Boardwalk by Elizabeth Spires (1980)

Boardwalk

Elizabeth Spires

Bits Press

Department of English

Case Western Reserve University

Cleveland, OH

(c) 1980

This is an interesting piece for several reasons. I found some of the poems in this thin hand sewn chapbook to be very good. Actual poetic language instead of "journal entries with spacing". For example, in her poem 'Grandfather' she has the line "In the cellar's cool dark" which I could feel as I was reading it. 

Other poems, to my "delicate" nature had way too many first person singulars in them but at least there was more poetic phrasing than I tend to be reading these days. 

The other thing, the more important thing chronologically is that there is no listing of this chapbook on her Wikipedia page. This chapbook mentions that her first full length collection Globe would be coming out in 1981 and her Wikipedia page started with Globe. When it should start with this one. 

And for what it's worth - the title poem is good as are the 3 poems inspired by Japanese prints.  

Processed World 12 (1985)

 Processed World 12

Processed World

San Francisco, CA

(c) 1985

Found this in a Goodwill shop next to a cool record store in South Street in Philadelphia earlier this week. Never heard of the publication before but it's extremely within my wheelhouse of anti-capitalism, "beware of technology" zeitgeist from the days just before the Internet became a "thing" in our world. Articles, poetry, images in a staple bound 65 paged bundle. If you are even slightly anti-globalist, you need to find these zines. Read them, keep them. 

How Our Laws Are Made by (1980)

 How Our Laws Are Made 

Edward F. Gillett, Jr, Esq.

Foreword by Hon. Peter Rodino

US Government Printing Office

Washington, DC 

(c) 1980

At the time this staple bound booklet was printed Peter Rodino was the Chairman of the House Committee on the Judiciary. Of course this type of booklet is more likely to be available in the DC area, where I live so it doesn't surprise me that I happened across it. 73 pages. It's a more serious take on how bills are past than the famous SchoolHouse Rock interpretation, but I do like that one better. It's got a song. This one is a tad dry. 

Milieu to the Stars by Fernando Reyes (2023)

 Milieu to the Stars

Fernando Reyes

self published

(c)2023

It meant to be something. Really it did. A self promotion tool? The illustrations created by this gentleman are far superior to his words. And though he meant the booklet to introduce himself to the publishing world ("publish my book"), it really only highlights his artistic side. Unfortunately, a poet he is not. Rather, to me, he is not. Others might feel differently. Maybe his goal will be achieved. But I think his goal ought to be what he draws and not what he writes. 

Latin American Soul: Bilingual Poetry by Edith Graciela Sanabria (1997)

Latin American Soul: Bilingual Poetry

Edith Graciela Sanabria

y Grace Press

Alexandria, VA

(c) 1997

The Press failed this project. Entirely. 
 

Randall Jarrell by Karl Shapiro (1967)

 Randall Jarrell

Karl Shapiro

Library of Congress

Washington, DC 

(c)1967

This booklet is of a lecture given by Mr. Shapiro about Mr. Jarrell. 47 pages. Handsome insignia of the Library of Congress crest on back. Staple bound. 

Perfect Stranger by Earl McMurray (1997)

 Perfect Stranger

Earl McMurray

The Ledge Press

1997 Poetry Chapbook Contest Winner

Glendale, NY

(c)1997

Staple bound chapbook on slick cover stock. Photo of the poet inside back cover. Belated congrats for this contest winner (decades belated at this point). Have to say, (I) greatly appreciate that many of the poems in this winner book are absent of first person singular. 

The Nepal royal family booklets (1986)

 His Majesty King/ Her Majesty Queen

Department of Information

Ministry of Communication

HMG

Nepal

(c)1986

More information that I would ever need about the royal couple as of 1986. A royal family in the tradition of all single family rulers. Their heirs still run the country in 2024. No - this isn't poetry but they are chapbooks. Or booklets. Or historical documents. (a wink to Galaxy Quest). Okay, it's more nuanced than that. The Monarch was abolished in 2008. But the same family ruled the country since the mid-1700s and the same other family rules as prime minister even now. 

