Numbers: Poems & Stories

Richard Kostelanetz

Published by Assembling Press, 1976

Condition: NEAR FINE. Slight toning, small 1/4" tears on bottom pages. All else fine. All pages clean without any notations or markings. 24 pages printed on 6 folded sheets of newsprint folded down the middle as may be seen in the images provided. 1st edition. Only 1000 copies printed. 40 cm x 20 cm. Synopsis: Richard Kostelanetz, Numbers: Poems & Stories (1976). This avant-garde large-format, 24-page booklet is printed on 6 folded sheets of newsprint. Kostelanetz, an iconoclast who had recently published a book on The End of Intelligent Writing (1974), seemed to be rejecting the complexities of what was soon to be known as postmodernism and proposing instead a literature of simplicity and predictability. As he said about this project elsewhere, The relationships are all those of simple arithmetic, complexly and I hope artistically understood; it is no exaggeration to say that a five year old could understand them. Nonetheless, I consider this the most rational, most empirical art anyone had ever made, in that even after you have identified relationships acknowledged by everyone, there still remains a mystery. Only one thousand copies were printed. Although the preface is dated 1974, this first appeared in 1976 and is a first edition. Seller Inventory # 220941

Bibliographic Details

Title: Numbers: Poems & Stories
Publisher: Assembling Press
Publication Date: 1976
Binding: No Binding
Condition: Near Fine
Edition: 1st Edition