KESEY, Ken; MERRY PRANKSTERS.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Eighty photographs of Kesey and other counterculture icons. Snapshots showing the Merry Pranksters relaxing and socializing in the 1970s and 1980s, from the collection of the musician Shirley Abicar, who lived alongside them. Most of the photographs were taken at the Keseys' farm in Pleasant Hill, Oregon, and two show the multicoloured "Further" bus. Sailor Song and Last Go Round are psychedelically inscribed by Kesey and Ken Babbs to Abicair.The Pleasant Hill farm, which covered 64 acres of pastureland, became the home of Kesey and his family in 1968. As other Pranksters joined them, their home became a "proto-commune, a lively and productive hub and creative test site for an extensive network of friends, family, and visionaries" (Kesey Farm Project). Abicair's photographs record daily life at the farm, where activities included rowing boats, driving tractors, watching birds, dining, drinking wine, and playing music. In several photographs, Abicair is seated alongside Kesey and his wife Norma Faye Haxby. Other individuals captured include Kesey's brother Chuck, Ken Babbs, Carolyn Garcia, and their families. Sailor Song (1992) and Last Go Round (1994), a collaboration with Babbs, were Kesey's final novels. The full-page, elaborate inscriptions on each book use ink stamps, ink rolls, and highlighters in multiple colours. The collection also contains two photographic portraits of Abicair as a young musician.Shirley Abicair (1928–2025) was born in Australia and taught herself to

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