Search Results: Counter Culture from Downtown Brown Books, ABAA

San Francisco: Straight Arrow Books, 1974. First Edition. Hardcover. Very good/Very good. A collection of drawings made by Steadman, a British artist, during his peak period, where he commented on American scenes and cultures. These are both published and previously unpublished works from his Rolling Stone assignments with Hunter S. Thompson, as well as works commissioned on Disneyland, the Kentucky Derby, Dallas, Miami, etc. Some of the drawings are thematic, classified under the chapter titles Money, Vietnam, and Police. With an introduction, in the form of an interview with the editor, by Hunter S. Thompson, with whom Steadman collaborated on the books Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72. Unpaginated, but about 176 pages. 9-1/8 by 12-1/4 inches. First edition (first printing). A very good copy in a very good dust jacket. Signed "HST" and "Hunter" by Thompson, and dated 10/12/79 on the introduction. This copy with a previous owner's bookplate and… Read More

San Francisco: Zephyrus Image / Hermes Free Press, 1972. First Edition. Ephemera. Near Fine. 9 by 14 inches. 8 pages of weirdness. Printed in reverse order, right to left and back to front. According to Dorn's bibliographer, "Ed Dorn and Jeremy H. Prynne contributed approximately seventy-five percent of the content." Other contributors, credited only in a list of authors, are Tom Raworth, Michael McClure, and Luis Garcia, among others. "While it looks like a newspaper ... Bean News is full of in-jokes that are hard to decipher"-- Alastair Johnston, Zephyrus Image: A Bibliography, p. 177. Scarce. First edition (first printing). A near fine copy printed on bible paper (there is also an issue on newsprint).

[Avalanche Records], 1971. A rare example of original album cover art by one of the legends of the medium. John Van Hamersveld (b. Baltimore, 1941) designed the iconic poster for the surf film Endless Summer while still in art school. As a professional graphic designer he did the album covers for The Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour, the Rolling Stones' Exile on Main St, plus LPs by Big Brother and the Holding Company, Jefferson Airplane, Bob Dylan, Blondie, and even Charles Bukowski (Reads His Poetry, 1980). This is an original painting on acetate for the cover of Beans self-titled debut (and only) album for Avalanche Records, a nascent label under United Artists Records. The Day-Glo design is based on Van Hamersveld's character Johnny Face, which appeared on popular headshop posters beginning in 1970. As far as your cataloger can tell, very little of Van Hamersveld's original album cover art is in private hands, making this a rare opportunity to acquire an original piece-one featuring his most… Read More

San Francisco: Last Gasp, 1991. First Edition. Trade paperback. Near fine. A classic guide for growing marijuana in your house that was very popular in the 1990s. Rosenthal has written many grow-your-own marijuana guides over three decades. 120 pages. First edition (first printing, with a numberline ending in 1). A near fine copy with some scuffing to the back cover.

New York: Rolling Stone Press / Summit Books, 1979. First Edition. Hardcover. Very good/Very good. An extensive collection of HST's gonzo journalism, collected from Rolling Stone magazine, the National Observer, the New York Times Magazine, and other publications. 602 pages. First edition (first printing, with a numberline ending in 1). A very good copy in a very good dust jacket. Some foxing to the edges of the page block; minor shelfwear to the jacket edges. This copy has a full-page inscription by Thompson, "To Tony-Happy Birthday & thanx for the whiskey...see you in Idaho Springs. Be careful, yr. friend H. S. Thompson. San Francisco, July 19, 84." The book is housed in an attractive black cloth clamshell box with a morocco spine label made by Dragonfly Bindery.

Stanford, CA: C. P. Times Press, 1984. First Edition. Pamphlet. Near fine. A three-poem chapbook by one of the founders of the Black Panthers. The title poem is about China. [12] pages. 4-1/2 by 6 inches. A near fine copy in wrappers (pamphlet). Staples a bit rusted.

(Stanford): (C. P. Times Press), 1984. First Edition. Pamphlet. Near fine. A single-poem chapbook by one of the founders of the Black Panthers. Here he is critical of Idi Amin. [12] pages. 4-1/2 by 6 inches. First edition (first printing). A near fine copy in wrappers (pamphlet). Staples a touch rusted, very minor spotting to covers.

Stanford: C. P. Times Press, 1984. First Edition. Pamphlet. Very good. A two-poem chapbook by one of the founders of the Black Panthers. Both poems are critical of the Soviet Union. [7] pages. 4-1/2 by 6 inches. First edition (first printing). A very good copy in wrappers (pamphlet). Staples beginning to rust. A bit of wear to the corners.

Aurora, MO: POSTER Project, 1992. First Edition. Ephemera. Fine. The first three issues of Wilson's "journal about events posters & the arts of happenings." The newspapers are printed on white heavy newsprint and folded like tabloid magazines. The issues have drawings by Robert Crumb. The second issue is dedicated to Rick Griffin, the poster artist who had recently died. Roughly 17 by 23 inches. Volume I, numbers 1, 2, and 3. Fine copies.

