KADDISH AND OTHER POEMS 1958-1960 by GINSBERG, Allen - (1961)

San Francisco: City Lights, (1961). First Edition. Wraps. Near fine. 16mo. Original wraps. Near fine. Sharp and clean, with only the barest hints of shelfwear and toning. Decidedly scarce in this condition.

While "Howl" is undeniably the more important poem, "Kaddish" is arguably the better one. Written in the wake of his mother Naomi's suicide, it remains raw, immediate, and moving — one of Ginsberg's finest. Part of City Lights' famed Pocket Poets Series, this is the increasingly uncommon (and frequently misidentified) true first edition, about which there is admitedly some geniune and legitimate confusion. Morgan is in disagreement with both Dowden and Cook as regards the true first printing; however, while Morgan is usually the more reliable source, bibliographic concensus seems to have settled on the priority laid out by Cook/Dowden — and this cataloguer (for reasons that surpass mere self-interest but are too lengthy for this catalogue description) strongly agrees. One of 2500 copies. [Morgan A4.a2 — incorrectly]. [Cook p. 42-3]. [Dowden p. 9-8].