D. Anthem, Bookseller Archives - Rare Book Insider

D. Anthem, Bookseller

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Four cards signed by Edith Segal and illustrated and signed by her husband

Four cards signed by Edith Segal and illustrated and signed by her husband, Samuel Kamen

Segal, Edith; Samuel Kamen (illustrations) Brooklyn: Segal-Kamen, 1968. Four greeting/holiday (?) cards issued by the radical Jewish poet and dancer Edith Segal and her husband, the artist Samuel Kamen. The cards were likely produced each year for the couple's wide circle of friends, comrades and family and possibly issued as holiday cards since these four are all dated in December. They appear to have issued them until at least 1981. The earliest card in our grouping is from 1968 and features Segal's poem "Challenge" and a cover illustration by Kamen showing a trio of multi-racial babies reaching for a white dove. The 1969 card includes the poem "March Against Death," which along with the cover illustration documents the couple's participation in the November 14, 1969 Moratorium Againt the Vietnam War. The 1972 card includes the poem "Recognition," with a cover illustration of a multi-racial group of adolescents in a field and reprints an illustra features an illustration of three multi-racial children in a field of flowers. The 1976 (?) card reprints Segal's poem "U.S. Calling UNICEF Friends" reprinted from her children's book Come With Me: Poems, Guessing Poems and Dance Poems for Young People (1963), with Kamen's illustrations also reprinted from that work. Segal and her husband were lifelong leftist political activists and used various art forms to protest racism, capitalism, labor exploitation, war, etc (living Segal's maxim "Art is a weapon," which she declared following a visit to the Soviet Union in the late 1920s). She and her husband were both involved with numerous Jewish and progressive camps, such as Kamp Kinderland, and campaigned to save Julius and Ethel Rosenberg and Mort Sobell (see Segal's pamphlet, I Call to You Across the Continent, 1953). Segal performed the first interracial dance titled "Black and White" and authored a number of children's books celebrating racial diversity. Samuel Kamen died in 1995, Edith two years later in 1997. The cards vary in size but are generally 8 ½" x 5 ½". Each signed by Segal and Kamen to the same recipient, with their Brooklyn address printed to the bottom of the rear panel. Some soiling to two of the cards, toning, but a very good grouping. A number of these cards are separately catalogued in OCLC, but not for these years. There are presumably examples in her papers at NYPL.
  • $150
Not Man Apart (a substantial run of 94 issues)

Not Man Apart (a substantial run of 94 issues)

San Francisco: Friends of the Earth, 1991. A substantial run of 94 issues (in 92 volumes) of the monthly newspaper of Friends of the Earth, an environmental/conservation group founded in 1969 by David Brower after his split with the Sierra Club (he later rejoined the group in 1983). In 1965, Brower published the book, Not Man Apart: Photographs of the Big Sur Coast, which featured the poetry of Robinson Jeffers. "Not Man Apart," taken from Jeffers' poem, The Answer, then became the name of the Friends' newspaper. Issues reflect the group's wide-ranging concerns about nuclear energy, population growth, industrial food production, deforestation, climate change, coal mining, etc. The newspaper began as a monthly, later became bimonthly and then quarterly after it was renamed Friends of the Earth in 1990. In 1971, the organization became part of an international network and now operates in 75 countries. Our run includes Vol. 3, Nos. 4-5; Vol. 5, Nos. 2-4, 15; an unnumbered issue from mid-May 1976; Vol. 8, Nos. 9, 11-15; Vol. 9, Nos. 1-13; Vol. 10, Nos. 1-9; Vol. 11, Nos. 1-10, 12; Vol. 12, Nos. 1-6, 8-9, 9A, 10; Vol. 13, Nos. 1-8; Vol. 14, Nos. 2-8; Vol. 15, Nos. 1-3; Vol. 17, Nos. 2-6; Vol. 18, Nos. 1, 4-6; Vol. 19, Nos. 1-6 (nos. 2-3, 5-6 are double issues); Vol. 20, Nos. 1-2; continued by Friends of the Earth, Vol. 21, Nos. 1-3. Tabloid format printed on newsprint (except the issues of the Friends of the Earth which are printed on higher quality paper). Most issues with mailing labels, a few with condition issues, but an about near fine run.
  • $950
Two items from a Mexican occult group called the World's Unique Assembly Quetzalcoatl