Dancing Back Strong the Nation by Maurice Kenny (1979)

Dancing Back Strong the Nation

Maurice Kenny 

The Blue Cloud Quarterly 

Marvin, SD

(c) 1979

Similar to the Joel Oppenheimer book I just wrote about this one also "defies" definition in that it isn't even mentioned on the Wikipedia page for the author. There is a listing on that page of a version of this book published in 1981 by White Pine Press (something about this press, I swear) with an introduction to the work by Paula Gunn Allen, who also wrote the introduction - likely word for word taken - for the 1979 book published by The Blue Cloud Quarterly. I suggest you click onto the link for the Blue Cloud Quarterly since it goes into much deeper detail about that publication. I personally am ambivalent about Catholic publications "work on behalf of" Native writers since the history of European religions contributing to the obliteration of Native religions is raw and without justification. 

And yet, if this publication had not brought out the work by a number of Native voices, would we even know of them? 

Or know the name of the artist, Rokwaho, who did the cover image?

I greatly value the writings of all "marginal" groups who are part of the American Experience since for most of the history of the United States that narrative has been controlled by white Christians of European descent. 

 

Why Not by Joel Oppenheimer (1987)

 Why Not

Joel Oppenheimer

White Pine Press

Fredonia, NY

(c) 1987

This is the second book published by White Pine Press of poetry by Joel Oppenheimer that has intrigued me. This time because this is actually a reprint of a book that was published, according to the Wikipedia page for Mr. Oppenheimer, just two years prior by Press of the Good Mountain - which after doing a quick bit of research online I found to be an actual publisher located in Rochester, NY. The Press was created at the Rochester Institute of Technology in 1950. The instructor of Typography at the college, Alexander Lawson, was the supervisor of the Press. 

Thirty-five years later, the Press of the Good Mountain published Why Not and then 2 years later, White Pine Press brought out their own version of the same book. Contractual issues? One can only speculate as those involved have all gone into the reeds at this point. However, on the printer's page there is an acknowledgment that the book is an expanded version of the "limited letterpress edition" which had been made by a David Lorczak at the Press of the Good Mountain. The cover illustration is by Joel Oppenheimer. 

I wonder how few copies exist of that original 1985 letterpress edition. Apparently the 1985 edition had 100 copies printed. I have seen the cover online. Copies are not cheap online then again, they all seem to be signed by either Joel or David. 

This Hunger by Carol Cullar (1993)

 This Hunger  

Carol Cullar  

The Maverick Press

Eagle Press, TX

(c)1993

Inscribed and signed inside front. Printed on recycled paper. One of 150 copies printed. Signed on back pages. Unpaginated. 

Ms. Cullar was an artist as well as the editor of a literary publication called "The Maverick Press" in that part of Texas. The cover image was created by Ms. Cullar. Hand sewn. Beautiful book. Well crafted poems. 

Writers' Work from Northern Virginia Community College (1986)

 Writer's Work 

Northern Virginia Community College (Alexandria Campus)

(c)1986

Recently a poet's personal library was "donated" to a local library that I am involved with. The poet's collection was rather unceremoniously released as the poet had died a few weeks prior and apparently their books were not designated to be placed anywhere. So...

The poet had also taught English and creative writing at the NOVA (as it is commonly referred to in the region) as well as other colleges through their life. 

Typical college student fare. Nothing remarkable. But it was captured and collected and preserved. Noted. 

playing with power tools at the alter of venus by r. julius fildes (1993)

playing with power tools at the alter of Venus

r. julius fildes

Screaming Ego Press

(c)1993

A time piece of cyberpunk anarchist future. #10 of 200 printed. Drawing throughout by author as well. Interested bit of unexploded napalm. 

arcana by Ian Samuels (2002)

 Arcana

Ian Samuels

housepress

Calgary, CA

(c)2002

This is a handsome little book. This one is #17 of 60 printed. What I find most fascinating and telling is how an author can "forget" a publication like this when only two years later they publish a bigger book, one entitled The Ubiquitous Big which came out in 2004 on Coach House Books. I am going to add the bio that was offered at that time (see if you can find what's missing) :

"Ian Samuels is a former editor of filling Station magazine and currently works at WordFest: Banff-Calgary International Writers Festival. He is the author of one previous collection of poetry titled Cabra (Red Deer Press, 2000). He lives in his hometown of Calgary, where he is currently working on a mythic history of once-famous blues venue the King Edward Hotel."

