White Shroud. Poems 1980 - 1985. - First Edition - Signed - Allen Ginsberg - Bauman Rare Books

White Shroud. Poems 1980 - 1985.

Allen GINSBERG | Francesco CLEMENTE

Item#: 48178 We're sorry, this item has been sold

White Shroud. Poems 1980 - 1985.

“I AM SUMMONED FROM MY BED TO THE GREAT CITY OF THE DEAD”: PRESENTATION COPY OF GINSBERG’S WHITE SHROUD, SIGNED ALSO BY ILLUSTRATOR FRANCESCO CLEMENTE

GINSBERG, Allen. White Shroud. (Madras, India: Kalakshetra Publications Press, 1984). Folio, original green cloth, original clear acetate dust jacket.

Limited first edition, number 42 of 1111 copies, inscribed by the author in the year of publication, “For Istvan Eörsi with gratitude for his great favors to my poetry, Allen Ginsberg, September 15, 1984, New York City,” and signed by illustrator Francesco Clemente.

Ginsberg wrote “White Shroud” following a dream in which he reconciled with his late mother, Naomi, whose lobotomy he authorized in 1947. The poem was published in conjunction with an exhibition of the work of surrealist artist Francesco Clemente, who provided the numerous paintings, many full-page, illustrating the text. Eörsi is a Hungarian author whose work Ginsberg translated (Morgan C905, C916). Bound in green cloth (no priority established). Morgan A47.

One corner lightly bumped, original acetate dust jacket with only two splits to edges. A near-fine copy.

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Aquatint Copperplate process by which the plate is “bitten” by exposure to acid. By changing the areas of the plate that are exposed and the length of time the plate is submerged in the acid bath, the engraver can obtain fine and varying shades of gray that closely resemble watercolor washes. Although the name contains the word “tint”, this is a black-and-white printing process; aquatint plates can often be hand colored, however.
Armorial Used to describe a binding bearing the coat of arms of the original owner, or with bookplates incorporating the owner’s arms.
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Boards Hard front and rear covers of a bound book which are covered in cloth, leather or paper. “Original boards” refers to cardboard-like front and back boards, from about 1700 to 1840, used as temporary protection for books before their purchasers would have them bound. Of particular value to collectors as evidence of a very early form of the book.
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Calf Binding material made from cowhide—versatile, durable, usually tan or brown in color, of smooth texture with no or little apparent grain. Readily marbled (“tree calf”), mottled, diced, colored, polished, tooled in gilt or blind, even scented (known as “russia”). Reverse calf, with a distinctive suede-like texture, is occasionally used.
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Doublure Pastedowns made not of paper but of leather, for decorative purposes.
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Half Title Leaf preceding the title page that bears the book’s title, originally used to identify the unbound text block. The book’s binder would often remove and discard the half title at the time of binding. Remaining half-titles are therefore of interest to collectors.
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Morocco Binding material made from goatskin—versatile, durable, with a distinctive pebbled texture and visible grain. Readily stretched (“straight-grain”), crushed (flattened smooth), tooled in gilt or blind, inlaid with leathers of different colors. So-called because much of the raw material originally came from the tanneries of North Africa (other types of goatskin bindings denoting regions of origin include levant, turkey, niger).
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Wood-Engraving Engraving made with the graver or burin on the cross-section of a piece of boxwood; the harder wood and finer tools allow for more delicate, finely detailed images, while the block can still be set in the page alongside text and printed on the same stock as the text. While much older, wood engravings enjoyed an important renaissance in the late eighteenth century through Thomas Bewick and continued in popularity thorugh the nineteenth century.
Wormhole Tiny pinhole-sized trails left by bookworms as they eat through a text block. Much more common in older books printed on handmade papers with a high rag content than in books printed on manufactured papers made from wood pulp with a higher acidic content.
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