Leonard Cohen: You Do Not Have To Love Me At Auction (Or Anywhere Else)

by Stephen J. Gertz

A copy of Canadian poet and songwriter-singer Leonard Cohen's poem, You Do Not Have To Love Me is being offered by PBA Galleries in its Beats, Counterculture & the Avant Garde, Richard Synchef Collection Part II sale tomorrow, January 30, 2014. It is estimated to sell for $400 - $600.

In letterpress designed and printed by Bill Roberts (of Bottle of Smoke Press) and tipped-in to black paper card, it is copy "N" of 26 lettered copies signed by Cohen of a total edition of 126. Originally published in 1968, it is here issued as Sore Dove Press Broadside Series Number 33, published in 2008. It has already become quite collectible.

Facing the poem is an original oil painting by artist-poet Soheyl Dahl.

Included in the lot are seven Sore Dove Press postcards celebrating Cohen, two duplicated with black lettering.

As part of the lot, a copy of singer-songwriter (and Leonard Cohen collaborator) Anjani Thomas' poem, Holy Ground, is being offered. No. 31 of 100 signed copies, it, too, is in letterpress designed and printed by Bill Roberts. It was published by Sore Dove Press in 2009.

"Sore Dove Press is edited and published by Soheyl Dahi, an artist and poet living in San Francisco. It is a progressive press that publishes poetry chapbooks and broadsides by established poets ranging from Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Diane di Prima, and Jack Hirschman to newcomers like the talented actress and poet Amber Tamblyn. The press also actively looks for and publishes poets to make their debut in print. The chapbooks and broadsides are printed in small editions. A limited number are signed by the poets and when possible a lettered edition with an original painting by the poets is included" (website).

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Images courtesy of PBA Galleries, with our thanks.
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The Man In The Iron Mask Schleps 'Round The World

by Stephen J. Gertz

"Who was that masked man?"
"I don't know but I wanted to thank him."

On New Years Day, 1908, Harry Bensley (1876-1956), a well-to-do lone ranger involved in a £21,000 wager  that he could walk around the world in an iron mask and marry without revealing his identity, embarked on his journey, a trek that began at home in Great Britain and supposedly took him through China and Persia before the outbreak of WWI brought his global schlep to a screeching halt in Genoa, Italy.

The terms of the wager - purportedly made between J.P. Morgan and Lord Lonsdale with Harry the volunteer test subject - stipulated that Bensley begin his journey with a single pound note and a change of underwear through 169 British cities and towns in a specific order;  he would have to collect a signature from a local prominent resident to prove that he had been there. After that he would begin a tour of eighteen countries in a pre-specified order. He was to support himself along the way by selling postcards such as this one, which portrays him in his knight's helmet with printed sign in lieu of  plume, sweater embroidered on the rear with the legend, "Walking Round the World Masked," a custom pram which should have been called "The Orient Non-Express" but wasn't, and paid attendant in matching sweater whose name is unknown but whom we shall call Tonto to our masked Kimosabe.

Some people, of skeptical turn of mind, claimed that Bensley never left England. Oh, cruel nattering by nincompoops of little faith!

But here's the proof that Bensley, in full metal masquerade from the neck up, and with pram and attendant present, perambulated to a photography studio for a series of promotional mug shots. Whether he ever actually left the studio and crossed the English Channel to promenade through Europe and Asia is another story.

One can't help but wonder if he wound up in the Bastille, courtesy of the King of France, for claiming to be the King's twin brother, his personal attendant, The One Musketeer, in the cell next door. Bensley didn't but his investments in Russia were wiped-out during the Bolshevik Revolution, he was left destitute, and worked low-paying unskilled jobs until his death.

Oh, ladies of too much faith! Harry supposedly received over 200 marriage proposals during his voyage from damsels who had never laid eyes upon his visage and didn't care. His wife, whom he  married c. 1898, ten years before the wager, was, presumably, not amused. But, then again, maybe she was. She knew what he looked like behind the wrought iron veil.
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BENSLEY, Harry. Unused original photo-postcard, approx. 5-1/4 x 3-3/8 inches. N.p. {England], c. 1908
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Image courtesy of Garrett Scott, The Bibliophagist, currently offering this item, with our thanks.
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The Ultimate Gift For Book Lovers

by Stephen J. Gertz

Imagine an entire book on a poster, beginning to end, a bold art print upon which, up close, you can read the full and complete text of your favorite classic work and/or collectible rare book, from "It was the best of times..." to "it is a far, far better thing that I do…"

Spineless Classics has. Each one of the company's designs contains the full text of the book. Where there are shapes in the design the words wrap to the edges rather than being removed or shaded. The font size is roughly 4-point which is perfectly legible with the naked eye if you have 20/20 vision, or with light magnification if you don't. Superman, of course, can read them from across the street.

Spineless Classics now has over sixty books available and regularly creates new designs. Current titles include War and Peace, Jane Eyre, Phantom of the Opera, Wuthering Heights, Pride and Prejudice, the King James Bible, Frankenstein, Gulliver's Travels, etc.  If you have a specific book in mind and they don't have it they'll do their best to create a poster for you.

Origin of the Species, 1.

The posters are printed on lush, satin finish paper with state-of-the-art printing technology. The text is pin-sharp and the paper non-reflective. You can hang and light it the way you want without fear of going blind while reading it. Unless you're actively reading The Story of O.  Spineless Classics has yet to reproduce that particular classic, though I suspect it may be on the horizon, perhaps a custom job.

Origin of the Species, 2.

The posters are either 100cm x 70cm or 84cm x 119cm. (A0), frame-friendly sizes. If you choose, Spineless Classics will have a frame handmade for you in black-finished wood.

Reasonably priced, a Spineless Classic on your wall will amaze your friends, break the ice and start conversations. The company is so confident you'll love these poster-books that they offer a full refund guarantee.

For jigsaw puzzle junkies, Spineless Classics offers Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. One look at it and you know it's going to be challenging; 672 pieces of text and white space. Ask the Caterpillar for a hit off the hookah to finish this one.

For the highly letter-ate, a set of Spineless Classics postcards is also available, three each of six titles.

Front and rear.

I'm going to ask Spineless Classics to create a series of posters of the Yongle Dadian, the Ming dynasty book that 3,000 scholars spent four years working on, beginning in 1403, to produce 22,877 chapters in 11,095 volumes, using 370 million Chinese characters. It's the longest book ever written. I'm thinking wallpaper throughout Chez Booktryst, walls, ceilings, floors. Good news: materially as well as metaphysically finally living inside of a book. Bad news: can't read a damned word of it. Another nightmare for  Mr. Henry Bemis in the Twilight Zone.

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