Two items from a Mexican occult group called the World’s Unique Assembly Quetzalcoatl, Royal Order of the Plumed Serpent and Supreme Priesthood of the Messenger of the Fifth Sun

Campos, Rosa Maria; Jose Antonio Bautista 1966. Two extremely scarce items from an obscure Mexican occult group called the Asamblea Unica Mundial (A.U.M.) Quetzalcoatl, Real Orden de la Serpiente Emplumada y S. S. M. del Quinto Sol (translated on the group's literature as, World's Unique Assembly Quetzalcoatl, Royal Order of the Plumed Serpent and Supreme Priesthood of the Messenger of the Fifth Sun). The group was led by an occultist and cosmologist named Jose Antonio Bautista Orozco who claimed to be the heir of the secrets of the Aztec deity Quetzalcoatl. The bulk of what we know about Bautista and the A.U.M. comes from two items offered here, a circular that reprints a profile of him published in the newspaper Ovaciones by a young journalist named Rosa Maria Campos (later a PRI politician) and a presumably one-off publication simply titled "Peace!" The newspaper profile titled, "The Messenger of Ketzalkoatl [sic] Speaks," recounts Bautista's alleged death and miraculous resurrection following a 1951 assault in which he was thrown into a deep ravine. He was then apparently restored to life on the coroner's table, which Bautista attributed to his practice of Nahoas Philosophy, in which he possessed complete dominion over his body. The article concludes with Bautista's opinion on the Hatha yoga of the Aztecs vs. the "selfish" yoga of the Hindus. The Peace! publication provides further insight into the A.U.M.'s religious and philosophical underpinnings, including the influence of theosophy and yoga (a subscription form for the group's journal, Yoga, appears at the bottom of the rear page). We also presume Bautista was influenced by the French occultist and philosopher, Serge Raynaud de la Ferriere, who founded the Universal Great Brotherhood in 1948 in Caracas, Venezuela. The only reference to Bautista that we could find was in Ferriere's published letters, in which Bautista is referred to as Ferrier's Jefe del Servicio de Brigadas Misionales in Mexico. We could find no reference to the A.U.M., except for a listing in the Global Civil Society Database, so we presume the group did not last long. Both items are published in English perhaps indicating Bautista's interest in attracting a wider audience. The circular is one-sided and printed in black on white stock (13" x 7") and includes a photograph of Bautista and an illustration of Quetzalcoatl. The Peace! publication is printed in blue on both sides of a newsprint sheet (11" x 8 ½").
  • $500
The Crusader

The Crusader, Vol. 1, No. 1

Cleaver, Eldridge Stanford, California: Eldridge Cleaver Crusades, 1977. The sole issue of the newsletter of the Eldridge Cleaver Crusades, the evangelical ministry founded by former Black Panther Party Minister of Information, Eldridge Cleaver, after a religious conversion in 1975. Cleaver, who'd been in exile since 1968 when he fled the U.S. to escape an attempted murder charge, returned in 1975 and surrendered to the FBI. While in jail, Cleaver became involved in a prison ministry and attracted the attention of a number of high profile Christian evangelicals. After being released on bail, Cleaver, with the support of Art DeMoss, Chuck Colson, Billy Graham, and others, founded the Eldridge Cleaver Crusades and began touring the country speaking to white, middle class, Christian audiences about his "faith in Jesus Christ, traditional family values, conservative politics, and free-market capitalism" (Wells, p. 363). Many questioned the authenticity of Cleaver's transformation, and by 1980 he became disillusioned with Christian evangelism. He spent the 1980s as a practicing Baptist, Catholic and Mormon while also speaking at Rev. Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church. In this issue, Cleaver describes his newfound ministry and includes excerpts from two speeches. There are many photograph showing Cleaver with various evangelicals, speaking at various churches, and appearing on talk shows. Kathleen Cleaver includes an update on her husband's legal issues. Wrappers (11" x 8 ½"), 8 p., photographs. A fine copy.
  • $65
A collection of of material from the Independent Citizens Committee of the Arts

A collection of of material from the Independent Citizens Committee of the Arts, Sciences and Professions

