New into the collection: On the Old Theme of Literature & Censorship with A List of Olympia Press Titles and Others. Paris Olympia Press 1958

Another great rarity and a very welcome addition to my collection, this was very kindly gifted to me earlier this year and arrived unexpectedly on my Birthday, the donor was John Mc Leish of Glasgow, who informed me that this item was formerly in the collection of Gershon Legman. I have had copy of this title before and the one referenced in the Bibliography as in the collection of Angus Carrol actually originated with me. Pat Kearneys speculation that the two items were stapled together at a later date is an error , as evidenced by this copy which has the same side stapled condition. I am tempted to separate the two pamphlets as the catalogue is of significant interest as it lists Beckett’s “Watt” at number 58 in the Traveller’s Companion Series, which never happened, I attempted to communicate this to a fellow collector who is convinced he has seen a copy of this TC Watt.but i have as yet had no response.

For now you will just have to settle for the limited images posted here as I do not want yet to seperate the two, and risk damaging either. Although it would be interesting to copy the catalogue in full, this will have to wait until I pluck up courage to carry out the operation, currently with only one reliable hand such a delicate task is at the moment beyond me.

On the Old Theme of Literature & Censorship with A List of Olympia Press Titles and Others. Paris Olympia Press 1958






The bibliographical information below is provided courtesy of Patrick Kearney, The Paris Olympia Press, Liverpool University Press 2007.

MY NOTE: The catalogue is dated MXMLV11 (1957) on the cover, it references Imp Mazarine as the printer but has no print details.

14.7.1 1958. On the Old Theme of Literature & Censorship. – 17.4 x 8.8 cm. Printed on white wove paper. A dated pamphlet of 32 pages, incl. plain typographical wrappers. A curious publication comprising for the most part extracts from the minutes of the Select Committee on the Obscene Publications Bill, which had been published by the British Government in1957. Printed by Impr. Mazarine, Paris.
Notes: It is doubtful that Girodias would issue a pamphlet of this sort unaccompanied by a sale catalogue or price list for his publications. A copy in Angus Carrollřs collection is stapled together with the item following (14.8.1). Whether the two were issued together as a single unit is uncertain. Despite being the same size and having the same date and printer, each is printed on a different coloured paper and they are connected awkwardly with two staples driven through the side. The possibility exists, however, that they were issued together but became separated, and were badly reunited by a later collector.

14.8.1 1958. A List of Olympia Press Titles and Others. 17.4 x 8.8 cm. Printed on pale blue wove paper. 24 pp. including plain typographical wrappers. Extracts from, or write-ups of, a number of Travellerřs Companion and Ophelia Press titles. There is a 2-page price list and order form, advertisements for German editions of Tropic of Cancer, Tropic of Capricorn and Querelle de Brest. There are also advertisements for L‘Erotisme au cinema and Technique de l‘erotisme by the prolific Giuseppe Maria Lo Duca. These illustrated works were actually published by Jean-Jacques Pauvert, but apparently distributed in some way by the Olympia Press. Printed by Impr. Mazarine, Paris.
Notes: Possibly issued to accompany a 32-page pamphlet called On the Old Theme of Literature & Censorship, reprinting extracts from the minutes of the Select Committee on the Obscene Publications Bill, which had been published by the British Government in 1957. See item 14.7.1, above.


Also see

New into the Collection: Prospectus for ‘Watt’ a novel in English by Samuel Beckett. Collection Merlin 1953.

New into the Collection: THE GINGER MAN J. P. Donleavy, 1958 The Paris Olympia Press in dust-jacket with original flaps.

New Into The Collection: AN ALMANAC FOR AMORISTS James Broughton, 1955, Unique copy.

 

This small volume has been listed on book sites for some considerable time, and was of no particular interest to me until I relised that from the description and photograph of the cover that this was likely to be the edition with colour illustrations, this from the knowledge that, the numbered edition has blue wraps and the unnumbered edition has pink wraps, this copy has a cream wrapper and was therefore likely to be the Alphabetical limitation, and so it turned out to be, but with a very sweet reward attached. Iinclude the booksellers listing, to assist with the story, and offer my profound thanks to Keogh Books, for this unique addition to my collection.

An Almanac for Amorists

by Broughton, James

Condition: , covers slightly sunned and with some loss at lower fore-edge of front cover, internally clean, book in good condition


, 38 pages, SIGNED and dedicated to Daphne Hunter from the author, and with photo of author at the front, Daphne Hunter starred in the 1953 film ‘The Pleasure Garden (directed by James Broughton) alongside the actor and illustrator Kermit Sheets, who illustrated this book.

