Small Press Publications – Descriptive Notes

Some of the following information is from Celia Zukofsky’s A Bibliography of Louis Zukofsky (1969). Information not in brackets is as printed in the volumes or marketing descriptions.

 

Le Style Apollinaire. 1934 Paris: Les Presses Modernes
[131 pages, Octavo, paper wrappers. French version only. “René Taupin et Louis Zukofsky” are given as authors, although the former is actually translator]
An "Objectivists" Anthology. Edited by Louis Zukofsky
1932, To, Publishers, Le Beausset, Var, France/PO Box 3 Station F, New York.
Printed by Imprimerie Darantiere at Dijon, France, 1932.
First Half of “A”-9. 1940 New York
[privately printed] [41 pages, 12 x 8 ¾ inches, mimeographed, bound in manila folder] First edition, limited to 55 autographed copies, numbers 1 to 15 for presentation.
55 Poems. 1941 Prairie City, Illinois: The Press of James A. Decker.
55 Poems has been hand-set in Baskerville and Bulmer types, printed on ivory laid paper, and bound in full cloth. Edition limited to two hundred and fifty copies. 130 pages. $2.
Anew. 1946 Prairie City, Illinois: The Press of James A. Decker.
[published in small "Poetry Pocket" format]
A Test of Poetry. 1948 The Objectivist Press
30 Willow Street, Brooklyn 2, N.Y.
$3.00. 165 pages.
Printed by The Profile Press, New York.
Some Time. 1956 Jonathan Williams, Publ.
[10 x 6 inches, paper wrappers] 300 copies, Author’s edition [boxed] of 50 by Dr. Cantz’sche Druckerei, Stuttgart, Germany, autumn 1956 designed and published by Jonathan Williams as Jargon 15 [with musical score by CZ on front cover].
 Some Time
5 Statements for Poetry. 1958 San Francisco State College
[58 pages, 11 x 8 ½ inches, mimeographed, paper wrappers] Limited to 110 copies
[published 25 June while LZ was poet-in-residence at SFC at Robert Duncan’s invitation during the summer 1958].
 
Barely and widely. 1958 [Published by] C.Z. New York
[78 pages, 5 x 6 3/8 inches, paper wrappers]
[Note at back]: Except for the page number, pages 8 through 73 [i.e. the poems] are the handwriting of LZ. All other matter is in my own, since the poet was unaware of this venture. The holocaust [sic] on the cover is part of the original draft of the poem “4 Other Countries.” C.Z. This book is a facsimile of Louis Zukofsky’s handwriting limited to three hundred numbered and signed copies. Offset for Celia Zukofsky, 135 Willow Street, Brooklyn 1, New York.
Barely and widely
Jargon 31: 14 Poets, 1 Artist. Dec. 12-14, 1958, New York
[15 looseleaf cards dedicated to WCW. Handwritten poems signed by the poets with drawings by Fielding Dawson. Poets include Allen Ginsberg, Paul Blackburn, Bob Brown, Edward Dahlberg, Max Finstein, Paul Goodman, Denise Levertov, Walter Lowenfels, Edward Marshall, E.A. Navaretta, Joel Oppenheimer, Gilbert Sorrentino and Jonathan Williams].
 
