London in 1951, where he began painting. He was married to Pegeen Guggenheim and, later, to Mich le Bernstein. He lives in southern France, with his cat, Borgia." - Publisher. Size: 8vo.

Seller Inventory # 124255

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Consul
• Publisher: City Lights Books, San Francisco
• Publication Date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0872863980
• ISBN 13: 9780872863989
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition: 1st.
• Condition: Fine
• Book Type: Collectible
• Seller catalogs:
  • European::British & Irish
  • New Books
  • European::9. Contemporary
  • XXX::COLLECTIBLES
  • Movements::Situationism

About this title

Synopsis

Throughout his adventurous life, Ralph Rumney was in constant flight from the wreckage of postwar Europe. Crossing paths with every avant-garde of the past fifty years, he was one of the founding members of the Situationist International. Rumney’s traveling companions — Guy Debord, Pegeen Guggenheim, Asger Jorn, Michèle Berstein, Bernard Kops, Yves Klein, Marcel Duchamp, Georges Bataille, William Burroughs, Félix Guattari, E.P. Thompson, Victor Brauner, and many others — are recalled in the oral history with sharp intelligåence and dry wit.

Profusely illustrated with Rumney’s own photos, paintings, and collages and other documentary materials.

"The Consul regains that magnificent freedom that a handful of people enjoyed and shared with artists, writers and others, in a world whose password was total, unfailing rejection of the world." —Judith Brouste, Art Press

"…fine compendium of the most poetic of political writings, albeit still a partial measure for fans, followers and future revolutionaries awaiting the complete translations of the journal Situationist Internationale." —Publishers Weekly

Ralph Rumney (1934 - 2002), was the sole member of the London Psychogeographical Society, a founding organization of the Situationist International (1957). He is the author of The Leaning Tower of Venice, a fabled psychogeographical exploration of that city.

Malcolm Imrie is a literary agent and translator whose translations include Guy Debord's Comments on the Society of the Spectacle and Josè Pierre's Investigating Sex: Surrealist Discussions 1928 - 1932.

About the Author

A vicar's son, Ralph Rumney (b. 1934) turned down places at Oxford and art school to go to London in 1951, where he began painting. He soon moved to Paris, meeting many who would later form the Situationist International. He was married to Pegeen Guggenheim and to Guy Debord's former wife, Michele Bernstein. He lives in southern France with his cat, Borgia.