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A preliminary bibliography of the publications of Frontier Press, 1965-1972 |
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Michael Boughn |
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1. Dorn, Edward. Rites of Passage.
a. First edition, 1965.
THE RITES OF PASSAGE | a brief history | EDWARD DORN
Perfect binding; pp. [i-vi] 1-155 [156]. 15 x 21.5 cm.
Contents: “James Stops By,” “The Camp,” “A Trip,” “The Early Days,” “The Unemployment Office,” “The Convert,” “The difference,” “New Year’s Eve,” “Quiet Days,” “By The River,” “The Deer,” “The End of the Night,” “Prologue to the Tunnel,” “The Tunnel,” “Fall”.
On copyright page: “Cover by Raymond Obermayr”.
Published [date] in an edition of [#] at $2.00.
Personal copy;
b. Second edition [retitled], 1971.
By the Sound | [line drawing of a house by the sea] | Edward Dorn | Frontier Press | Mount Vernon, | Washington | 1971
[1-13]4; pp. [i-vii] 1-199 [200]. 13.8 x 21 cm. Paper wrappers.
On copyright page: “Drawings by Flavia Zortea | Design by Ron Caplan”.
Published [date] in an edition of [#] at
Ron Caplan writes: “By the Sound (which begins your list) is really the end of it. The cover-an odd green like a slash of light downward-that's not mine. I think my cover was grey strathmore, lovely type for the title words and one of Flavia Zortea's drawings on the cover. Dorn didn't like it. Harvey explained it to me over the phone. I was already in Cape Breton-explained that Dorn wanted a design that brought the book into the (then) 70s, whereas I had tried to design in terms of my reading of the time of the text. Dorn's wife-was it Jenny?-designed a new cover. They tore the “old” ones off and pasted the new ones on. Of course, the rest of the book was as I had designed it. Completely incongruent. In any case, that was the end for me, and tho I don't remember whether Harvey actually confirmed that, I don't think I ever heard from him again. “As far as I know, there was only one copy of my edition of By the Sound—and that burned in a fire here in 1992. There just might be one in Pittsburgh..”
In an interview with John Wright published in the Chicago Review 49:3/4 and 50:1 (Summer 2004), Dorn stated: “That’s before we went up to New Mexico in about ’60, I guess. Or it was ’59 acutally. We were up there a couple of years. And that’s where I worte By the Sound, which was then called Rites of Passage. Harvey Brown published that in Buffalo, and he just died last Januuary. . . . [W]e just put ‘Mt. Vernon’ on it because that’s where it was. Harvey Brown was a real flexible publisher; I mean he didn’t care in that sense. But it was actually published in West Newbury. . . . [I]t was probably the only book ever published in Mt. Vernon.; it was a bit of a joke actually.” (p. 169)
Personal copy;
2. Adams, Brooks. The New Empire.
Second edition, 1967 [1902].
[device] | BROOKS ADAMS | THE NEW EMPIRE | Frontier Press | Cleveland, Ohio [dot] 1967 | [to the left of the previous two lines] [publisher’s logo]
[1-6]16 [7]8 [8-9]16; pp. [i-vi] vii-ix [x-xii] xiii-xxxvii [xxxviii-xl] 1-197 [198] 199-228 [229-232]. 13.7 x 20.8 cm.
On p. [iv]: a poem by Charles Olson. On copyright page [vi]: “The book was composed and printed by the Crimson Printing Company, Cambridge, and bound by Stanhope Bindery, Boston.”
Published [date] in an edition of [#] at $10.00 (hardback), $3.75 (paperback).
Personal copy;
3. Sanders, Edward. Peace eye.
4. Woodward, W.E. Years of Madness: A Reappraisal of the Civil War.
First edition, second impression [photo offset], 1967 [1951].
[device] | years of madness | [device] | w.e. woodward | [publisher’s logo] | frontier press, inc. | cleveland, ohio | 1967
Perfect binding; pp. i-vi [1-2] 3-311 [312-314].14.5 x 23 cm.
On copyright page: “Copyright Helen Woodward 1951 | Copyright Frontier Press 1967”
Published [date] in an edition of [#] at $3.25.
Personal copy. 5. The Decline & the Fall of the “Spectacular” Commodity-Economy.
First edition, 1967.
THE DECLINE & THE FALL | of the | “SPECTACULAR” | COMMODITY-ECONOMY | [publisher’s logo] | FRONTIER PAMPHLET NUMBER ONE | FRONTIER PRESS
[1]10; pp. [i-vi] [1] 2-10 [11-14]. A single triple-stapled gathering. 15 x 22.7 cm.
On verso of title page: “This essay, ‘The Decline and the Fall of the ‘Spectacular’ Commodity-Economy’, originally appeared in the Situationist International, December, 1965.” At foot of back cover flap: “design: ron caplan”.
Published [date] in an edition of [#] at $.50.