“A” 1-12. 1959 Origin Press
[296 pages, 7 ¼ x 5 3/8 inches, red cloth] With an essay on poetry by the author and a final note by William Carlos Williams This first edition is limited to 200 copies printed by the Genichido Printing Company in Kyoto, Japan, December 1959. The text has been entirely handset in Garamond 10.5 pt.
It Was. 1961 Origin Press
[132 pages, 7 ¼ x 5 ¼ inches, green cloth] Of this first edition limited to 250 copies handset and printed by the Genichido Press in Kyoto, Japan, October 1961, the author has numbered and autographed fifty.
[Contents lists years “written”: “It was” 1941, “A Keystone Comedy” 1941, “Ferdinand” 1940-2, “Thanks to the Dictionary” 1932].
16 Once Published. 1962 The Wild Hawthorn Press, 2 Fettes Row, Edinburgh
[22 leaves, 8 1/8 x 5 1/8 inches, paper wrappers, stapled] a selection by his wife from 55 Poems, Anew, Some Time, Barely and widely (1925-1958) Linocuts by James Gavin. [limited to 350 copies].
 16 Once Published
I’s (pronounced eyes). 1963 trobar / new york
[40 pages, 4 ½ x 6 7/8 inches, paper wrappers, stapled] Drawing of LZ on inside backcover by Sandra Olenik. Cover from a photograph of Ryokan’s Scroll from the collection of Cid Corman. [Ryokan's scroll is printed upsidedown].
Bottom: on Shakespeare With music to “Pericles” by Celia Zukofsky. 1963 Published by the Ark Press for The Humanities Research Center, The University of Texas, Distributed by University of Texas Press, Austin 12, Texas
[2 volumes boxed, 10 x 7 inches, Vol. 1: 470 pages, blue cloth stamped in gold; Vol. 2: 232 pages, maroon cloth stamped in gold]
Drawings by Cyril Satorsky Design by Kim Taylor. [the drawings in both volumes on the end pages, title pages, etc. are essentially the same except that the image of sword, crown and book in Vol. 1 is replaced by that of a lute in Vol. 2].
[Vol. 1:] 1040 copies of this first volume of Bottom: on Shakespeare have been printed in Baskerville & Bulmer types by The Printing Division of The University of Texas
Acknowledgements for appearances of parts of the contents of this volume to: Black Mountain Review, Damascus Road, Folio, New Directions, Origin, and Poetry. The author takes this occasion to thank Longview Foundation for its award to “Ember Eves” which appeared in Poetry, December 1960, and Mark Van Doren for his gift of a facsimile volume of the original First Quartos of Shakespeare’s Poems and Pericles, inscribed 10/7/47.
[Vol. 2: ] 1040 copies of this second volume of Bottom : on Shakespeare have been printed in Baskerville & Bulmer types together with reproductions of the original music by Celia Zukofsky
Acknowledgements for previous appearance of Gower Chorus, Act I to Black Mountain Review.
A Test of Poetry. 1964 NY: Jargon/Corinth Books (Jargon 11). $1.75.
[Note on cover design by Jonathan Williams:] The design of the cover is a palimpsest giving Zukofsky's sense of the poetic tradition across all time and geography. A strophe of Sappho's Greek has been written by Christopher Middleton; the same fragment of Catullus' translation is blown up from Latin incunabula; the Catullus is seen in the hand of Louis and Celia Zukofsky, who are translating all the Carmina; Sir Phillip Sidney's version is here written by Lou Harrison; and, finally, Sappho's original stanza, Americaned by Dr. William Carlos Williams and set in Lutetia type by the Grabhorn Press.
Found Objects 1962-1926. 1964 A Blue Grass Book (Blue Grass #3)
Published by H.B. Chapin. 404 Oak Street Georgetown, Kentucky $1.25
[43 pages, 8 ½ x 5 3/8 inches, paper wrappers, stapled] Cover by Don McIntosh.
 Found Objects
After I’s. 1964 Boxwood Press/ Mother Press Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
[26 pages, 6 x 4 inches, paper wrappers, stapled]
Cover by Sally Barnes.
Inside back cover [abstract drawing of LZ]: Jonathan Williams photo by Rachbach, first reproduced in Some Time, Jargon 15.
 After I's
Finally a valentine — Opening No. 1. Jan 1965.
[one sheet folded in on each side to form a card, 9 x 4 ½ inches] Edition of 500. [Gives LZ’s address as] 77 Seventh Avenue New York 10011. Typographer Edward Wright London Artist John Furnival Woodchester, Glos, England Printer Stephen Craig—The Piccolo Press, 48 Lansdown Stroud Glos. England Poem by LZ Oct 23/63 “my last short poem for a long time” this finally a valentine will close or now closes my collected short poems to be called ALL.
 Finally a valentine
An Unearthing. 1965
77 copies set and printed by hand in Harvard Yard by the Adams House & Lowell House Printers May, 1965 [8 pages (4 pages of text of the first 37 lines of “A”-18), 4 ¾ x 3 ½ inches, paper wrappers]. [numbered and signed].
I Sent Thee Late. 1965 Harvard Yard, Cambridge, Mass
[4 pages, 2 ½ x 3 inches, paper wrappers]
This is No. of 20 copies printed by LHS [Laurence H. Scott] on an 1816 Washington hand-press in Harvard Yard, June, 1965. [numbered and signed].
[Added note:] Not Exactly Personal
C.Z. wanted to save this poem written in 1922. "I sent thee late"--wanting one supposes honor, a "rosy" (?) "wreath" asks that it "breathe" of "thee" even if it is "itself." --L.Z., vi-1965.
IYYOB. 1965 Turret Books / 5 Kensington Church Walk London W.8.
100 signed and numbered copies of this booklet have been printed. This is:
Published in 1965 by Turret Books, 5 Kensington Church Walk, London W.8.
Copyright 1965 by Louis Zukofsky
Designed and printed by Barry Hall & Tom Raworth at the Goliard Press, 10a Fairhazel Gardens, London N.W.6.
[12 pages, 4 x 6 inches, paper wrappers; 5 unnumbered pages of text of first 45 lines of “A”-15. The cover echoes the title in Hebrew].
 iyyob
“A” Libretto. 1965 New York [privately printed]
[21 pages, 11 x 8 ½ inches, mimeographed, paper wrappers] Not for sale
[excerpts from throughout “A”  composed to date].
“a”-9. 1966 future 5 / edition hansjörg mayer
[One folded sheet, 25 x 19 inches]
[Contents:] Die form [handwritten note: “mistranslates original LZ”] Chronological note [includes:] “lines 1 to 75 of “a”-9 first appeared in first half of “a”-9 limited to 55 copies not to be reprinted. LZ” Guido Cavalcanti’s “Donna mi priegha” Two halves of “A”-9 [signed and hand-corrected in red ink by LZ].
 
