Selected Shorter Poems 1950 – 1970
Stuttgart, London, Reykjavik: Edition Hansjörg Mayer, 1974. First edition. Large 8vo hardcover in black cloth with silver foil stamping to spine inside a laminated dust jacket. Inside pages printed in black and white with eight plates in color. To which is added a matching clothbound slipcase and a signed print of the artist from the later 1978 edition. 410 pp. Text mostly in English and some German.
One of Williams more comprehensive (and heavier) tomes surveying his work from 1950 – 1970. A beautifully typeset and chronological gathering of poetry, concrete poetry, sound poetry, collages, performances, illustrations, and art where Williams playfully explores language, concepts, and ideas through writing. A few of the pieces, including Ego Hego Shego and Soldier, are represented in this volume which subsequently also get published in 1974 as two chapters of ‘A Valentine for Nöel: Four Variations on a Theme.’ Complete with a notes and observations section providing historical context as well as an index. The signed portrait features a silhouette of Williams’ head, with stenciled letters in several colors. The handsome cover photograph of Williams smoking and reading in the bathtub is by Vera Spoerri. A great book showcasing the range of Williams’ talents as they relate to concrete poetry, Fluxus, and life itself.
Book and print are fine with a very good dust jacket seeing as some of the lamination beginning to loosen from the top and bottom edges of the spine. Item #32
Out of stock