Personal copy;
6. Hulbert, Archer Butler. Paths of the Mound-Building Indians and Great Game Animals.
HISTORIC HIGHWAYS OF AMERICA | VOLUME 1 | [rule] | Paths of the Mound=Building Indians | and Great Game Animals | ARCHER BUTLER HULBERT | With Maps and Illustrations | [publisher’s logo] | FRONTIER PRESS, Inc. | CLEVELAND, OHIO | 1967
[1-9]8; pp. [i-ii] [1-11] 12-13 [14-17] 18-34 [35-37] 38-42 [43] 44-46 [47-48] 49-50 [51-53] 54 [55-56] 57-67 [68] 69-76 [77-78] 79-93 [94] 95-98 [99-101] 102 [103] 104-109 [110] 111-127 [128] 129-140. 13.2 x 18.8 cm.
Published [date] in an edition of [#] at $4.00 (hardcover), $2.25 (paperback).
Personal copy; 8. Long, Haniel. If He Can Make Her So
First edition, 1968
[first four lines in yellow green C120] IF | HE CAN | MAKE HER | SO | [black] Haniel Long | Selection and introduction by | Ron Caplan with a painting | from the work of John Kane | [green] [device] | [publisher’s logo] | FRONTIER PRESS | PITTSBURGH, PA | U S A
[1-5]8 [6]6 [7]8; pp [i-viii] ix [x-xx] 1-3 [4] 5-16 [17-18] 19-23 [24] 25-27 [28] 29 [30] 31 [32] 33-35 [36] 37-42 [43-44] 45-49 [50] 51 [52-54] 55-79 [80] 81-83 [84] 85 [86-88]. 16 x 25 cm. Cream laid paper with vertical chain lines watermarked “Beckett”, 16 x 25 cm. Endpapers of gray green (C122 ) laid paper with vertical chain lines. Covers of yellow white (C92 ) cloth, flecked with brown spots, over boards, 16.4 x 25.5 cm. On the spine from head to tail: [yellow green] IF HE CAN MAKE HER SO | [horizontally:] [publisher’s logo].
Pp. [i-ii]: blank; p. [iii]: half-title, ‘IF | HE CAN | MAKE HER | SO’; p. [iv]: blank; p. [v]: title page; p. [vi]: copyright, ‘PIÑON COUNTRY © 1941 Haniel Long, by permission of Duell, Sloan and | Pearce, affiliate of Meredith Press | GRIST MILL © 1946 Haniel Long | LETTER TO SAINT AUGUSTINE © 1950 Haniel Long, by permission of | Duell, Sloan and Pearce, affiliate of Meredith Press | WALT WHITMAN AND THE SPRINGS OF COURAGE © 1966 | Anton V. Long | MALINCHE (DOÑA MARINA) 1967 Anton V. Long | IF HE CAN MAKE HER SO © 1968 Ron Caplan and Frontier Press | The titles in the Table of Contents indicate the books from which selections have | been taken; in no case does the entire text of any single book appear. The photo- | graph of Haniel Long by Harriet Burkhart.’; p. [vii]: dedication, ‘for Michelle | & A.L. | [yellow green] [device]; p. [vii]: section title, [green] ‘INTRODUCTION’; p. ix: 17 lines signed at bottom ‘Ron Caplan’ under the heading, [yellow green] ‘Haniel Long’; p. [x] blank; p. [xi]: section title, [yellow green] ‘TABLE OF CONTENTS’; [xii-xvii] contents; p. [xviii]: half title, [yellow green] ‘IF HE CAN MAKE HER SO’; p. [xix]: tipped in color reproduction, ‘John Kane | Sunset, Coleman Hollow (c. 1930-31) | Collection, James L. Winokur, Pittsburgh’; p. [xx]: section title, [yellow green] ‘PITTSBURGH | MEMORANDA’; p. 1-3: text; p. [4]: blank; p. 5-16: text; p. [17-18]: text; p.
Pittsburgh Memoranda (section title for the following 5 pieces) “Prologue,” “Homestead 1892,” “Mrs. Soffel 1902,” “Henry George 1913,” “Two Memoranda 1914,” Notes for a New Mythology (section title for the following piece) “How Pittsburgh Returned to the Jungle,” A Pittsburgher En Route (section title for the following piece) “New Mexico,” Piñon Country (section title for the following piece) “The Bandits,” The Grist Mill (section title for the following piece) “If He Can Make Her So,” Malinche (Doña Marina) (section title for the following piece) “She who speaks to you . . . .,” Atlantides (section title for the following piece) “The Simplest Way,” Bibliography (section title for the following piece) “Selected Books of Haniel Long”.
Published [date] in an edition of 3,000 copies at $6.00 (hardcover) and $3.00 (paperback)
Personal copy,
9. Dorn, Edward. Twenty-Four Love Songs.
10. Long, Haniel. Interlinear to Cabeza de Vaca.
11. [White, Bouck]. The Book of Daniel Drew.
