BERRIGAN, Ted.

£1,250 · Offered by Peter Harrington · No longer available

The Sonnets. First edition of Berrigan's first book of poetry, the copy of Izzy Young, with his ownership inscription on the verso of the final leaf, "Israel G. Young, December 1964, from Ed Sanders". Young was the owner of the Folklore Center in Greenwich Village, "the beating heart of the mid-century folk music revival" (New York Times obituary), where he nurtured the fledgling careers of many folk greats, including Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan. "The small store was up a flight of stairs and the place had an antique grace. It was like an ancient chapel, like a shoebox sized institute", recalled Dylan in his autobiography. "His voice was like a bulldozer and always seemed too loud for the little room... Izzy was always a little rattled over something or other. He was sloppily good-natured. In reality a romantic. To him, folk music glittered like a mound of gold. It did for me, too." Berrigan was a frequent fixture at the Folklore Center and gave poetry readings at Young's invitation. His close friend and collaborator, Ed Sanders, presented this copy to Young.Ron Padgett, Berrigan's long-time collaborator, typed the stencils for The Sonnets, and Joe Brainard, to whom the book is dedicated, created the illustration for the front cover. While this copy lacks the terminal blank and rear cover present on some copies, Israel's inscription on the final page suggests that copies were issued in this way. Around 400 copies were issued, of which 300 were numbered; this copy is unnumbere

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