SEMINA TWO - SIGNED BY JOHN ALTOON & CHARLES BRITTIN
Los Angeles [and Jackson Street, San Francisco]: Wallace Berman / Stone Brothers Printing, 1957. First Edition. Second issue of Berman's iconic assemblage zine, with the limitation unspecified, but likely produced in numbers between 150-200 copies. Includes contributions by Berman, Hermann Hesse, Paul Eluard, Jack Anderson, Charles Bukowski, Cameron, Jean Cocteau, Zack Walsh, Eric Cashen, Lynn Trocchi, Idell T. Romero, J.B. May, Charles Baudelaire, Peder Carr, Judson Crews, John Reed, Lewis Carroll, David Meltzer, Michael McClure, Alexander Trocchi, Paul Valery, Rabindranath Tagore, and others. In keeping with Berman's ethos, each issue of Semina we've handled is just slighty different than the others; this is the first copy of issue no.2 we've encountered signed by any of the contributors. Semina Culture, p.52-54; Dorbin C20. Item #7085
Slim octavo (21.5cm); brown sheets with variously-sized handset plates tipped in, saddle-stapled into cardboard covers, with Charles Brittin photograph of Suzi Hicks mounted to front wrapper; Berman's "Art Is Love Is God" label mounted to lower rear endpaper, with a thin strip of paper printing "handset with miscellaneous available type & papers" mounted to inner rear wrapper; [28]pp; illus. While not called for, this copy has been signed by contributor John Altoon ("J. Altoon") in pencil, on the verso of his tipped-in folding illustration, and has additionally been signed in pencil by Charles Brittin along the upper edge of the inner rear wrapper ("Cover Photo: Chas Brittin"). Mild offsetting to mounted plates in-text (as is common with this issue), light wear to extremities, with some faint creasing to corners, three small splash marks to lower front cover, with a faint, shallow stain at upper spine-fold, encroaching slightly onto upper covers (though contents are unaffected); Very Good+. Housed in a custom slipcase and chemise.
Price: $5,500.00