FRUITS OF THE WORLD IN DANGER by Baxter, Glen - 1974

New York: Gotham Book Mart, 1974. First Edition. Softcover. Near fine. Baxter, Glen. 11 inches tall. [7] leaves, leaves [2]-[7] printed recto only. Printed covers, side-stapled. Signed by Baxter on the title page. Wrappers lightly toned, else fine.

Six illustrations of fruits in extremis (an orange resting on a railroad track as train speeds towards it, a banana below a circular saw...), drawn by Glen "Colonel" Baxter, British artist and poet associated with the New York School. As an art student in Leeds during the early 1960s, Baxter encountered the writing of Frank O'Hara and developed an interest in New York School poetry and the mimeograph magazines then being introduced to London. After submitting some of his own pieces to ADVENTURES IN POETRY, in 1974 Baxter was invited to the U.S. to read at St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery - "I stood at the lectern, dressed in a tweed suit, and began to speak. People burst into spontaneous laughter. I had arrived" (from a 2016 interview in LITERARY HUB). That same year, Gotham Book Mart began hosting shows of his work (at which Edward Gorey was an enthusiastic customer) and published two 11 x 8½-inch format books: FRUITS OF THE WORLD IN DANGER and THE HANDY GUIDE TO AMAZING PEOPLE.