Yeah, pretty incredible. 

write a poem about a tomato (??)

 write a poem about a tomato

wrote the seller : "a tomato art zine from ARTspace Chatham. Cute little zine collecting poems, illustrations and more about tomatoes, contributed by Chatham citizens."

wrote me, upon receiving it : 

I have not held a chapbook of such poor quality in a long time. JesusHChrist trees were killed to make this piece of trash. 

The concept could have been - but wasn't. I have to pulp it. It's terrible. Just NO

A Net to Catch My Body in its Weaving by Katie Farris (2021)

 A Net to Catch My Body in its Weaving

Katie Farris

Winner of the 2021 Chad Walsh Chapbook Prize

Beloit Poetry Journal 

Katie Farris is an award winning poet who attracted serious attention with her hybrid-form text boygirls which was released in 2011. 39 pages of pure brilliance. Not "joy" since the subject matter is not cotton candy sweetness but extremely good poetry here. 

Famous Recipes by Famous People (2004)

Famous Recipes by Famous People

Hotel Del-Monte

American Association of Gourmets

(c)2004

This is a reprint of 1936 edition. Nice cover stock. It feels like something. 

Fridge Haikus by Sophia M. Giudici (unknown)

 Fridge Haikus

Sophia M. Giudici

self published

(c) unknown

This hand sewn booklet is the physical representation of the author's time creating haiku and "publishing" them on Instagram. 

However, there is none of that information in the book. I gleaned it from the Net. Not sure what the point of the book is since they were all posted virtually to begin with. The author is more a student of Insta-poets than of haiku. All the piece are surface - lacking depth. As a poet friend of mine said in the 1990s "it's just words". 

Supposedly the haiku are meant to represent her live during the COVID years, which is fine and it's what countless others have also done - albeit not in haiku form, but

A history is not THE history

 I am a big William S Burroughs fan and one of the manifestations of being a fan of his writings is also to note his words and his meanings, as best as one can, and one of the things he wrote, almost in passing, is how ridiculous Western Thinkers and in particular Americans are with their overuse of the word THE as though using THE something or another means the definitive. Burroughs saw this as lazy and near sighted self congratulatory nonsense when it came to a scientific or historical subject. THE meaning "the one and only" whereas, Burroughs argued, A is nearly always more appropriate to use in these scenarios. 

So, I want to say that I am working on A history of poetry chapbooks and would never say I am working on THE history.... because the history of poetry chapbooks is as fluid and dare I say as plastic as the English language itself is. 

This blog - moving forward - is now a template for the book since I have been, unintentionally and semiconsciously, writing it since 2006. 

So many of the posting I have done have been thumbnail mentions instead of in-depth searches but with Carnglass and moving forward and backward simultaneously I will be fleshing out my subjects better so that I have a fuller appreciation of the subjects and so I might gauge what readers might gleam from my research. 

Carnglass Press = Jim Zimmermann of Newark, NJ

 I am going to play this out detective style here - each of the gentlemen I have communicated with about Carnglass Press have mentioned a linchpin, a spider at the middle of the web, and that person was named Jim Zimmermann who ran the Press from the basement of this house. The mystery is a little less dense but still exists. 

Updating the Carnglass Press mystery

 Indeed I have been blogging about chapbooks since 2006. 

Somewhere along the way I have also been sketching elements within my subject matter for expansion because to paraphrase Rod Stewart every chapbook tells a story. So, I will start with the one I am in currently in an see where the ripples go. 

Carnglass Press was a publishing concern in Newark, NJ at the beginning of the 1970s. Michael Redmond was one of the translators of the two chapbooks that I have. I got the chapbooks from an artist named Harry Bartnick. Bartnick did some cover illustration work for the Press and they paid him in chapbooks, these two. Neither of these gentlemen know each other. 

It seems that the bubbling poetic activities from Greenwich Village had traveled the 12 miles (in this case) to Newark. Michael was at Rutgers/Newark and Harry was working at the Newark library. Apparently there was a guy who was so into printing that he had a printing operation in the basement of his house that that was the hub for all these young dudes to be creatively crazy. Both men believe that Carnglass was a short term project. Neither believed that it produced more than these two books, maybe others they weren't sure of ever having been printed, like the project that Harry's cover art was meant for - A Single Shot to Kill a Bear - reenforcing the reality that not every project does come to fruition. 

