Rare books from Brian Cassidy Bookseller at Type Punch Matrix

n.p. [San Francisco?]: n.p., 1966. Very good plus.. Large original painted canvas banner likely utilized in one of Ken Kesey's final Acid Test events and based on Kesey's infamous limited edition ACID TEST album. While Timothy Leary's advocacy for LSD focused on science and scholarship (or attempted to seem so) and in doing so tried to introduce the drug to suburban homes under a thin veil of legitimacy, it was Ken Kesey's Acid Tests that made it dangerous again and perhaps more than any other effort helped popularize LSD in the counterculture. Kesey, fresh off his CUCKOO'S NEST success, staged these events primarily in and around the San Francisco Bay Area from 1965-66, beginning in people's homes, but slowly growing both in popularity and venue. This banner is clearly based on the album art for Kesey's infamous cult LP, THE ACID TEST, released in March 1966 in a limited edition of 500 and sold primarily in the Bay Area. This would likely mean that the banner was utilized at the "Whatever It Is… Read More

San Clemente, CA: Journal Concepts, Inc, 2017. First edition. Near fine or better.. Gorgeous 26-year unbroken run beginning with the debut issue of this elaborately-produced surfing magazine for the discerning enthusiast. 135-issue, 26-volume run of the highbrow surfer's bimonthly magazine, founded in 1992 as a quarterly publication following publishers Debbee and Steve Pezman's departure from SURFER MAGAZINE. Incorporating beautifully photographed travel features, profiles on such surfers, and technical articles on surfboard design, "opening an issue of the Journal was like stepping into a quiet, well-appointed library" (Warshaw). Conceived and produced as a collectible physical object and navigating an age of pivots to digital and print media crises, the Journal has survived for just short of 30 years while maintaining uncompromising quality standards and providing a home for long-form specialty journalism. Relying from the beginning on reader support over traditional advertising revenue (then an… Read More

New York: The Macmillan Company, 1968. First edition. Very good or better overall.. First printing of Lyon's influential work, with an original vintage print of his photograph "Route 12, Wisconsin," the book's iconic cover image. Lyon's photo book documenting the Chicago Outlaws motorcycle club delivers some of the most iconic images associated with biker culture, including the indelible cover image additionally represented here by an original vintage print from the collection of Steve Dalber, Lyon's roommate at the University of Chicago. In contrast to many photographers he is often associated with, Lyon embedded himself within the communities he photographed, giving the viewer an inside look at the subject. As with Lyon's other publications, text is an integral part of THE BIKERIDERS; stories from the photographer as well as the voices of a number of bikeriders situate the photographs within the context of the biker subculture and the culture at large. 9'' x 6.5''. Original black and white… Read More

(Scranton, PA): n.p., 1925. Very good.. A sizable archive of over 1,150 images from the Scranton Lace Company, a major manufacturer that operated from 1890 to 2002, consisting of samples used in home decor - primarily window treatments and table linens - likely photographed for internal purposes. Composed mainly of product sample photographs, including images of intricate lace patterns against a dark background and with inventory numbers pinned to the sample. Several enlargements of full table cloths and settings also included, with those mounted in the album cut - with striking effect - to create the illusion of a three-dimensional perspective. More than 200 of the images are cyanotypes, which are notoriously fugitive to light and are here uncommonly well-preserved.  The company was a leading producer of decorative lace throughout the 1900s. Notably, the invoices and marginalia indicate at least some of these styles were made from Rayon, which had only debuted commercially in the U.S. in 1924.… Read More

[Various]: n.p., 1927. First Edition. Collection by Peter R. Betz with detailed and captioned photographs of the Philippines Campaign, as well as many other experiences of a soldier's life during the WWII. Peter R. Betz (identified by his name and postwar address in the rear of two of the albums) served with the U.S. Army in the Pacific, and his photographs document that theater and the Philippines Campaign in detail. Nearly every photograph features Betz's neat, holograph captions, and the albums in general are highly organized, making for an incredibly thorough photographic biography of a soldier. The earliest photographs are dated 1927 and feature images of a Boy Scout troop and camping trip. Two of the albums also contain several images of the Betz's family, including parents, siblings, and cousins. Many of these family portraits are hand tinted. Betz's documentation of his Army career begins in 1937 and '38, with his service in Hawaii and Panama. The photographs regarding this time are casual… Read More