Rare opportunity to se the delicately coloured illustrations , and so please see below. Apart from the additional material hand written by the author, for the collector, the format is slightly larger than the other editions and the illustrations are hand coloured, This copy is a unique alphabetical limitation 26 on Vélin d’Arches, | numbered A to Z; = 26¾ – Z³ ,see image for detail. The bibliographical information displayed below the images is courtesy of Patrick Kearney The Paris Olympia Press, Liverpool University Press 2007.


AN ALMANAC FOR AMORISTS James Broughton, 1955













2.6.1 AN ALMANAC FOR AMORISTS James Broughton, 1955

[Within a drawing of a pedestal, with three steps leading to summit, and surmounted by two pillars supporting a narrow, flat roof. In front of left pillar, the figure of a naked man, with a naked woman in front of right pillar. In one hand the woman carries a sign bearing the author‘s name; both figures support a banner with the title on it. The name of the Paris publisher, and place and date of publication are printed on the steps.] [In fancy lettering: ] JAMES BROUGHTON
| AN | ALMANAC | FOR | AMORISTS | [design of bird in flight ] | COLLECTION | MERLIN | PARIS 1955 |

Collation: 42 pp. 18.2 x 13.8 cm. Perfect bound, without signatures, edges untrimmed.
Contents: p. [i-iv] blank. p. [v] AN ALMANAC FOR AMORISTS, reverse blank. p. [1] title, as above. p. [2] Copyright 1955 | by James Broughton. | All rights reserved |in all countries. | Published by | Collection Merlin | 42, rue de Seine | Paris (6e) | in collaboration with | The Olympia Press. | Designed and decorated | by Kermit Sheets. p. [3], poetic dedications to Esto Broughton, Madeline Gleason and Robert Duncan. p. [4] A grateful acknowledgment | is made to Marguerite Caertani | in whose review, Botteghe Oscure, | many of these poems first | appeared under this same title. | Some of the other poems | were originally published | in Furioso, Folder, and Wake.. p. [5] contents, reverse blank. p. [7] full-page drawing illustrating Spring, reverse blank. pp. 9-37, text with full-page drawings illustrating the remaining seasons on pp. [15, 23, 31]. p. [38] list of Broughton’s other volumes of verse, and his films. p. [39] This edition of | An Almanac for Amorists | consists of 676 copies : | 26 on Vélin d’Arches, | numbered A to Z; | 150 on Pur chiffon, | numbered 1 to 150;| 500 on Offset supérieur, | unnumbered. |[all in bold:] IMPRIMERIE DES POÈTES | 20, Rue de la Harpe, Paris-5e | 1955. pp. [40-42] blank.

Binding: White wrappers, printed in black, overlapping on fore-edge and trimmed flush top and bottom. On front cover, a drawing of a naked man and woman, viewed from behind, holding a banner on which is written in fancy lettering AN | ALMANAC | FOR | AMORISTS. At foot of drawing is a narrow banderole bearing the author’s name. Printed down spine: James Broughton [-] AN ALMANAC FOR AMORISTS [-] Merlin. The back cover is blank.

Notes: (1) There are three Olympia Press issues of this printing: (a) The first issue, 26 copies on Velin d‟Arches lettered A to Z; (b) the second issue, 150 copies on Pur chiffon numbered 1 to 150; and (c) the third issue, 500 trade copies, unnumbered, as indicated at the end of the book. (2) There are known copies of the third issue (on Offset supérieur) which have added on the title page at the bottom either HALCYON PRESS LONDON or GROVE PRESS NEW YORK. It is unknown if these copies are part of the original 500 printed by the Olympia Press or if more were printed to accommodate these additional sub-issues. Both the Halcyon Press andeditions have a pink dustjacket,identical in design to the wrappers except that the name „Merlin‟ on the spine is replaced with the name „Halcyon‟ or „Grove‟ The inside flap of the front wrapper gives some critical comment on Broughton‟s work, the address of the English publisher or distributor (Halcyon Press, 15 New Row, London, W.C.2) or the American publisher or distributor (Grove Press, 795 Broadway, New York City 3), and the price of the volume, 4s 6d or $1, repsectively. The inside flap of the back wrapper, and the back wrapper itself, are both blank. (3) The printing of this work would seem to have been done by Bronislaw Kaminski, aka Bruno Durocher, who was also responsible for some reprints for the Olympia Press, and for The Castle of the End of Love, the unofficial first Ophelia Press title.His Éditions Caractères had a number of subsidiary imprints, including L‟Imprimerie des Poètes.


See Also

Books Wanted Ephemera: The Teasers.

Books Wanted: Springtime in Paris, Theobald Lovelace, Ophelia Press Paris

Books Wanted:- MELTING [Dissolving] Travellers Companion Series No 59

Books Wanted: All Ephemera related to The Paris Olympia Press