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1966ref. 162491N.p.: Times Films 1966. Three vintage studio still photographs from the US release of the 1965 French film. With provenance stamps on the verso of each one with three labels obscuring its provenance stamps. Valeria Ciangottini stars as a 19-year-old Parisian girl who after a messy love affair openly decides to become a prostitute and signs a contract with a ruthless pimp. When her first client an old man who owns a marketing agency dies in her arms and a young handsome company executive comes to investigate the death it's love at first sight. 8 x 10 inches. Two Near Fine one Very Good plus with faint creasing and a wax pencil annotation to the bottom margin. Times Films unknown books
ref. 554791New York: Genesis : Grasp Press 1971. Softcover. Fine. First edition. Oblong 24mo. Light blue stapled wrappers. Fine. With the original Genesis : Grasp mailing envelope addressed to poet Clark Coolidge. Also included is a Typed Letter Signed from Richard Meyers a.k.a. Richard Hell to Coolidge dated December 28 1970 mimicing the cover illustrations. The letter informs Coolidge that the press has accepted four of his poems we assume for inclusion in Genesis : Grasp 4 and presents this copy of Uh which is to be the subscriber supplement #5: "I thought you might like it. It's going to be lying around here in packages deteriorating for the two months or so it will take us to raise money and print the issue." The first book by the influential musician and writer Richard Hell published under the pseudonym Ernie Stomach. An artist's flip-book that utilized an alphabet specially created by Hell and published in an edition of 500 copies with 470 trade copies and with 30 numbered and signed by the author. A mystifyingly uncommon book which despite the stated limitation is the only copy we've seen. Genesis : Grasp Press unknown books
ref. 170808005New York: Dot Books 1973. First Edition. Paperback. First edition. Signed by Richard Hell on fake author bio at front: "March 15 1996 For Marlene to improve her library heh heh xxx Theresa Stern Richard." 32pp. with one page publisher list at rear. Illustrated black stiff wraps. An unread copy Fine with the faintest edge-rubbing to wraps. Musician and writer Richard Meyers AKA Hell's first book co-written with his Neon Boys and Television bandmate Tom Miller AKA Verlaine under a pseudonym. Proto-punk poetry from the New York streets rare signed. Dot Books paperback books
ref. 32701NY: Dot Books 1973. Paperback. Very good. Paperback. First Edition. 32pp. Head of spine rubbed with some light edgewear else very good in publisher's wraps. Inscribed and signed by Hell on the front free endpaper thus: For--/Soul Bro Bob/From/Theresa Stern/&/ Richard/ Meyers/ Hell/ 10/1/82. Dot Books paperback books
1998ref. 163193New York: CUZ Editions 1998. First Edition. First Edition. INSCRIBED by the author to fellow author Chris Offutt on the title page in 2000: "Very Best / to Chris / from Richard / 2/3/00." From the collection of Chris Offutt. Offutt is the author of "Kentucky Straight" and other short story collections novels nonfiction and memoirs. In 1996 he was named one of the twenty Best Young American Novelists by "Granta" magazine. He has also written for popular television shows and national publications has been visiting faculty at numerous institutions including the Iowa Writer's Workshop and has received awards from the Guggenheim Foundation the National Endowment for the Arts and others. Fine and unread in wrappers. CUZ Editions unknown books
1540ref. ST20622Germany ca. 1540. 183 x 133 mm. 7 1/8 x 5 1/4". WITH A FULL-PAGE MINIATURE DEPICTING THE HARROWING OF HELL featuring a naked Adam and Eve on the left and on the right Christ bending down to rescue John the Baptist the figures framed by a stone archway supporting a hairy creature who aims the point of a spear directly at Adam and Eve the miniature in a thin brown frame with gilt lines surrounded on two sides by the words "VERBUM DOMINI MANET IN ETERNUM" in gilt all framed in gray and red washes with double rules of black and gilt. Light soiling to frame a little flaking to the gray border and a couple of small scuffs and smudges elsewhere verso with spotting but the miniature vibrant and well preserved with only very trivial imperfections. A close copy of an early 16th century engraving by Albrecht Dürer this powerful miniature depicting the Harrowing of Hell is an intriguing artifact that ties together manuscript art print culture and the Reformation. The image depicts an apocryphal tale in the Gospel of Nicodemus in which Christ following his death but before his Resurrection descends into Limbo in order to save righteous souls who had passed away before him particularly figures from the Old Testament. Christ appears here in pale pink robes carrying a long staff with a cross and banner adorning the top. Having just brought down the gates of Hell he stoops to rescue John the Baptist here dressed in furs from its depths. A naked Adam and Eve covering their loins stand at the left of the composition--Adam now a gray-bearded old man as a reflection of sin and mortality but Eve still as she was at the Expulsion in keeping with the period's inclination to retain the classically idealized youthful feminine form. Above them is a stone arch upon which a dog-like demon perches stealthily aiming a spear directly at the oblivious couple. Another demon snaps its jaws at the feet of Christ and we can see a lick of flames below the broken gate as more captive souls clamor to escape. The painting is skillfully done showing the artist's facility with anatomy proportion and foreshortening. The bodies of Adam and Eve are particularly excellent with lovely skin tones and convincing molding. The composition is clearly based on an engraving by Dürer published in 1513 as part of a major series of 16 images known as the "Engraved Passion." In translating a black & white print into a full-color painting the artist here dispensed with a few details seen in Dürer's work such as the shadowy figure behind Adam and Eve and the stigmata on Christ's hand; however the overall composition deviates little from the original suggesting that the artist may have been working from an actual engraving. Although this leaf contains just a few words in the form of a border inscription--"Verbum Domini manet eternum" "the Word of the Lord endures forever"--they are monumentally important. This line from Isaiah 40:8 and 1 Peter 1:25 became the motto of the Lutheran Reformation appearing on art clothing coins and even armor of the 16th century. The Schmalkaldic League an influential group of allied Lutheran principalities in the Holy Roman Empire at the time also adopted it as their motto. Given the dominance of print materials during the Reformation period our hand-painted miniature--possibly produced as a frontispiece--must have been a very special commission. It is also an object that is prime for further study touching on aspects of book production religious art and the transmission of images and ideas in the early modern period. unknown books