New York / Washington, D. C.: Independent Citizens Committee of the Arts, Sciences and Professions, 1945. The Independent Citizens Committee of the Arts, Sciences and Professions was a short-lived leftist group founded in 1945 out of the Independent Voters Committee of the Arts and Sciences for Roosevelt (founded in 1944). It campaigned for New Deal causes, pro-labor policies and world peace and featured many prominent Hollywood actors and scientists. A Hollywood chapter was deeply involved with the case against the Hollywood Ten. Members included Paul Robeson, Ronald Reagan, Gregory Peck, Linus Pauling, J. Robert Oppenheimer, Frank Sinatra, Harold Ickes, Eleanor Roosevelt, Leonard Bernstein, Gene Kelly and many others. Like other progressive organizations founded during this time, the group was investigated by HUAC for Communist sympathies and in late 1946 joined with the National Citizens Political Action Committee to form Progressive Citizens of America, which supported Henry Wallace and the Progressive Party. Included in this small, but significant collection, are potentially a complete run of the group's publication, Report from Washington; a publication on the group's history and purpose titled ( Report from Washington: A Bulletin of Legislative News, Vol. 1, Nos. 1-4; Vol. 2, Nos. 1, hereafter only issued by date; March 6, 1946 (Emergency Action Bulletin), March 8, 1946, March 22, 1946, April 5, 1946, undated supplement, A Visit To Your Congressman, May 3, 1946, May 17, 1946, July 11, 1946, and an undated supplement on Price Control. Various formats, corner-stapled 11" x 8 ½" and 14" x 8 ½" sheets, various pagination. January 1945-June 1946: The History of the First Eighteen Months of the Independent Citizens' Committee of the Arts, Sciences and Professions. Newsprint sheet folded (11" x 8 ½"), 4 p. The Wallace Letter, tabloid format printed on newsprint, folded. Reprints Henry Wallace's letter to President Truman on U. S. foreign policy. No record for either of the latter two publications in OCLC, although a small collection exists at Yale and could be included there (no finding aid). We find only Duke holding any issue of Report from Washington (and far fewer than we're offering). Due to the group's short-lived existence, any material published by them rarely surfaces.
  • $600
African Opinion: Journal of Independent Thoughts and Expression

African Opinion: Journal of Independent Thoughts and Expression, Vol. 6, Nos. 11-12, Feb.-Mar. 1965

Brown, James L. (editor) New York: African Picture and Information Service, 1965. A double issue of this glossy, pan-African magazine considered by one scholar to be the "preeminent journal of latter-day Garveyism (West, p. 269). The magazine was published irregularly from 1949-1976 by the African Picture & Information Service located at 8 West 117th Street in Harlem and advertised itself as "the semi-official organ of the various African National Movements." International in scope, it focused on decolonization, African independence movements, the plight of African Americans in the post-war U.S., and repatriation schemes initiated in both the U.S. and Africa. This included the United Negro Improvement Association's Black Star Line, an advert for which appeared on the rear cover of many issues. Given the magazine's sustained duration, we were surprised to find very little information about it, the African Picture & Information Service, or its editor, the frustratingly named James Brown. This is echoed by scholar Michael West, who writes: "Few Garvey scholars seem aware of this publication, but it will surely repay their perusal, as well as that of students of decolonization, desegregation, Rastafari, and Black Power, among other movements" (ibid). For West, Brown's model was the short-lived newspaper International African Opinion founded by George Padmore and C.L.R. James in London in 1938. The earliest reference we could find to the African Picture and Information Service was a copyright entry for two posters of Princess Tsahai of Ethiopi and Marcus Garvey distributed by the group in 1947. In our opinion, the magazine and its publisher are worthy of further research. Glossy, stapled magazine format (11" x 8 ½"), 16 p., illus. Covers rubbed, some faint foxing, else very good. DANKY 166 REFERENCE: West, Michael O. "Decolonization, Desegregation, and Black Power: Garveyism in Another Era," Global Garveyism. University of Florida Press, 2016, pp. 265-285.
  • $300
Dawn: A Monthly Journal of Educational Sociological and Literary Criticism

Dawn: A Monthly Journal of Educational Sociological and Literary Criticism, Vol. III, No. 4, April 1915

