Oh Calcutta!
New York: Grove Press, 1969. Original souvenir program for the stage production at the Eden Theatre in 1969. Numerous photographs of the cast. Very good, covers a bit creased. More
New York: Grove Press, 1969. Original souvenir program for the stage production at the Eden Theatre in 1969. Numerous photographs of the cast. Very good, covers a bit creased. More
[London]: Sunday Promotions (1972). A very good copy of this promotional booklet for the Rolling Stones' 1972 "Exile on Main Street" Tour. Oblong quarto, eight high-quality black-and-white photos, black and white card stapled covers. Light edge wear, but a very nice copy. More
New York: Drug Advisory Committee (November 1, 1934). A quite rare broadside issued by the notorious Drug Advisory Committee, which became entangled with the issue of Mexican immigration in the 1930's: "Marihuana, perhaps now the most insidious of our narcotics, is a direct by-product of unrestricted Mexican immigration. Easily grown, it has been asserted that it has recently been planted between rows in a California penitentiary garden. Mexican peddlers have been caught distributing sample marihuana cigarets to school children. Bills for our quota against Mexico have been blocked mysteriously in every Congress since the 1924 Quota Act. Our nation has more than enough laborers..." (New York Times, Sept 15, 1935, section IV, p 9.) The first commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, Harry J. Anslinger, led a vigorous anti-pot campaign in the 1930s, which led to the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937, effectively criminalizing the use of marijuana. This is an original poster, not a reprint and is in very good condition with light wear. (14" x 11"). Such ephemera is quite rare- we find no record of any sales of this particular poster. More
London: George Allen (1908). First edition of these memoirs. Very good in blue/green cloth, photographic frontispiece. More
London: George Allen (1913). A very good in lightly worn navy boards.The first edition appeared in 1898. More
London: George Allen (1921). The uncommon "complete edition". Very good in green buckram boards. More
Fag Rag Books, Boston, 1989. Gay history with an introduction by Charles Shively. Near fine in wrappers. More
San Francisco: Perineum (1983). A near fien copy in wrappers, inscribed by Steward to his friend Doug Martin. More
San Francisco: Perineum (1984). A near fine copy in wrappers, inscribed by the author on endpaper. More
San Francisco: Perineum (1984). A very good copy in wrappers, inscribed by the author on endpaper. In addition, there is a correction in Steward's hand. More
San Francisco: Perineum (1984). A near fine copy, inscribed by the author to his longtime friend Doug Martin. More
Berlin: Albino (1988). First German edition of Steward's classic "Stud". Very good in wrappers. More
P erov: Knihtiskárna František Bartoš (1934). Near fine in red covers, unsewn wrappers. Illustrated by Bohumil in a surrealistic style. An early published song referring to the impending war in Europe. More
London (1973). An original press photograph of Beaton at Noel Coward's funeral (May 25, 1973). Some wear to edges, press notice on verso. More
London : Vicky Richardson, 2003. Title from label on outside of box. Limited edition of 100 boxes. Consists of a hinged beech wooden box, the interior divided into eight, with objects by type in the partitions. All relate to materials or objects found at or used on the renovation of a house at Dungeness by Simon Conder Associates. Very good condition. More
An original pen and ink drawing of a German soldier, signed and dated 1918. The sketch was done on a "carte postale militaire" dated 3 August 1914, so perhaps the (unknown) artist was a French soldier mocking German "Kultur" in the form of an effeminate infantryman. Very good, light wear to edges. More
Paris: La Pionnière (2000). Portraits de Proust on his deathbed by Man Ray, A. Dunoyer de Segonzac, P.-C. Helleu and others, along with text by Prieur. One of 25 special copies of Arches, signed by the author and slipcased. Near fine. More
München: Musarion-Verl (1920). 51pp. The gay Symbolist's collection of poems written in the style of eighteenth-century pastorals and set to music by the author. Originally published in Russian in 1910 under the title Kuranty Lyubvi [Chimes of Love]. Cover illustration by Kuzmin's lover Konstantin Somov. Very good, slight loss to spine and light wear to covers. More
Paris: Librairie des publications populaires [1908]. 800pp. Motivated by several scandals in the early years of the twentieth century (including Baron Jacques Fersen's prosecution), the author produced this provocative collection for popular consumption. Published in 50 issues (16 pp each) and adorned with engravings, the series dramatized various scenarios of evil forces manipulating. More
Paris: Imp. de Vaugirard (1920). 32pp. Carlos de Beistegui e Yturbe (1895-1970) was an eccentric French-born Mexican multi-millionaire art collector and interior decorator who was one of the most flamboyant characters of mid-20th-century European life. His ball at the Palazzo Labia in Venice in 1951 is still described as "the party of the century". This is a record of his trip to China with his brother in the previous year. Very good in buff wrappers, light sunning to covers. More
Paris: Galeries Durand-Ruel (1910). 8pp. The catalog for Brooks' first exhibition, which included 13 works and established her reputation as an artist in Paris. The catalog contains and effusive essay by Roger Marx, one of the foremost critics of his day and a proponent of the avant-garde. Quite rare. More
Paris: Mercure de France (1912). One of Cocteau's earliest publications, written when he was only 23. He had already befriended Marcel Proust, Andre Gide and many in the artistic and fashion worlds when he met the American painter Romaine Brooks, who painted his portrait in 1912. This collection of poems bears a warm dedication from Cocteau to Brooks referencing the portrait. Very good in original wrappers, small chips at corners and edges, small stain on cover. More
Barcelona: Scientia (1934). 79pp. One of a series of books about deviant sexuality published during this period. Very good in wrappers, light edgewear, browning to spine. Uncommon. More
London: Ernest Benn (1924). The Rat Trap is a four-act drama by Noël Coward, his 'first really serious attempt at psychological conflict', written when he was only 18. Inscribed by Coward on the front endpaper to Audrey Pleydell-Bouverie, one of the Bright Young Things and doyenne of transatlantic high society (and sister to the Surreast collector Edward James). Very good in blue linen boards, light edge wear, browning to spine label, corner of rear board bumped. More
Frankfurt (1590-1594). 9 1/4" x 13 5/8" 1594. This engraving is from Theodor De Bry's important historical work, Grands Voyages. This from the German edition with this particular engraving being published in Frankfurt between 1590 and 1594 for de Bry by J. Feyrabend. Grands Voyages is considered one of the most remarkable collections of voyages published in the Age of Discovery. Believed to be the first representation of homosexuality ever printed, the engraving depicts a gory scene of eight Spanish conquistadores watching their dogs kill a group of Indians. Balboa set his dogs on forty to fifty people of Quarequa described as being “dressed as women” (Martyr 1912 [1516]:285), or having committed the nefarious sin (pecado nefando). See https://www.colorado.edu/genders/2016/05/19/los-huecos-negros-cannibalism-sodomy-and-failure-modernity-tierra-firme. The text includes the following statement: "Greatly astonished he [Balboa] ...understood that the kinglet and all of his courtiers were smitten by that abominable crime against nature so stunned him ...that he went up to forty of the savages, bade them all be seized and bringing in the dogs he ordered the savages be torn to pieces." Very good, light wear and yellowing. Rare. More