“A”-14. 1967 Turret Books 5 Kensington Church Walk, W8
[61 pages, 7 ½ x 5 inches, blue cloth] Printed by Villiers Publications Ltd, Ingestre Road, London NW5 275 copies of this book have been printed. 250 of these, numbered and signed by the author, are for sale. A further 25, lettered from A to Y, are for the author’s own use.
Little: a fragment for careenagers. 1967 Black Sparrow Press
[27 pages, 10 x 6 7/8 inches boards, 9 ¾ x ½ inches paper] Acknowledgement to Kulchur vol. 2 no. 5 (Spring 1962) Designed and printed December 1967 in San Francisco by Graham MacKintosh for the Black Sparrow Press. This edition is limited to two hundred and fifty copies; fifty copies numbered 1-50 bound in boards, and two hundred copies numbered 51-250 in wrappers,all signed by the author.
This is copy No.
[Text consists of first 8 chapters of the novel. Dated 1950, revised 1967].
Little a fragment for careenagers, Cover
from Thanks to the Dictionary. 1968 The Galley Upstairs Press, 3400 Main Street Buffalo New York 14214.
[Large broadside 24 x 35 inches]
[two short, lineated quotations dated 1932 reproduced in LZ’s handwriting]
Catullus Fragmenta. January 1969. Turret Books.
Trans. by Celia and Louis Zukofsky. Music by Paul Zukofsky.
[10 pages, 12 x 10 inches, paper wrappers]
This is No. 5 in the series Contemporary Poetry set to Music, published in January 1969 by Turret Books 5 Kensington Church Walk London W8. Acknowledgements to Cape Goliard Press. Designed & printed at Trigram Press London WC1.
Edition limited to One Hundred copies numbered & signed by the composer & the translators.
[One page of translations of Fragmenta with original Latin, followed by 5 pages of music with dedication: “for two singers in Syracuse”].
 Catullus Fragmenta
AN ERA. 1970 Unicorn Postcard Series I / Unicorn Press, P.O. Box 1469, Santa Barbara, Calif. [standard size postcard]
Unicorn Press offers three series of poetry post cards, eight cards in each series, at $1.75 a set. Unicorn Press / Post Office Box 1469 / Santa Barbara, California.
[The opening block of three lines of “A”-22 printed in dark blue letters on a yellow background and signed LZ.
Series I also includes: James Tate’s “Jim’s All Night Diner,” Gary Snyder’s “Go Round,” Nhat Hanh & Vo-Dinh’s “Peace,” a Papuan Drawing Post Card, Octavio Paz & Tim Reynolds’ “Scribble,” Anselm Hollo’s “Message.” On the paper binder for the series, LZ’s poem is listed as “Concrete Poem”].
 AN ERA
Initial. 1970 The Phoenix Book Shop, New York
This first edition of Initial is limited to twenty-six copies lettered A to Z, not for sale, and one hundred copies, numbed and signed by the author.
This is No. 12 in the Phoenix Book Shop Oblong Octavo Series.
Designed and printed at the Ferguson Press, Cambridge, Mass. Copy No.
[10 unnumbered pages of text of the first 100 lines of “A”-22, excluding the opening block of three lines].
From “A”-22. 1972 Pomegranate Press, Cambridge, MA
[12"x19" broadside. Illustrated by Karyl Klopp]
This poem is here printed for the first time, in an edition of 50 copies, of which Numbers 1 through 12 have been signed by the poet. This copy is No. Issued December, 1972 by The Pomegranate Press, 1713 Massachussets Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02128. Text Copyright 1972 by Louis Zukofsky. Illustration Copyright 1972 by The Pomegranante Press.
80 Flowers. 1978 The Stinehour Press
[Edition announcement:] set in monotype Bembo on Curtis Rag, clothbound white Holliston Crown Linen, 6 1/2x5 1/2 inches, stamped gold foil spine, decorated front, in 2-piece slipcase, 88 pages, signed and dated by Louis Zukofsky, in an edition of 80 copies printed for him at The Stinehour Press Lunenburg, Vermont.
[signed] Atque in Perpetuum L.Z. January 23, 1904 – May 12, 1978  C.
An Alphabet of Subjects (contents this notebook) 1979 Slug Press, Vancouver, Canada
This enlarged reproduction is taken from the original draft of Volume One, Part Three of Louis Zukofsky’s long study Bottom: On Shakespeare, published in September, 1963, in an edition of 1040 copies by the Ark Press at Austin, Texas. The manuscript, torn from a spiral-bound notebook, later destroyed, measures approximately 5 inches by 8, and is at the Humanities Research Center, The University of Texas at Austin. The broadside is published in an edition of 226 numbered copies, the first 26 of which are signed by Celia Zukofsky. Copyright © 1979 C. Z. Publications, Inc. [50.8 x 40.6 cm, color facsimile].
 
