Avant-garde from Royal Books, Inc.

N.p.: N.p., 1966. Vintage borderless photograph of model Veruschka von Lehndorff in her famous five-minute scene from the 1966 film. Inspired by the 1959 short story "Las Babas del Diablo" by Julio Cortazar. Michelangelo Antonioni's first English-language film, marking the beginning of the final phase of his work, co-produced by companies in Italy, the United States and… Read more

N.p.: RCA Records and Tapes, 1975. Two preliminary RCA test photographs of David Bowie to promote his 1976 album "Station to Station," released here to promote his upcoming appearance in the 1976 film, "The Man Who Fell to Earth." Mimeo snipes, announcing "David Bowie to star in 'The Man Who Fell to Earth.'," from Bill Feeder of the marketing… Read more

N.p.: N.p., 1962. Collection of nine vintage studio still photographs from the 1962 film, four borderless, two with bottom border, and three with narrow borders. Bunuel's masterpiece, and the penultimate film from his Mexico period. An incisive, eerie, surrealist comedy about a group of bourgeois guests at a dinner party who realize they inexplicably… Read more

N.p.: N.p., 1966. Collection of 20 vintage borderless photographs from the 1966 film, 18 reference photographs and 2 fashion photographs of Rosaleen Murray and Ann Norman. Mimeo snipes on the verso of three of the photographs. Inspired by the 1959 short story "Las Babas del Diablo" by Julio Cortazar. Michelangelo Antonioni's first English-language film, marking… Read more

New York: Cinebill, 1974. Ten page vintage American Film Theatre/Cinebill program for the 1974 film. Program, illustrated throughout, includes an essay on Eugene Ionesco and "Rhinoceros" by Martin Esslin, excerpts of Ionesco's writings on theatre, an essay by director Tom O'Horgan, and a tribute to and interview with Zero Mostel. Based on the 1959 absurdist play by Ionesco,… Read more

N.p.: American Film Theatre, 1975. Collection of nine vintage borderless studio still photographs from the 1975 film. Laid in is a list and description of the nine photographs on American Film Theatre letterhead. Based on the 1947 avant-garde play by Jean Genet, and part of the American Film Theatre series, produced by Ely Landau, of thirteen plays adapted… Read more

N.p.: Continental, 1968. Collection of five vintage photographs from the 1968 film, four studio still photographs, one with wide margins, and one compilation photograph of four stills. John Cassavetes seminal fourth film as director took three years to complete, was shot (and edited) in his own house starring his friends (who often doubled as camera operators),… Read more

N.p.: N.p., 1976. Archive of six autograph letters signed and one typed letter signed from Kathy Acker to fellow experimental novelist Rudolph Wurlitzer, twenty five pages total, undated, but written during the first half of 1976 based on dates mentioned in the body of one of the letters. From the collection of Rudolph Wurlitzer, with provenance. Acker… Read more

N.p.: N.p., 1968. Archive of manuscript material for Rudolph Wurlitzer's 1968 debut novel "Nog," including a complete first draft of the novel, showing significant differences from the published version and with an unpublished final chapter, and over 300 loose manuscript pages, both with extensive holograph annotations throughout. As complete and detailed an archive regarding a writer's creative process as… Read more

N.p.: N.p., 1982. Vintage photograph of artist Joseph Beuys sitting amongst a crowd at an anti-NATO demonstration held in Bonn, Germany on October 6, 1982. Also scene in the photograph are German Green Party Member of Parliament Gert Bastian, and Beuys' wife, Eva Wurmbach. With the stamps of press agencies Poly-Press and Lynx on the verso. 8.5… Read more

Manchester: Factory Records, No. FAC235, 1988. First Edition. First Edition. Issued privately by The Hacienda club in Manchester to friends of the establishment, a flip-book (or "manual video") illustrated by avant-garde filmmaker and conceptualist Robert Breer and photographer Wiliam Wegman, bound such that the book slants to the left to enable easy flipping. On the front wrapper, in brightly… Read more

Soviet Union: Mosfilm, 1983. Vintage photograph of director Andrei Tarkovsky on the set of the 1983 film. Typescript snipe and holograph annotations on the verso. The Russian poet Andrei Gorchakov (Oleg Jankovsky) and his interpreter Eugenia (Domiziana Giordano) journey to Italy to research a forgotten 18th-century composer. Winner of three prizes at The Cannes Film Festival,… Read more

N.p.: N.p., 1987. Vintage poster for the world premiere of Glenn Branca's "Symphony 6 (Devil Choirs at the Gates of Heaven)" on June 19-20, 1987 at the Sanders Theatre, Harvard University. The poster notes Youth in Asia member and frequent Branca collaborator Stephan (misspelled Stephen on the poster) Wischerth on drums. A piece in five movements for… Read more

New York: Filmmakers Newsletter / Filmmakers' Cinematheque, 1971. Archive of 41 issues of "Filmmakers Newsletter," dating from the first four years of the magazine, including Vol. I, issue 1. Early issues of the magazine are scarce, and putting together a collection of this size piecemeal would be prohibitively difficult. Founded in 1967 by experimental filmmaker Carl Linder… Read more

New York: Theoretical Records, 1979. Vintage flyer advertising the release of the band's lone 7" titled "Theoretical Record," featuring "My Relationship" b/w "Don't Let Me Stop You." SIGNED by founding member Glenn Branca on the recto. Formed after Branca's previous band Theoretical Girls dissolved, The Static was the first outfit to play Branca's music exclusively and… Read more

New York: The Living Theatre, 1961. Original flyer for an exhibition of six films by Maya Deren held on February 20 and 27, 1961 at the Bleecker Street Cinema, and March 6 and 13, 1961 at The Living Theater. The flyer notes that music for two of the films, "Meshes in the Afternoon" and "The Very Eye of the… Read more

N.p.: N.p., 1973. Original poster for the Tenth Annual New York Avant Garde Festival held on December 9, 1973 at Grand Central Station in New York. Poster by artist, designer, and musician Jim McWilliams, who would design 12 of the 15 festival posters, making his work synonymous with the Festival. Founded by cellist and performance artist Charlotte… Read more

Milan: Edizioni Futuriste di Poesia, 1916. First Italian Edition, preceding all others. A book length expansion of the musical theories first put forth by Russolo in a 1913 manifesto to fellow Futurist composer Francesco Balilla Pratella. Text in Italian. Perhaps the earliest treatise on the use of noise as an element in modern music, and one that… Read more

Paris: Éditions du Seuil, 1952. First French Edition, preceding all others. Review copy, with with the letters "S.P." (Service de Presse) punched onto the rear wrapper. Text in French. A foundational document on the development of musique concrete by composer and musicologist Schaeffer, who had coined the term four years earlier, which would influence not only 20th… Read more

Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1980. First Edition. First Edition. Rare, this being the only copy we have ever offered for sale. An early book on improvised music, written by Derek Bailey, one of the pioneering masters of the form, including chapters on Indian music, flamenco, rock, jazz and more. Near Fine in a Very Good… Read more