SEMINA (Berman, Wallace)

-SEMINA 2 . Los Angeles [and Jackson Street, San Francisco]: Wallace Berman / Stone Brothers Printing, 1957. First Edition. Slim octavo (21.5cm); brown sheets with variously-sized handset plates tipped in, saddle-stapled into cardboard covers, with Charles Brittin photograph of Suzi Hicks mounted to front wrapper; the original of the typed statement by Berman regarding his Ferus Gallery debacle mounted to lower rear wrapper; [28pp]; illus. Mild offsetting to mounted plates in-text (as is common with this issue), subtle toning to covers, with two small stains to front wrapper and a small abrasion (ab.1x1 cm) on the bottom of the photograph; With contributions by Berman, Hermann Hesse, Paul Eluard, Jack Anderson, Charles Bukowski, Cameron, Jean Cocteau, Zack Walsh, Eric Cashen, Lynn Trocchi, Idell T. Romero, J.B. May, Charles Baudelaire, Peder Carr, Judson Crews, John Reed, Lewis Carroll, David Meltzer, Michael McClure, Alexander Trocchi, Paul Valery, Rabindranath Tagore, and others. - -SEMINA 4. San Francisco: Wallace Berman, 1959. First Edition. Small quarto (24cm); cardboard portfolio, containing 24 variously-sized hand-printed inserts housed in a pocket mounted to inner cover; large printed photographic portrait of Shirley Berman mounted to front cover. Mild toning and some faint creasing to portfolio, shallow loss to three corners, with old, faint stain to rear cover; thin splits to sides of inner pocket; Some of the inserts show mild offsetting, else in very good condition. The only issue which includes the work of principle Beat figures Allen Ginsberg and William S. Burroughs alongside the work of those within the Semina circle.With contributions by Berman, I.E. Alexander, William Blake, Ray Bremser, John Chance, Beverly Collins, Judson Crews, Charles Foster, Robert Kaufman, Philip Lamantia, Michael McClure, John Reed, Ron Loewinsohn, John Wieners, W.B. Yeats, and others. -SEMINA 5. Larkspur, CA: Wallace Berman, 1960. First Edition. One of 350 copies. Slim octavo (18.75cm); photo-illustrated card portfolio, with 18 loose handpress-printed sheets held in a pocket mounted to inner cover. Mild wear along spine-fold, a few faint creases to extremities, condition near fine, only some inserts show mild offsetting. Complete copy of the "Mexican Issue" of Berman's iconic assemblage zine, the front cover featuring a Charles Brittin photograph of a Mayan stone phallus. Contributors include Berman, Antonin Artaud, Kirby Doyle, John Hoffman, Lawrence Jordan, Michael McClure, Philip Lamantia, Robert Kaufman, Christopher MacLaine, Ruth Weiss, John Wieners, David Meltzer, John Reed, and others -SEMINA 6 (VI.) "THE CLOWN: A POEM" Larkspur, CA: Wallace Berman, 1960. First Edition. One of 335 copies. Slim octavo (21cm); photo-illustrated card portfolio, with 14 handpress-printed loose sheets held in a pocket mounted to inner cover.Trivial wear to extremities, a few faint creases along lower edge, with two thin splits to inner card pocket; Attractive, complete copy of the sixth issue of Berman's iconic assemblage zine, dedicated entirely to David Meltzer's 13-part poem "The Clown." Berman illustrated the title leaf and designed the photographic collage on the cover of the portfolio, featuring four images with shotgun of his Larkspur landlady and Sausalito gallery owner Phyllis surrounding an image of the Semina Gallery. - SEMINA 7. "ALEPH / a gesture involving photographs drawings & text by Wallace Berman". 200 Copies. Larkspur Calif. 1961. "For Shirley & Tosh. I love you". Folded sheet (20 x 14 cm) with photograph of actress Susan Hayward glued to the front. Inside, kept in a pocket glued to the back cover are 18 inserts of printed poems, photographs and drawings, all different in size and colour by Wallace Berman: a 'postcard' to David Meltzer with a photograph of John W., a poem called "First & last fearpoem, a poem called "Fairytale for Tosh, a photograph "For John Birch & Karl Marx" signed with
P. Xantos (Wallace Berman), a poem called "Opos", 7 photo compositions with the 'aleph' on them: "Bird 1920-1955", "Patricia J.", "Jarry H. Mill Valley", "Tosh - Larkspur 1960", marihuana leafs, etc., 1 photograph with poem, "Some easy-rider titles by Rohmer..", a poem "Rapist & voicethrower" which consists of numbers only, a poem called "Boxed city", a drawing with text to Goerge Herms, a paper strip imprinted "Art is love is God". - SEMINA 8. Los Angeles: Wallace Berman, 1963. First Edition. One of 149 copies. Octavo (18cm); thick boards bound with black fabric tape along spine, with 15 handpress-printed loose sheets held in a pocket mounted to inner cover; altered press photograph of "Lipstick Killer" William George Heirens by Dean Stockwell mounted to front cover, with a black Aleph embossed to lower right corner of rear cover; right edge of boards punctured for string clasp, with a short length of the original twine mounted to inner cover. Two faint stains to front cover, with some trivial wear to corners; occasional mild offset to inserts, with 1 insert of the original 16 lacking (Berman collage of Lenny Bruce); Near Fine. Penultimate issue of Berman's iconic assemblage zine, and the issue with the smallest limitation. Includes contributions by Antonin Artaud, Wallace Berman, Cameron, Robert Duncan, Kirby Doyle, John Reed, William House, Jess Collins, Jerry Katz, Michael McClure, Aya Tarlow, Elias Romero, John Wieners, Zack Walsh, and Llyn Foulkes.