n.p.: n.p., 2014. Very good.. A subtle and astute work of art by The Reader, hinting to the aesthetic of certain Jim Crow era signs while using the found object sign marked "No Trespassing." From the prolific American graffiti writer known, among other psuedonyms, as Read, The Reader, Read More, Read More Books, Boans, etc., this boastful (but accurate) statement done in flat black spray paint on the verso of a fiberglass "No Trespassing" sign, liberated by the artist from an abandoned building, no doubt during his illicit activities. 12.5'' x 18.5''. Mixed media assemblage. Spray paint on fiberglass in welded steel frame.

np, 1960. Very good.. An extraordinary and unique handmade artist's book, elaborately assembled by an anonymous artist. A kinky but lighthearted celebration of female flagellantism, the book appropriates quintessentially 1960s fashion models and recontextualizes them in dozens of original collages so that they are weilding whips, switches, and various similar tools. Paired with self-referential and irreverant texts, as well as black-and-white hand-penned drawings (presumably by the assembler) of bondage, spankings, and other S&M-themed scenes, the book humorously imagines Mod Girls as doms - a perhaps intentional visual pun. The collages, many spanning across page spreads (and including one fold-out), exhibit a strikingly skillful and stylish retraint, suggesting an ambition and audience beyond the merely pruriently personal. An outsider book of rare sophistication and wit: the Swinging Sixties meets Dada. Yeah baby. Hardcover. Oblong 4to. Boards. Likely commercial scrapbook, but possibly ad-hoc.… Read More

n.p.: n.p., 1965. Near fine.. Striking early Bukowski drawing, executed in vibrant purple, grey, and black. Larger than most Bukowski pieces typically encountered. Exhibiting a strong gestural hand, a stirring expressionist work from the outlaw poet. 10'' x 7.7'' (image). Original pastel drawing on 11" x 8.5" paper. Signed by Bukowski ("Buk 65") at bottom margin. Mild wear, faint creasing here and there.

[Los Angeles]: Black Sparrow Press, 1970. Near fine.. First edition, association copy, with an extraordinary inscription and drawing from Bukowski at a pivotal moment in his career to Hal Norse, perennial literary scenester and author of the classic cut-up novel BEAT HOTEL. Norse was a frequent Bukowski correspondent beginning in the mid 1960s, and it was Norse who recommended Bukowski to Penguin Press for their Modern Poets series - then Bukowski's highest-profile appearance to date (they appeared together in the thirteenth installment). But the two didn't meet in person until January of 1969, a little less than a year before this inscription. Norse recalls the experience in his book MEMOIRS OF A BASTARD ANGEL: "I knew that a wild Falstaffian ruffian had come to shake things up with more fiction than fact, more fantasy than truth [...] Bukowski was misshapen [...] He looked [...] during down and out" (p. 420). Indeed, the poet was down and out, frustrated at his job for the post office and… Read More

New York: Random House, 1968. First edition. Overall very good plus.. Near-complete original typescript for Aram Saroyan's self-titled collection of minimal and concrete verse. ARAM SAROYAN contained the poet's infamous "four-legged m" poem, holder of the Guiness record for world's shortest, but here absent likely due to inability to type the poem. Otherwise the complete text of the book, though in slightly different order and with different pagination (condensed to just six pages, presumably for convenience). The second of Saroyan's infuential trilogy of concrete collections that began with COFFEE COFFEE the previous year, and was largely complete by the publication of PAGES the next. And though Saroyan has gone on to a long and respected writing career, these conceptual poems are likely to be the work for which he is best remembered for. A gathering of these three books, COMPLETE MINIMAL POEMS (Ugly Duckling), won the William Carlos Williams Award in 2007 and was republished by Primary Information… Read More

[Hollywood, CA]: [Heavy Industry Publications], 1968. Near fine.. Signed first and only edition of Ruscha and Bengston's collaborative book. BUSINESS CARDS, Ruscha explained in a later interview with Trina Mitchum, "started as a joke but then we decided to go through with it [...] We had a dinner at the Bistro in Beverly Hills and after dinner we had a very dramatic business card exchange which Larry Bell photographed with his Polaroid and good judgment. Later the book of photographs came out." 8.5'' x 5.5''. Original faux wood-grain wrappers tied with knotted leather cord, hand-bound by artists. Black and white photograph mounted to front cover. Edition of 1000 copies. Signed by Ruscha and Bengston on front cover. 21 photographic illustrations. Two cards stapled to final leaf as issued; Bengston's card slightly crumpled, also as issued. Embossment of art consultant Aldis Browne to front free endpaper. Light edgewear and rubbing to wrappers. Else bright and sound.

