BROADSIDE: A PUN FOR AL GELPI - SIGNED
[Cambridge, MA]: The Lowell House Printers, 1966. First Edition. Item #7226
One of 100 numbered copies signed by the author, this being copy no.4. Broadside, with text and two-color block print hand-press printed in black, green, and blue on heavy cream stock, measuring 15.25cm x 48.25cm (6" x 19"). Some trivial surface wear along the lower and upper left edge, else very Near Fine.
An attractive copy of this broadside poem – a parable involving Jesus Christ and an apricot tree. Kerouac wrote the poem for Jesuit theologian Albert Gelpi, who in 1964 was a resident tutor at Lowell House at Harvard, where Kerouac was invited for a few readings, thanks to a grant from the Ford Foundation. Kerouac accepted, and his visit in March, 1964 was greatly anticipated. The event turned slightly disastrous early on: Kerouac became very drunk very quickly, railing against the threat of communism by one account, and another involving him exclaiming "Nice legs," and "Nice tits" upon seeing the women seated on the front row. Even in his state, having arrived with no notes or papers to read, he demanded the work of Emily Dickinson from his handler, and went on to read her poems with great feeling. The broadside remains tangible evidence of a memorable night, created by the Lowell House Printers not quite two years after the reading. Uncommon in commerce, with OCLC showing just 8 holdings. Charters A22.
Price: $4,500.00