Hikes to Waterfalls - in the Shenandoah National Park (2011)

 Hikes to Waterfalls (in Shenandoah National Park)

Shenandoah National Park Association

Text by Joanne Amberson, volunteer

Good Printers (Bridgewater, VA)

revised edition 2011

Little booklet full of directions and distances to the many waterfalls, top to bottom, of the Shenandoah National Park. Maps - the whole thing. Everything one would need to take on the elements and have a great hike to any one of these falls. 

a reminder : my info in case you have chapbooks you are willing to let me write about

 stevenallenmay

2714 Jefferson Dr

Alexandria, VA 22303

Harvest by Demetrios Kassolas (1971)

Harvest

Demetrios Kassolas 

Carnglass Press

Newark, NJ

(c)1971

Continuing the mystery in hopes of it unspooling - one of the translators of both this and the previous book was Michael Redmond. 

I am posting this in a very incomplete manner because I might have found this Michael Redmond person on Facebook. 

UPDATE #1

I did in fact make contact with a Michael Redmond - and it's the right one! Hoping to have a more detailed interaction with him soon. 

UPDATE #2

It is the same gentleman and I will share what I can since our conversation is mostly private. But Michael Redmond was the translator of book chapbooks. 

Poems by Dan Mutascu (1970)

 Poems

Dan Mutascu

Carnglass Press

Newark, NJ

(c)1970

Translated by Mircea Bucurescu and Michael Redmond

I love a good mystery, as any of you who have been following these postings can tell and in this case the seller of this chapbook actually knew more about the chapbook than the Net. In fact, the Net has almost nothing on this small press and the writer is Romanian. This collection itself is a trimmed down version of poems published in a larger edition by The Joycian Court Publishers. 

I wrote to the person who sold me this (along with another chapbook from the same Press) one and he wrote back : 

Hello,

Back in the late 1960s, I had worked with someone at the Newark Public Library who ran (or was in some way connected to) the Carnglass Press in Newark. I was asked to do a cover illustration for another one of their chapbooks, and in return received the 2 that you have.

All the Best,

XXXXX

followed then by : 

Hello,

The information that I included in the post for the 2 poetry chapbooks was all that I could find on the internet. I don't recall the website sources that it came from. There didn't seem to be anything in Wikipedia on them. I think that Carnglass Press was a small-scale, private effort, probably short-lived. A more thorough (and time-consuming!) internet search would likely turn up more information.

Cheers,

XXXXXXX

Now, I have a multiple mystery on my hands. The writer is better known for books that we published later in the 1970s and the Press seems to have disappeared sometime in the 1970s. I will keep researching. It's something I like to so. 

It's a staple bound chapbook. The drawing on the cover might be of the author. Or a random guy on a train, or in a coffee shop, who knows? (I don't) The person I dealt with got this - and the other - book from the publisher in exchange for cover illustration work. And had a connection to the Newark library in the late 1960s. 

That's my starting point - 

4X4 Winner of the 2013 Furniture Press Chapbook Competition

Furniture Press 2013 Chapbook Competition

1/200 (I have the first of the lot!)

Furniture Press 

Towson/Baltimore/Earth

Okay - I added "earth"

This is a packet of the 4 winners of the contest, apparently. 

They were : 

1X4 - The Caves of Ice by Joseph Cooper. 18 pages plus preface - at the end of the text.

2X4 - Clever Little Gang by Nicole Steinberg. 18 pages

3X4 - Your Stupid Fortune Gives Me Stupid Hope: A Horoscope by Caroline Crew & Chris Emslie

          Unpaginated.

4X4 - : Part One :  by Lisa Tallin. Unpaginated. 
 

Whalehead & Bring Me Duck by Suzanne Tate (1987 & 1986)

 

Two historical topical and locational books by the same author about the same part of the country. Nicely done. B&W photos. Local historical references galore. 

Rush Mats by Hiroya Takagai translated by Eric Selland (1999)

 Rush Mats 

Hiroya Takagai

translated by Eric Selland

Duration Press 

(c) 1999

Interestingly, as I approach the end of the huge poetry chapbook and ephemera dump I received a number of years ago from a generous soul in Iowa, I find one that completely appeals to me. 

Translated from the Japanese by Eric Selland, this thin collection has spacial distance that attracts me - long pauses in white space. And Mr. Selland has translated Mr. Takagai before. He had a book published by the University of Hawaii entitled Then the Whole was Flooded with Light: Hiroya Takagai Translated (2000) which was the year after this brief collection came out. It is possible and likely that some of the pieces here were also in the bigger book published the following year. 