12. McClure, Michael. The Surge.
13. Berkman, Alexander. Prison Memoirs of an Ananrchist.
14. Büchner, Georg. Lenz. Translated by Michael Hamburger.
Second English edition, 1969 [1947].LENZ | Georg Büchner | TRANSLATION BY MICHAEL HAMBURGER | FRONTIER PRESS | 1969
[1-2]16; pp. [1-6] 7-52 i-v [vi-vii]. 10.5 x 17.7 cm. Paper wrappers.
On p. [6]: “DESIGN BY RON CAPLAN”; pp. i-iv, “Introduction,” by Michael Hamburger; p. v, “Principle dates in the life of Georg Büchner”.
Note: the first of a series that includes items number 16 and 19, all with identical binding.
Published [date] in an edition of [#] at $1.00
Personal copy;
15. Dorn, Edward. Songs Set Two—A Short Count.
16. Williams, William Carlos. Spring and All. Second edition, 1970 [1923].Spring | & All | William | Carlos williams | FRONTIER PRESS | 1970
[1-7]8; pp. [i-viii] 1-98 [99-104]. 10.6 x 17.7 cm. Paper wrappers.
On p. [vi]: “SPRING AND ALL WAS FIRST PUBLISHED IN 1923 | BY THE CONTACT PUBLISHING COMPANY”
Published [date] in an edition of [#] at $2.00
Personal copy;
17. Brakhage, Stan. A Moving Picture Giving and Taking Book.
[1-3]8 [4]6 [5]8; pp. [i-viii] 1-65 [66-68]. 10.7 x 15.2 cm. Bound in leather covers with gilt stamped title.
On p. [67]: “DESIGN BY PHILIP TRUSSELL | 1971”.
Published [date] in an edition of [#] at
Personal copy;
18. Dorn, Edward. The Cycle.
The Cycle | by | Edward Dorn | Frontier Press | West Newbury Mass | 1971
[1]16; pp. [1-32]. A single double-stapled gathering. 24.2 x 32 cm. Paper wrappers.
Published [date] in an edition of [#] at
Personal copy,
19. Dorn, Edward. Some Business Recently Transacted in the White World. First edition, 1971.
20. Glover, Albert. Trio in G.
A TRIO IN G | Al Glover | Frontier Press | West Newbury | Massachusetts | 1971
[1-4]8 [5]6 [6]8; 15 x 20.8 cm. Paper wrappers.
On p. [6]: “Drawing and design by Philip Trussell”.
21. H.D. Hermetic Definitions.
[within an ornamental oval frame of roses in deep red (C13) and gray green (C122)] Hermetic Definitions | HD | [below] 1971
[1]4 [2-5]8; pp. [1-72]. 22.6 x 15 cm. Covers of heavy white stock glued at spine.
“Red Rose & A Beggar,” “Grove of Academe,” “Star of Day.”
No imprint, no colophon, no copyright. This edition was printed from an autograph transcription of a manuscrirpt version at the Beinecke Library. The title, “Hermetic Definitions,” is printed as it appears on the manuscript. Inserted in the copy at Yale is a note by Norman Holmes Pearson: “Illegally published by Harvey Brown Frontier Press West Newbury, Mass. 1971, in what Brown asserts was an edition of 1600 copies ‘none for sale’. If so, most were hidden for later profit. Note that the title is Hermetic Definitions rather than Definition and that the text differs from the New Directions edition. Text from an earlier version surreptitiously obtained by Brown.” Brown continued to distribute to book free until he died in 1990. Hundreds of copies mildewed in his mother’s basement.
Ron Caplan writes: “Harvey was the brave one there—he had money to lose and I had none—but we certainly knew what we were doing when it came to that book. I suppose it was illegally published. But what do we call the act of withholding the book from the world—and such a beautiful book. . . . There were some few corrections and we decided to show it as we found it in the text. We knew it wasn’t going to be a longterm sale, if any etc. We simply wanted to force [Pearson] to publish it, knowing he’d have to do that to secure copyright. And he moved soon after, publishing the poem with some other work. But God knows how long those fellows would have sat on that poem, and for whatever reason. “Harvey gave me a free hand and I created one of for me the happiest books—with Flavia Zortea's rose that opens and closes. If I remember correctly, that’s the first public use of Hunt Roman—a typeface created for the Hunt Botanical Library at Carnegie-Mellon in Pittsburgh (my home). It wasn’t done for profit and I’m unaware of any copies actually being sold by us—altho the rare book dealers etc got it out to people. ‘Hidden for later profit’ is just lovely.”
Personal copy; NBuU; CtY
22. Kelly, Robert. Cities.
23. Kelly, Robert. In Time.
24. Anderson, Sherwood. Mid-American Chants.
Second edition, 1972 [1918].
25. Dorn, Edward. Gunslinger: Book 111.
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