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<b>Bonhams:</b> MANDELSHTAM, OSIP. 1891-1938. Autograph Manuscript, 2 pp, [Petersburg,] January 1913, entitled

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Periodicals from 1890-2000 from William Reese William Reese Company's Periodicals Part II By Michael Stillman The William Reese Company has issued its 237th catalogue, this one being the second part of catalogue 228 issued in late 2003. The title is "Periodicals Part II," or "Periodicals 1890-2000," and it has little in common with any Reese catalogue besides Periodicals Part I. Reese is noted as one of the foremost sellers of the top books and manuscripts in the field of Americana. This catalogue will appeal to an entirely different group of collectors. The periodicals offered in this catalogue (there are 871 of them) are not the ones you find on your typical newsstand, not even if you could go back in time to the newsstands of the eras in which they were published. These are primarily literary magazines. Few had large circulations, most lasted only a few months or years, some only for one issue. Unless you are very familiar with the field, you will probably never have heard of more than a handful of them. Perhaps you remember The Fat Abbot, Satyrday, The Last Cookie, Exquisite Corpse, Wurm, Tanager, Tangents, or Tangerine. I don't. No matter. They live on in Reese's catalogue. If you remember and collect them, and hundreds more like them, it is unlikely you will ever find a more complete source than the Reese catalogues. If you do not know them, but have an interest in literary journals from the past century, you will also want to see these catalogues. While the periodicals themselves are mostly hidden in obscurity, this is not always the case with their writers or the issues they covered. The pages of many of these journals are graced with the prose and poetry of many writers who achieved the recognition these magazines failed to reach. In some cases, the writings came early in their careers, before they were known. In other cases, these obscure journals were able to draw contributions from already established writers. If you collect a particular writer or poet from the 20th century, you will want to peruse the listings in these catalogues. You just may find something he or she wrote that you have not seen before. Not to be a name dropper, but here are just a few of the contributors: Sandburg, Yeats, D.H. Lawrence, Pound, William Carlos Williams, Langston Hughes, Kerouac, Ginsberg, Joyce, Henry Miller, Cummings, McLuhan, Saroyan, Ferlinghetti, Leroi Jones, Sartre, Pasternak, Nin, Rilke, Auden, Vidal....and many more.
Periodicals from 1890-2000 from William Reese none Providing examples of the publications in this catalogue is like providing examples of listings from a dictionary. There are far too many of them, and most are more or less equal. Nevertheless, here are just a few. Perhaps the one out of the 871 entries that most people will recognize is the American Mercury. This is the publication of the irascible H.L. Mencken, literary and political critic. Mencken is probably best known for his political agitation, his being opposed to just about everything government did. There are few he failed to offend at some point during his career. Were he around today, he would offend the Left with his anti-tax sentiments, the Right with his anti-war and pro-privacy right opinions. Item 16 is the first two issues of the Mercury, from January and February 1924. Priced at $50. L'Alouette A Magazine of Verse was published in the 1920s and 1930s in Medford, Massachusetts. Item 11 is the July/August issue from 1930. Editor Charles Parker provides an interesting review of the 551 poems submitted to the magazine in the first half of 1930. Ninety-eight dealt with death, 73 with disappointed love, 81 with social passions. Apparently they ignored the real tragedy of the time, as there is no indication they wrote poems about the collapse of the stock market, perhaps not a poetic subject. $15. There was probably no more exciting or distinctive decade of the last century than the 1960s. The world, America in particular, was undergoing radical change. A window on this time is presented by item 607, the Psychedelic Review. Published from 1963 until 1967, it covers topics, and substances, typical of the era. Among the contributors is Timothy Leary, poster child for the outer limits of the time. Item 617 includes issues numbers 1,2, and 9 of the 11 published. $65. Item 300 is the first issue of Inner Space, from October 1966. This is another psychedelic publication, but it lasted for only one, or possibly two, issues, before "dropping out" of the scene. $30.
Periodicals from 1890-2000 from William Reese none Item 229 is the one and only issue of Fruit Cup, a 1969 publication which included a safe conduct pass to "Hippie-land." Can you guess where this was published? Of course you can. San Francisco. $25. Item 187 is Entrails The Magazine of Happy Obscenity, two issues from 1966. San Franciscans are innocent of this one. It was published in New York by the "Whispershit Press." $85. The Examiner was published in Rye, New York, from 1938-1939 when it came to its well-deserved demise. This journal promoted American fascism. One suspects its contributors did not mention their involvement with this publication in their resumes. The pre-war Depression era saw strong movements of both extreme left and right in America, but both would be consumed by the coming war. Item 194 $75. Moving from the right to the left, there is the Soviet Literature Monthly. Item 695 consists of 12 issues from 1955-1956 of this journal, which was published until 1992, when it, like the Soviet Union, collapsed. It was published in Moscow by the "Soviet Writer Publishing House." This publication appeared in many languages, these editions being in English. It includes many works of fiction, but then again, everything coming out of the Soviet Union in those days was filled with fiction, including and especially those reports which purported to be true. $85. Item 62 is the July 1956 issue of Bizarre, published in Paris. It is described as "a playful meeting place for latter generation surrealists, pataphysicians, and assorted zippity-dodaists of all flavors...." Does anyone know what a "zippity-dodaist" is? Are they dangerous? My guess is they are probably just....bizarre. $15. Zyzzva The Last Word certainly would look like the last word in periodicals, alphabetically anyway. This San Francisco publication was released from 1985-1993, and item 865 consists of 11 issues. $7 each. However, it turns out not to have been the last word in this catalogue. That honor goes to a 1951 publication from Helena, Montana. Its name is Zzzzz Zzyzz Zzyzzle. Perhaps the name was meant to imply that the articles would put you to sleep. Whatever the explanation, it does not appear that this periodical survived for very long. Item 866. $25. The William Reese Company website is www.reeseco.com and their phone number is 203-789-8081. To see our earlier review of Periodicals Part I, go to http://www.americanaexchange.com/NewAE/aemonthly/review_1.asp?id=67&q=periodicals&page=1.