Perfect Stranger by Earl McMurray (1998)

Perfect Stranger

Earl McMurray

Winner of the Ledge 1997 Annual Poetry Chapbook Contest

The Ledge Press

Glendale, NY

(c)1998

Inherited from a book lot dump I received years ago now. Not 1998 "ago" but - it's a contest winner but it doesn't tickle my poetry bone. Acknowledgment only. 

Of Their Ornate Eyes of Crystalline Sand by Coral Bracho (1999)

 Of Their Ornate Eyes of Crystalline Sand

Coral Bracho

Translated from the Spanish of Forrest Gander

Duration 11

(c) 1999

Part of the series. Great poetry. 

I happened across the series and these chapbooks, I believe, by someone in Iowa unloading a store of chapbooks they had accumulated over the years before they retired from their position at the literary hub there. 

One of the fascinating things about this series is that the translator had the opportunity to talk about the author they were translating, giving personal histories and perceptions to readers who were as likely as not NOT familiar with the poet whose work was the focus of the chapbook itself. 

Quiet Knives by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller (2003)

 Quiet Knives

Sharon Lee & Steve Miller

Adventures in the Liaden Universe #9

SRM Publisher, Ltd. 

Unity, Maine

(c) 2003

No - it's not THAT Steve Miller. 

It's a 62 page staple bound fantasy adventure book written by these two writers featuring two characters, etc; etc; etc.

Apparently they have been extremely successful writing together and this was a sampler more than a completed project. 

We Were Ugly So We Made Beautiful Things by David Barringer (2003)

 We Were Ugly So We Made Beautiful Things

David Barringer

Word Riot 

(c) 2003

Okay, Word Riot folded in 2016. The website link gets you to Hotels in Holland now. This book has an errata note in the introduction basically telling you to disregard the rest of the introduction and if you want to read the actual introduction by the writer Steve Almond, you can click onto - but you can't as I just explained because it doesn't - but hey, about those Hotels in Holland!

This is a collection of short stories. At 66 pages though, it's not a chapbook except that it was staple-bound so it is. (If you are getting the sense that I am circling the airplane, it's because I am circling the airplane) (( and we are all going down, together))

Loon Lake Journal by Beatrice O'Brien (2000)

Loon Lake Journal

Beatrice O'Brien

H&H Press

Middlebury Center, PA

(c)2000

This is a collection of poems which were compiled from a single year's worth of writing about the lake. All of the pieces previously appeared in THE PATRIOT Cuba, NY newspaper. Ms. O'Brien was also well connected to the arts community in her area, she founded and ran Poet's Theatre for well over 25 years. She passed in 2018 at the ago of 98 years young. She had an impact. 

and now....... 2024

 My wife insists that I do something more expansive than merely acknowledging chapbooks as I come across them. She is aware of how much info and knowledge I have acquired along the way and she keeps telling me to "do more". 

So in addition to this blog I have been formulating "A history of poetry chapbooks" (it's actually the subtitle of the work, the actual title will be revealed a bit later on). The focus will be American, because I am an American but more to the point : it's what I know and what I find. I have found and written about chapbooks produced in other countries occasionally but with some exceptions for British-based poetry booklets, I am looking at this endeavor through an American lens. 

I do now and have appreciated the interest of those who have endured my often thumbnail summations of a number of the books that I have written about. But therein lays the rub about this subject : often the books are "one-offs", self produced or through a vanity press that disappeared before the ink was dry. The authors of the books might also not get recognization between the one chapbook that I have found of theirs. And I mention the book, the author, and the press that produced it in case it's true that my writing about them means they will not be forever lost to time. 

And off we go again, chasing wild geese 

Outlying Districts by Anselm Hollo (1987)

 Outlying Districts

Anselm Hollo

Smithereens Press

Bolinas, CA

(c) 1987

Yes, this copy has a coffee stain on the front. I knew that before I got it. But it's hand-painted by Hollo's wife, Jane Dalrymple-Hollo. And the seller said that this copy was signed and inscribed to "Allan and Cinda" - and my brain stopped me right there and said "The only Allan and Cinda you know of are the Kornblums; Toothpaste Press and Coffee House Press. You know? You met him!" 

