Chicago: Burley, Cross, & Co., [1959]. Softbound (only issued softbound). First edition. Illustrated with drawings. A collection of short stories (in some cases adapted from fairy tales or literary classics) written entirely in beatnik slang. An amazing tour de force of hip lingo, one of the two most important books..... More
Studio City, CA: Warner Brothers, 1959. A set of 12 folding Christmas-themed notecards printing illustrations of beatniks with their dialog printed above and a humorous sentiment inside. Included is a cover card showing a photograph of Kookie poised with comb-in-hand doing his famous "combing my hair" pose. Edd Brynes was..... More
Studio City, CA: Warner Brothers, 1959. A set of 12 folding notecards printing illustrations of beatniks with their dialog printed above and a humorous sentiment inside. Included is a cover card showing a photograph of Kookie poised with comb-in-hand doing his famous "combing my hair" pose. Edd Brynes was the..... More
No place: Warner Brothers, ca. 1960. 45rpm record in picture sleeve with a photo of Edd "Kookie" Byrnes. Edd Brynes was the heartthrob hipster in the cast of the popular '60s TV show "77 Sunset Strip." Mint record in very good plus sleeve with some rubbing to one corner and..... More
NY: Caffe Reggio, ca. 1960. A single octavo sheet of cardstock folded to make four pages. The cover reproduces a photo of their famous expresso machine. Vintage menu from the Caffe Reggio located on McDougal Street in the heart of Greenwich Village where they have been using their elaborate expresso..... More
NY: Mills Music, [ca. 1942]. 4to. Pamphlet. First edition. Prints music and lyrics for "Minnie the Moocher" and 17 other of Calloway's most famous songs. The inside back cover prints, almost in its entirety, "Cab Calloway's Jive Dictionary" (a.k.a. The New Cab Calloway's Cat-ologue: A Hepster's Dictionary), the most famous..... More
No place: Privately published by the author, 1939. Small pamphlet (measuring ca. 4.25" x 2.75"). Second edition of this legendary title, the "revised 1939 edition," published a year after the first (the book went through six printings until 1944). Regarded as the first dictionary by an African-American, and the first..... More
NY: Off Broadway, 1961. Pamphlet. First edition. The "Special Coffee House Edition" of this guide to NYC nightlife. Lists all the hip coffee houses and clubs in Greenwich Village, with some pages devoted to Off Broadway theater. Illustrated with photographs including one of the Cafe Wha? and another that shows..... More
n.p.: Romeo Records, 1957. 45rpm record in photo-illustrated sleeve showing Dean playing a conga drum. Home recording of James Dean in a late-night jam session with L.A. musician, Bob Romeo who plays flute. The actor can be heard talking and laughing with his friends in the background between songs. James..... More
n.p.: Bedstand, [1961]. First edition of this Paperback Original. "Kooks, Beatniks, and Babes Meet in an Orgy of Summer Lust." Fine. Only three copies on OCLC. More
[Dallas: Documentary Arts, 1989]. Pamphlet. Second edition of this title originally published in 1953. A collection of "Jive Talk" terms including how they can be utilized in sentences. Durst was one of the first Black DJ's in Texas and he hosted a popular program on KVET specializing in blues, jazz..... More
NY: Le Cafe Figaro, ca. 1965. A single wide quarto sheet folded twice to make a triptych. The front cover features an illustration of their expresso machine, the back cover an illustration of hanging stained glass lamps. Cafe Figaro was a famous hangout for Bob Dylan, Lenny Bruce, Jack Kerouac..... More
NY: Le Cafe Figaro, ca. 1965. A box of matches featuring an illustration of a cat leaning against the Cafe Figaro's expresso machine. "World Famous International Coffee House." Cafe Figaro was a popular hangout for Bob Dylan, Lenny Bruce, Jack Kerouac, and other Village artists and bohemians. Fine with all..... More
NY: The Bitter End/The Tin Angel, ca. 1965. The two night spots were doing some cross promotion---one side of the card is for The Bitter End and at the bottom it reads: "Before the show, enjoy dinner at (see other side)." The other side of the card is for The..... More
NY: The Bitter End, ca. 1964. A single quarto sheet folded to make four pages. The covers print a poem by Paul Eluard and Benjamin Peret. The Bitter End was one of the primary music clubs and entertainment venues in Greenwich Village during the '60s. During it's heyday it featured..... More
NY: The Bitter End, ca. 1964. A single large quarto sheet folded to make four pages. The covers print a poem by Paul Eluard and Benjamin Peret along with an illustration of a female cabaret performer. This is the scarcer version of the two Bitter End menus that we are..... More
NY: Gerde's Folk City, ca. 1960. A small folding card that the club placed on the tables stating: "Welcome to Gerde's Folk City New York's Center of Folk Music Open Every Night" and "Minimum $2.50 Per Person." After he arrived in Greenwich Village, Bob Dylan's very first professional gigs took..... More
NY: The Village Voice, 1961. Tabloid. After kicking around the Village for a few months after he arrived in NYC in 1960, Dylan finally landed a paying gig doing a two-week stint (that began on April 11th) as the opening act for John Lee Hooker at Gerde's Folk City, the..... More
n.p.: Compass Line, [1967]. First edition of this Paperback Original. "They lived in a whirlwind of free and easy love and sin." Fine. Scarce, especially without the usual remainder notch. More
NY: Gaslight Cafe, ca. 1962. A single quarto sheet of thick pink stock folded twice. The cover features a place to put a stamp and mailing address so presumably the cafe could mail this to potential customers or tourists could mail this to friends at home. The Gaslight Cafe was..... More
[SF: X-Ray Book & Novelty Co., 2010]. Oblong 32mo. Pamphlet. First edition. Designed and printed by Johnny Brewton under the pseudonym "Skillet Marimba." Prints Gonzales' Christmas story originally recorded in 1954, along with a glossary of slang terms from Bab's be-bop dictionary. Limited to 100 copies. This out-of-series copy labeled..... More
NY: Viking, [1972]. Hardbound in dust jacket. First edition. Illustrated with photographs. Fine. More
Boston: Houghton Mifflin, [1966]. Hardbound in dust jacket. First edition. Illustrated with photographs. Fine in price-clipped dust jacket. More
NY: Cafe Wha?, ca. 1964. Business card from one of the most legendary music and entertainment venues in Greenwich Village. Founded in 1959 by Manny Roth (uncle of singer David Lee Roth), the Cafe Wha? was the venue for some of Dylan's very earliest performances after he arrived in NYC..... More
NY: Cafe Wha?, ca. 1964. Vintage matchbook from one of the most legendary music and entertainment venues in Greenwich Village. Founded in 1959 by Manny Roth (uncle of singer David Lee Roth), the Cafe Wha? was the venue for some of Dylan's very earliest performances after he arrived in NYC..... More