Periodicals from 1890-2000 from William Reese

William Reese Company's Periodicals Part II

By Michael Stillman

The William Reese Company has issued its 237th catalogue, this one being the second part of catalogue 228 issued in late 2003. The title is "Periodicals Part II," or "Periodicals 1890-2000," and it has little in common with any Reese catalogue besides Periodicals Part I. Reese is noted as one of the foremost sellers of the top books and manuscripts in the field of Americana. This catalogue will appeal to an entirely different group of collectors.

The periodicals offered in this catalogue (there are 871 of them) are not the ones you find on your typical newsstand, not even if you could go back in time to the newsstands of the eras in which they were published. These are primarily literary magazines. Few had large circulations, most lasted only a few months or years, some only for one issue. Unless you are very familiar with the field, you will probably never have heard of more than a handful of them. Perhaps you remember The Fat Abbot, Satyrday, The Last Cookie, Exquisite Corpse, Wurm, Tanager, Tangents, or Tangerine. I don't. No matter. They live on in Reese's catalogue. If you remember and collect them, and hundreds more like them, it is unlikely you will ever find a more complete source than the Reese catalogues. If you do not know them, but have an interest in literary journals from the past century, you will also want to see these catalogues.

While the periodicals themselves are mostly hidden in obscurity, this is not always the case with their writers or the issues they covered. The pages of many of these journals are graced with the prose and poetry of many writers who achieved the recognition these magazines failed to reach. In some cases, the writings came early in their careers, before they were known. In other cases, these obscure journals were able to draw contributions from already established writers. If you collect a particular writer or poet from the 20th century, you will want to peruse the listings in these catalogues. You just may find something he or she wrote that you have not seen before. Not to be a name dropper, but here are just a few of the contributors: Sandburg, Yeats, D.H. Lawrence, Pound, William Carlos Williams, Langston Hughes, Kerouac, Ginsberg, Joyce, Henry Miller, Cummings, McLuhan, Saroyan, Ferlinghetti, Leroi Jones, Sartre, Pasternak, Nin, Rilke, Auden, Vidal....and many more.