Yes, I had. I have been incredibly inspired by Allan's letterpress work with and on Toothpaste Press. 

Smithereens Press appears to have been Hollo's imprint. It's a staple-bound mimeo. (late in the game for mimeos but that's what it looks like). Single page poems. 

Each book printed was painted differently. Making each book (250 printed, 10 were signed by poet and artist) unique. 

Happy New Year. 

Sutter Anniversary Edition by Goedsche & Glaettli (25th printing)

 Sutter Anniversary Edition

C. R. Goedsche & W. E. Glaettli

Van Nostrand Reinhold Co.

25th printing

In German. For elementary level German reading. It's a biography of the Sutter of Sutter's Mill notoriety (the California Gold Rush started on discovery of gold on land his workers were working). It's staple bound and I am bound to mention it here. 

His full name was Johann August Sutter and he was born in 1803 in the Holy Roman Empire (Baden, in what is now Germany)

Marginalia Issue no.II (2022)

Marginalia Issue No. II

Logan Garner

somewhere in Oregon

(c) 2022

Not sure this is actual marginalia as I understand them to be. I think of marginalia as a word or a phrase or a rebuttal. But I am not here to split hairs. I am bald. Not going there. 

This is a beautiful item. The images that Mr. Garner has chosen are all in the public domain. Nicely done. 
 

le cyclop by Association le cyclop (1993)

 booklet in French regarding the sculpture entitled "le cyclop" which is located in Milly-la-foret, France. It is the work of Jean Tinguely. Printed in French. Produce of France. Staple-bound. Most interesting. 

Steps by Erik Muller (2011)

 Steps

Erik Muller

self published

Eugene, OR

(c) 2011

This might take a bit to set up and the payoff might not work but here goes : I think I have mentioned that part of the reason I write about chapbooks is that I also wear a publisher's hat (Plan B Press) and we have been publishing, mostly chapbooks, since 1999. 

Well, this year we published a book by an Eve Muller entitled A Guide to the Ruins. In the process I learned that Eve had a father who wrote poetry and also ran a few publishing operations in the Eugene, OR area. I was intrigued. Fireweed and Traprock Books were among the publications that he edited and brought out along with the Coos Writer Series. And apparently he self published some of his collections as well. Like this one. According to Eve his books are hard to come by so I was elated to find a signed copy of one of his books that his daughter admitted that she never read. 

I am familiar with a chapbooks with the same title, Steps, as that was the title of ruth weiss's first chapbook that I got a copy of long ago and then sold to a collector for a significant amount of money. ruth told me the story about how that chapbook came about. I am unable to have a conversation with Mr. Muller since he passed in 2021. 

Eve Muller is working with the University of Oregon to put together a collection of his work at the college. Special collections, anyone?

Hope they have a copy of this one in that collection. (Not that I am parting with this one anytime soon)

right churn tool by bentspoon blog (????)

 It's hard to say why this item was preserved in the manner that it was, but it was. It's Canadian and they do things differently up there? There is an envelope that this item came in and it is stamped FINAL COPY so perhaps it was. Maybe in the 2012 time frame as other items from this "collective" date from that moment. Shadowy presence. Very DIY. Reminds me of the collage mailings of the early punk era and fluxus before that, and even earlier artists who were literally cutting and pasting their work together with glue and tape. 

It's not poetry. It's not prose. It's not confessional. It's not anything but word vomiting. The visuals are a bit more interesting. But I have seen better. 

Kalliope : Literary Magazine (1985)

Kalliope: The Penn State Literary Magazine 

volume 5 : number 1

Pennsylvania State University

College Park, PA

(c) 1985

Staple bound book. Recognize none of the writers, nor the advisors, not the supporters. 

But it exists - there ya go. 

 

Abraham Lincoln : a digest of the wit and wisdom of Abraham Lincoln by King Hostick (1958)

Abraham Lincoln : a digest of the wit and wisdom of Abraham Lincoln

 King V. Hostick 

(c)1958

Compliments of the Lincoln Exhibit

Sponsored by Lincoln Savings and Loan Association

Los Angeles, CA

Tiny booklet stuffed with images and sayings of an American icon. 

Book in Thai language, embossed

 

Okay I am not even going to try and do this justice because I don't speak Thai and I know the culture enough (I have drunk my share of Thai beer) to know that the image of the king is on everything - EVERYthing - made in Thailand and this book is in the Thai language except for a name that appears on the  last page that is in English -Ajahn Jayasaro - I mean, even the page count is in Thai !

