RUSSELL, Bertrand.

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The Good Citizen's Alphabet. First edition, signed limited issue, number 72 of 100 copies signed by the author on handmade paper. The English philosopher's satiric, subversive socio-politic AB, was an early publication of the avant-garde Gaberbocchus Press. It came to life as a private joke in correspondence between Russell and his friends, the Themersons. A trade issue was also released. Each entry is accompanied by one of Franciszka Themerson's whimsical line drawings; her portrait of the PEDANT - "A man who likes his statements to be true" - is a caricature of Russell. Other definitions include "LIBERTY - The right to obey the police", "OBJECTIVE - A delusion which other lunatics share", and "TRUE - What passes the examiners". Of the Alphabet, one of Russell's correspondents wrote: "It is delightful. I am not sure whether the drawings are worthy of the text or the text worthy of the drawings. In either event they could hardly be better … I am sure you and the artist will be due for a triple dose of hemlock, for you will be accused of corrupting not only the young but the middle-aged and elderly too - and corrupting the latter two is very wrong, as they have less time to recover. Anyway, I am very glad to be subverted by it; thank you again" (letter from Ion Braby, 31 March 1953, Russell, p. 583).The Polish émigré artists Stefan and Franciszka Themerson founded Gaberbocchus Press (named after the Latin translation of Lewis Carroll's "Jabberwocky") in 1948 in London. With Fr

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