Periodicals from 1890-2000 from William Reese

none

Providing examples of the publications in this catalogue is like providing examples of listings from a dictionary. There are far too many of them, and most are more or less equal. Nevertheless, here are just a few. Perhaps the one out of the 871 entries that most people will recognize is the American Mercury. This is the publication of the irascible H.L. Mencken, literary and political critic. Mencken is probably best known for his political agitation, his being opposed to just about everything government did. There are few he failed to offend at some point during his career. Were he around today, he would offend the Left with his anti-tax sentiments, the Right with his anti-war and pro-privacy right opinions. Item 16 is the first two issues of the Mercury, from January and February 1924. Priced at $50.

L'Alouette A Magazine of Verse was published in the 1920s and 1930s in Medford, Massachusetts. Item 11 is the July/August issue from 1930. Editor Charles Parker provides an interesting review of the 551 poems submitted to the magazine in the first half of 1930. Ninety-eight dealt with death, 73 with disappointed love, 81 with social passions. Apparently they ignored the real tragedy of the time, as there is no indication they wrote poems about the collapse of the stock market, perhaps not a poetic subject. $15.

There was probably no more exciting or distinctive decade of the last century than the 1960s. The world, America in particular, was undergoing radical change. A window on this time is presented by item 607, the Psychedelic Review. Published from 1963 until 1967, it covers topics, and substances, typical of the era. Among the contributors is Timothy Leary, poster child for the outer limits of the time. Item 617 includes issues numbers 1,2, and 9 of the 11 published. $65. Item 300 is the first issue of Inner Space, from October 1966. This is another psychedelic publication, but it lasted for only one, or possibly two, issues, before "dropping out" of the scene. $30.

Periodicals from 1890-2000 from William Reese

none

Item 229 is the one and only issue of Fruit Cup, a 1969 publication which included a safe conduct pass to "Hippie-land." Can you guess where this was published? Of course you can. San Francisco. $25.

Item 187 is Entrails The Magazine of Happy Obscenity, two issues from 1966. San Franciscans are innocent of this one. It was published in New York by the "Whispershit Press." $85.

The Examiner was published in Rye, New York, from 1938-1939 when it came to its well-deserved demise. This journal promoted American fascism. One suspects its contributors did not mention their involvement with this publication in their resumes. The pre-war Depression era saw strong movements of both extreme left and right in America, but both would be consumed by the coming war. Item 194 $75.

Moving from the right to the left, there is the Soviet Literature Monthly. Item 695 consists of 12 issues from 1955-1956 of this journal, which was published until 1992, when it, like the Soviet Union, collapsed. It was published in Moscow by the "Soviet Writer Publishing House." This publication appeared in many languages, these editions being in English. It includes many works of fiction, but then again, everything coming out of the Soviet Union in those days was filled with fiction, including and especially those reports which purported to be true. $85.

Item 62 is the July 1956 issue of Bizarre, published in Paris. It is described as "a playful meeting place for latter generation surrealists, pataphysicians, and assorted zippity-dodaists of all flavors...." Does anyone know what a "zippity-dodaist" is? Are they dangerous? My guess is they are probably just....bizarre. $15.

Zyzzva The Last Word certainly would look like the last word in periodicals, alphabetically anyway. This San Francisco publication was released from 1985-1993, and item 865 consists of 11 issues. $7 each. However, it turns out not to have been the last word in this catalogue. That honor goes to a 1951 publication from Helena, Montana. Its name is Zzzzz Zzyzz Zzyzzle. Perhaps the name was meant to imply that the articles would put you to sleep. Whatever the explanation, it does not appear that this periodical survived for very long. Item 866. $25.

The William Reese Company website is www.reeseco.com and their phone number is 203-789-8081. To see our earlier review of Periodicals Part I, go to http://www.americanaexchange.com/NewAE/aemonthly/review_1.asp?id=67&q=periodicals&page=1.