BUT - it's got an embossed cover, front and back,  and I find that very interesting, so I am mentioning the book here. 

From The Hometown of Ken Carpenter, Charles "Amos" Correll, and Fibber McGee and Molly.... (??)

 From the Hometown of Ken Carpenter, Charles "Amos" Correll

Fibber McGee and Molly....

Nostalgic Radio 

Peoria, IL 

(c) UNKNOWN (possibly 1974)

This is a staple-bound radio program catalogue. 50 pages of old time radio programs on tape (pre-CD format period) There is an envelope in the catalogue with the year 1974 stamped on the back of it, so maybe it was published then?

This item reminds me of something the writer Daniel Nester sent me years ago, an 8 track tape magazine that was shaped like an 8 track tape. I still have it (somewhere). This item harkens back to an earlier period. Recordings of live radio broadcasts. 

D. W. by garth graeper (2013)

 D.W.

garth graeper

greying ghost

(c) 2013

I have always admired what greying ghost did and the way that they presented work, and shipped their books with odd ephemera. I scored a number of these "not-broadsides, not-books" from them somewhere along the lines. Good stuff. 

Water Bugs and Dragonflies : Explaining death to children (1983)

 Water Bugs and Dragonflies : Explaining death to children

The Pilgrim Press 

New York, NY

(c)1983

Happy little booklet. Illustrations by Gloria Ortiz. It's a tiny tiny. And I have to found some poetry chapbooks right quick. 

Making the Difference : The Story of Wal-Mart (??)

 Making the Difference : The Story of Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart Visitors Center

Bentonville, AR

date uncertain

This is an oversized self congratulatory bit of propaganda that I am including here since it's a staple-bound "booklet" filled with zombie capitalism at its worst. How much does the Walton family avoid in taxes? Why are employees of Wal-Mart dependent on Medicare and Medicaid? 

I have not shopped in a Wal-Mart in 23 years (who said I am counting?)

Stories, Anecdotes, and Humor from the Civil War (1983)

Stories, Anecdotes and Humor from the Civil War

Hugh and Judy Gowan

 Daisy Productions

Martinsburg, PA

(c) 1983

Staple bound booklet showing "lighter moments" of the US Civil War with B&W photos. um - okay
 

Indian Beadwork: A Help for Students of Design by Clark Wissler (1927)

 Indian Beadwork : A Help for Students of Design

Clark Wissler

Guide Leaflet No. 50

American Museum of Natural History

(c) 1927 , 2nd edition

This is a beautiful booklet that I found to be handsome, informative, and charming - especially how they called it a "leaflet". But it also is an interesting relic in the sense that it is a booklet about Native people's crafts and craftsmenship written by a white man less than 30 years after the Wounded Knee massacre that makes the end of the "Indian Wars" in the United States. The booklet almost bleeds with irony. 

what'a hole History Geology of the Carlsbad Caverns by John Moseley (1948)

what'ahole History Geology of the Carlsbad Caverns

John Moseley & W A Dunagan

(c) 1948

Full disclosure : I have been to the Carlsbad Caverns. It's amazing and claustrophobic and I refused to go back for the evening event - that being the thousands upon thousands of bats who flew out of the cave entrance to do their night hunting. I don't like bats. 

I also did not get this gem at the time, I happened across it much more recently at a local library donation drop. It was too handsome to disregard, so I brought it come with me. It really is an amazing tiny staple-bound booklet with information and B&W photos and illustrations; really, what's not to like? 
 

20 Poems by Lauri Otonkoski (1999)

 20 Poems

Lauri Otonkoski

duration press 

(c)1999

Number  12 in their series. Translated from the Finnish by Anselm Hollo. Some interesting design features in this one. 

Fashion Blast Quarter by Krystal Languell / Chalky Undertaste by Emily Skillings (2014)

Fashion Blast Quarter by Krystal Languell / Chalky Undertaste by Emily Skillings

Flying Object 

flying-object.org

Hadley, MA

(c) 2014

This is a unique piece. Although it contains but 2 poems, it's a fold out. Meaning that when it is completely unfolded opened to its maximum size is roughly 3 feet by 4 feet. With images. Created by Flying Object.  Very cool. Interesting as heck.