Greenbie, Sydney (edited by) Santa Barbara: Dawn, 1915. An issue of this little magazine founded in late 1913 as The Germ by the millionaire social reformer, educator, and Renaissance Man, Prince (later Pryns, Prynce) Charles Hopkins (1885-1970). In January 1914, the magazine was renamed The Dawn (due to readers' dislike for the disease-sounding name) and Sydney Greenbie (1889-1960) enlisted as its associate editor. By 1915, Greenbie was the sole editor, as well as the director of Boyland (see below) and operated in that capacity until the magazine's dissolution around July, 1916. We suspect that all of the content for this issue was written by Greenbie, including a profile of painter Karl Schmidt and a discussion of Futurism & Cubism; an article on teaching and teachers; two poems; an essay titled "Exiled from Earth - a phantasy of War and Labor"; short editorials on a number of topics; etc. The Germ/Dawn began publication a year after Hopkins founded Boyland, a libertarian, experimental school for boys inspired by the burgeoning modern school movement. While attending Columbia University, Hopkins began attending anarchist gatherings where he met Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman. He became an early benefactor of the anarchist Ferrer School in New York City and later attended Dr. Maria Montessori's training program in San Diego (Boyland became a Montessori school in 1917). The Dawn served as an unofficial mouthpiece for Boyland's activities and pedagogical principles. In 1918, Hopkins was changed under the Espionage Act for attending an IWW meeting and Boyland was raided by federal agents and soon closed. In 1926, Hopkins opened a new school in France. Sydney Greenbie went on to become an author, educator, and world traveler who wrote many books and plays. He also remained interested in alternative educational models and presided over the "Floating University," which funded a year of studies for college students while they traveled on a cruise, and later Traversity, a similar venture, from 1928-1932. In 1962, Greenbie published the first U.S. edition of Hopkins' memoirs on his Traversity Press, which Hopkins had self-published in Thailand in 1961. Curiously, Barrie Greenbie, himself a Renaissance Man, later recounted that his father had obscured his Jewish lineage and had passed himself off as Swedish. Stapled, illustrated green wrappers printed in burgundy, [5], 72-94, [12] p. Well-printed, adverts from many local Santa Barbara businesses. Sunning to the wrapper edges, else fine. REFERENCES: Koegler, Dr. Ronald. "A Renaissance Prince: Prynce Hopkins," Noticias, Vol. 52, No. 4, 2008. https://issuu.com/santabarbaramuseum/docs/83690_noticias_web ;"Sydney Greenbie, Author, 70, Dead." New York Times, 10 June 1960, p. 31.
  • $200
A collection of material from the interracial Koinonia Community

A collection of material from the interracial Koinonia Community

Americaus, Georgia: Koinonia Community, 1980. A group of newsletters, notices and order forms from Koinonia Farm, the Christian, interracial, intentional farming community founded in 1942 in Americus, Georgia by two white couples, Clarence and Florence Jordan and Martin and Mabel England. Despite the group's interracial composition, it initially coincided with its less progressive neighbors in Americus, but following the Brown decision, its status in the community changed. The group was subjected to harassment, intimidation and violence throughout the 1950s, including dynamiting and burning of its farm and an economic boycott that disrupted the group's finances. But its members circumvented these challenges by founding a small mail-order catalog to sell its pecans, chocolate and peanuts around the world and it continues to operate today as Koinonia Partners. The group intermittently published a short newsletter to communicate with its supporters, although its publication schedule was regularly interrupted by the group's limited resources, busy schedule, or often due to threats from the surrounding white community. This is evident in one of the issues included here: "It has been a long time since you have heard from us. We apologize for causing some of you to think that you've been dropped from the mailing list. Some, though not all, of our delay has been due to the fact that things seemed to be boiling up again here and we thought it best to 'lay low' and give time for cooling off." We're offering the following issues: #18 (May 15, 1958), #19 (September 15, 1958), #29 (September 15, 1964), #34 (September, 1966), Summer Newsletter 1969, Spring Newsletter 1970, and Koinonia Fall Newsletter #1. Also included is a form letter dated November 10, 1969 following the death of founder Clarence Jordan; a similar undated letter paying tribute to long-time member Will Wittkamper (1892-1980) following his death; and three order forms for the group's products. 12 items total. All items printed on 11" x 8 ½" sheets, 1-4 pages. Nearly all have the mailing address of progressive activist Jessie Lloyd O'Connor. A scarce grouping.
  • $650