New York: University Books, 1964. First Edition. Hardcover. New. One of the more recognizable books on psychedelic drugs from the 1960s, a guide to navigating death of the ego by three of the most well-known early proponents of the use of LSD. The first printing was 10,000 copies and 60,000 hardcovers were eventually sold (Timothy Leary: A Biography by Robert Greenfield, p. 219) "The authors were engaged in a program of experiments with LSD and other psychedelic drugs at Harvard University until sensational national publicity unfairly concentrating on student interest in the drugs, led to the suspension of the experiments. Since then, the authors have continued their work without academic auspices"-from the front cover. "The Psychedelic Experience was taken so seriously by LSD users that when people failed to have the experience described within its covers, they blamed themselves. Somehow they had failed the acid trip."-Greenfield, p. 219. 159 pages. 8-1/4 by 9-1/2 inches. First edition (first… Read More

San Francisco: San Francisco Mime Troupe, 2009. First Edition. Ephemera. Fine. A poster designed by Spain Rodriguez for a play by Gene Sullivan, a political satire set in the fictitious town of Bluebird, Kansas. Manuel "Spain" Rodriguez was one of the defining underground cartoonists, beginning in the 1960s. He worked on Zap, Weirdo, Young Lust, American Splendor, and many other publications. He died in 2012, aged 72. 18 by 10 inches, printed offset. Fine. Signed "Spain '09" in the lower margin.

[Los Angeles]: [Wallace Berman], 1957. First Edition. Pamphlet. Fine. The uncommon second issue of Wallace Berman's influential underground periodical. "Berman's hand-printed, personally distributed literary journal, Semina, stands as an iconic document of its time... An eccentric and lyrical primer of the early counterculture, assembled against the grain of conformist Eisenhower-era America, it circumscribes a world of self-exploration, cultural alienation, esthetic indulgence, communal comforts, and spiritual transcendence"-Michael Duncan, Semina Culture, p. 9. Most of the pieces in this issue are printed letterpress, "handset with miscellaneous available type & papers." The illustrations are mostly halftones, probably printed using offset lithography. The contributors include Charles Bukowski ("Mine"), Herman Hesse, Paul Eluard, Jean Cocteau, Michael (as Mike) McClure, Zack Walsh, J.B. May, Charles Baudelaire, Lynn Trocchi, and Pantale Xantos (a pseudonym of Berman). The images include two… Read More

(N.-pl.): Harlan Quist, 1970. First Edition. Hardcover. Near fine/Near fine. Nicole Claveloux. A wonderful example of psychedelic art by Nicole Claveloux to accompany a story by Monreal about Alala, a young woman who can travel into her television set and change the programs. Illustrated in full color. Roughly 10-3/4 inches square. Claveloux is an artist and cartoonist. First US edition (first printing). A near fine copy in a near fine dust jacket. The book was published simultaneously in the US and the UK. The UK price is clipped from the front flap, as issued, leaving the original $4.75 American price.

San Francisco: Last Gasp, 2005. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. The substantial catalog of Williams' show at the Ben Maltz Gallery at Otis College of Art + Design. This is one of 300 copies, signed and numbered by Williams on a label affixed to the verso (back) of the front free endpaper. 240 pages. 10-1/4 by 12-1/4 inches. First edition (first printing). A fine copy in a fine dust jacket and a fine slipcase. Last Gasp price label laid in. This is copy 158.

San Francisco: X-Ray Book Company, 1998. First edition. Paperback. The seventh installment of this literary journal combining found objects, broadsides, and tipped-in materials. Some contributors made 226 copies of their work (the entire print run); others sent things in to the editor who printed them (letterpress for broadsides). The contents were velobound with acetate wrappers. The covers are three-piece assemblies, each featuring a letter. The contributors to this issue include Charles Bukowski, Billy Childish, Hubert Selby Jr., Bern Porter, and many others. The Bukowski contribution is a printed broadside poem titled "The Word." There is also a laid in original color photograph by Michael Montfort (4-7/8 by 3-1/2 inches) of Bukowski standing in his doorway. This issue includes two loose pieces, a photocopied "thanks for parking so close" flier and a sheet with instructions beginning, "Remove shape card...." The final bound leaf is in Braille. 7 by 8-1/2 inches. A fine example, with a letter… Read More

San Francisco: X-Ray Book Company, 1998. First edition. Paperback. The seventh installment of this literary journal combining found objects, broadsides, and tipped-in materials. Some contributors made 226 copies of their work (the entire print run); others sent things in to the editor who printed them (letterpress for broadsides). The contents were velobound with acetate wrappers. The covers are three-piece assemblies, each featuring a letter. The contributors to this issue include Charles Bukowski, Billy Childish, Hubert Selby Jr., Bern Porter, and many others. The Bukowski contribution is a printed broadside poem titled "The Word." There is also a laid in original color photograph by Michael Montfort (4-7/8 by 3-1/2 inches) of Bukowski standing in his doorway. This issue includes two loose pieces, a photocopied "thanks for parking so close" flier and a sheet with instructions beginning, "Remove shape card...." The final bound leaf is printed in Braille. 7 by 8-1/2 inches. A fine example, with… Read More