Unauthorized Publications
About the Gas Age. 1969 Ultima Thule Book, Arcadia, Percy Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, Edition limited to 400. Thanks to Mike Shayer who did the transcription.
[The title page simply says: Louis Zukofsky / at the American Embassy, London. May 21. 1969.]
 
The heights. The Poetry Center, San Francisco State University. 1978.
300 copies of this broadside printed at Five Tree Press [San Francisco].
[This broadside reproducing the poem was printed for The Poetry Center as an announcement for a memorial event:]
A film of Louis Zukofsky and discussion led by Robert Duncan & Barrett Watten
December 8 at 8:30 pm - San Francisco Art Institute (Auditorium)
800 Chestnut Street, San Francisco - Admission $3
Poem 73 of Catullus, by Louis Zukofsky. 1982 MS Postcards Series One, Number Three.
from a letter to Cid Corman (April 15, 1964) in the Zukofsky-Corman Correspondence held by the Contemporary Literature Collection, The Library, Simon Fraser University.
Designed and printed at Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada.
[Postcard, 6.5” x 5”, airmail blue card with dark blue writing. Facsimile of LZ’s handwritten copy of poem, sent to Cid Corman (April 15, 1964)]
Catullus 73, Front
Gamut: 90 Trees. 1984
Printed in Mahagonny City by B. Brecht [Peter Quartermain, Slug Press, Vancouver].
Some score copies of this, the last Valentine poem and possibly the last poem Louis Zukofsky completed before his death on May 12 1978 is privately issued in a special limited printing to The Friends of Louis Zukofsky to mark the poet's 80th birthday, Jan. 23 1984." [2 pages].
[The poem has the dateline:] Valentines' LZ Port Jefferson Feb 5-11/78