[New York]: [Multiples, Inc.], 1970. First printing. Fine.. First edition of Ruscha's eleventh book, featuring one bespoke baby (his own) and many mass-produced commercial cakes. BABYCAKES was originally issued by Goodman's imprint as part of the boxed portfolio set Artists and Photographs, with a catalogue and works by 18 other contemporary artists (Sol LeWitt, Bruce Nauman, Robert Rauschenberg, Andy Warhol, and others). Despite the cover's uncharacteristic soft pastels and textures, the book's photographs are in black and white, as austere as frosted cakes ever are. The pictured baby, at a stated 15 lbs 8 oz, weighs double the largest cake shown, or approximately 70 Hostess cinnamon rolls. Photographs by Elizabeth Claman, Sid Felson, Jerry McMillan, Danna Ruscha, and Ed Ruscha. 7.25'' x 6''. Original robin's-egg blue wrappers with pink satin ribbon tie and green flocked lettering. Black and white photographic illustrations. [52] pages. Ribbon frayed at one end, very slight wear to corners. Else… Read More

n.p. [Los Angeles]: Edward Ruscha, 1970. First printing. Fine.. Signed first edition of Ruscha's last solo photobook to use the minimal 'house style' made famous by TWENTYSIX GASOLINE STATIONS and other early works. The 25 black and white photographs of REAL ESTATE OPPORTUNITIES frequently include "For Sale" signs, recalling Ruscha's early life as an aspiring commercial artist who "learned sign-painting techniques and painted many commercial signs, including For Sale signs" (Phillpot). Properties pictured, captioned with their addresses, include houses, residential lots, and forlorn stretches of barren land whose only neighbors are the telephone poles and roads of southern California. Uncommon signed. 7'' x 5.5''. Original white printed wrappers. Lacking glassine jacket. Edition of 4,000 unnumbered copies. 25 black and white photographic illustrations. [48] pages. Signed by Ruscha in pencil on front free endpaper. PROVENANCE: From the collection of longtime MIT Press editor Roger Conover, who… Read More

(Hollywood, CA): (Heavy Industry Publications), 1971. First printing. Near fine.. Signed first edition of these black and white photographs of 30 selected records and album covers from Ruscha's collection, photographed by his friend and fellow artist Jerry McMillan. Like Ruscha's previous books, RECORDS is concerned with words and texts, though the presentation of words "on" images here is distinct from Ruscha's previous documentation of words "in" images (Phillpot): shown against a blank white background, the printed texts on these album covers and records exist on circles and squares, objects alone without a landscape. Uncommon signed. 7'' x 5.5''. Original red embossed paper wrappers. 60 black and white plates. Edition of 2000 copies. Signed by Ruscha on front free endpaper. PROVENANCE: From the collection of longtime MIT Press editor Roger Conover, who published several books by and about Ruscha. Touches of edgewear, very slight foxing to fore-edge.Else bright and sharp.

Hamburg: Anatol AV und Filmproduktion, 1977. Near fine.. First edition of arguably Baldessari's most desirable artist's book, and one of the best of the 1970s. Single black-and-white images appropriated from television are paired with single words superimposed in yellow that (as the title explains) form a sentence of thirteen parts, with twelve alternate verbs. Enigmatic and challenging: "the form [...] successfully liberates it from its origins as a wall piece, and reinterprets its contents through a historical book structure" (Phillpot). 4'' x 5.25'' (folded), 46'' x 60'' (unfolded). Series of four nested accordian-fold that extend into a crucifom, all housed in black printed folded portfolio. Mild, shelfwear rubbing to portfolio. Else bright, sound, and clean.