Rare books from Crow Hop Rare Books

Original Poster: University in Motion. Matrix for the Arts. Centennial Symposium November 15-19, 1967. Sponsored by the Graduate Committee for the Centennial Year and the Center for Advanced Study. 13.5" x 22”. Heavy stock, overall VG+, one bumped corner, sunning to extremities, not affecting image. The poster breaks down the events for the symposium, including an address by Saul Bellow entitled “Matrix for the Arts;” a theatre event with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company with John Cage; panels on “Art and the University: Symbolism, Censorship, and the Environment” (Leo Lionni, Harold Rosenberg, Harry Weese, Champan Kelley), “Theatre and the University: Amusement or Art?” (Dore Schary, June Havoc, Merce Cunningham, Wilford Leach, Joseph Chaikin, Claude Kipnis), “Music and the University: What Kind, What Aim?” (Gilbert Chase, John Cage, Gunther Schuller, Charles Wuorinen), and “Matrix for the Arts: Patronage and Purpose” (S. Leonard Pas Jr., June Havoc); a closing lecture, “Intuition,”… Read More

Original Poster: Theatre Event: The Merce Cunningham Dance Company with John Cage. Thursday, November 16, 8:00 p.m. Assembly Hall. Tickets: 2.50, 2:00 and 1.50, Illini Union Box Office or the Assembly Hall. Approximately 11.5" x 22”. Heavy yellow stock with red design and lettering, overall VG+, with some offsetting to bottom third, a small stain not affecting image or text, a small closed tear and bumped corner.John Cage, the avant-garde composer and a founder of the New York School, arrived in 1967 for a three-year appointment as Associate of the Center for Advanced Studies and Visiting Professor of Music, where he created numerous “happenings,” performance art where visitors, performers, objects, and environments interacted. The first happening Cage directed at Illinois (complete with large weather balloons) occurred on this November weekend: Music Circus (otherwise known as Musicircus) at the University of Illinois Stock Pavillion, which began at 8pm and lasted for nearly eight hours.A… Read More

Garden CIty, NY: Doubleday, 1956. First Edition. Jacket design by Ruth Ray. VG (soiling to boards, a few bumps to edges, offsetting to endpapers, slight spine lean) in a Good + unclipped dustjacket (soiling and rubbing, chipping and loss to edges, light creasing to upper third, dampstaining to flap edges and at rear fold, fading to spine, tape ghosts on verso). The second novel in Asimov's Robot series.

Illustrated uncut sheet on rag paper (no watermark visible), sepia-toned, measuring approximately 25.25” x 21”. Im Verlag und zufinden bey Peter Schencken (Amsterdam, circa 1705). Originally published in Paris in the seventeenth century, with a few variations listed in OCLC, mostly appearing in European institutions (one appears at Harvard).  Half-inch loss to upper left edge, three small holes at lower edge, vertical crease, soiling, and edgewear. Numerous tape repairs on verso, most likely two disbound sheets from a composite atlas joined with early tape reinforcement. Alphabetical table of figures and index on left margin, rules of the game printed across top. 52 separately numbered uncut game cards (each approximately 2” x 3.25”). Each card has an illustration (fortification) and text. Each card could be cut or the entire sheet could also be used as a gameboard.  A scarce European military fortification game dating from the early eighteenth century.

An outstanding collection of ephemeral material (approximately 200 separate pieces) from the New York City record store/record label Midnight Records from the years 1984-1989. Midnight Records was founded by J.D. Martignon (who died in 2016), a French record dealer who has been called “the mover and shaker” behind the 1980s underground music scene and who “created the first record label in New York for neo-garage music” (see Bovey). Midnight Records (1984-2004) on 23rd Street became the go-to place for garage rock, punk, and other underground genres, and soon Martignon launched the Midnight Records label (1984-1993), first releasing an album for The Zantees. In the years that followed, other New York bands (including The Fuzztones, Outta Place, The Tryfles, Cheepskates) were joining the label, as well as other bands including Plan 9, Slickee Boys, Absolute Grey, Gothics, The Vipers, Deja Voodoo, The Iguanas, Dimentia 13, Plasticland, Suburban Nightmares, and Screaming Jay Hawkins. Midnight also… Read More

Photojournalist Cornell Capa (brother to the famous WWII photographer Robert Capa) founded New York’s International Center of Photography in 1972. In 1946, he was working as a staff photographer for Life, and over the following eight years he worked on approximately 300 assignments for the magazine. Capa said that his aim was to “write with light, to inform, to enlighten, to be fair—but with passion and incisive understanding.” Capa achieved these aims in his work both for Life and in his famous photographs of John F. Kennedy, Marilyn Monroe, Clark Gable, Grandma Moses, and Billy Graham. In the September 6, 1946 issue of Life, Capa contributed the cover photo and an accompanying photo essay entitled “LifeVisits Cape Cod” (p. 122-125). The feature of that photo essay was the Foster family of Nashua, NH (William and Carol and sons Karl, 9, and Michael, 4). At the time of this photo shoot, Carol Foster was just beginning her undercover activities with the FBI “collecting information and… Read More

Detroit: Associates Advertisers’ Service, 1953. 88 pp. Good+ illustrated stapled wraps (worn and creased covers, text block separated from top staple, light staining and soiling throughout, chip to one leaf affecting page numbers).John Cuspart and Reuben Hughes, editors and publishers of the Directory, note in their Dedication, “We sincerely hope the 390,000 Negroes of this great city will find its pages useful in their everyday life. It is YOUR directory to use as needed.” Includes advertisements that run the gamut of black-owned businesses in the city, from Barber Shops and Record Shops to Funeral Homes and Sign Painters, many with pictures of the proprietors. Larger sections for Auto Dealers, Churches, Cleaners and Tailors, Dressmakers, Gasoline Stations, Hotels, Insurance, and Restaurants. Features include “Accounting and Good Records,” “Condensed Biography—Dr. Louis Thompkins Wright,” “Household Hints,” “Life Insurance,” “What is a Realist?” and “Travel Etiquette—by Carmen… Read More

A collection of 49 cassette tapes from an underground hip hop radio show (Da' Hip Hop Shop--featuring Danno Matic) that appeared on Kiev Radio 87 AM in Glendale, California, in the late 1980s/early 1990s. Other tapes are labeled with various mixes and titles to songs/features, dated from 1984-1992. 

A complete run from 1922 and 1923 of this important socialist magazine edited by Max Eastman and Floyd Dell. New York: Liberator Publishing Co., [1922, 1923]. 23 issues (Nov-Dec 1922 is combined in one issue). There is a small "Jan. 1922" stamp on one of the opening pages of first issue. Pages loose in February, March, April, July 1922 and September 1923 issues. All have been disbound by a conservator (they were loosely sewn and bound in red buckram), showing signs of that work to edges. Good+ to VG illustrated wraps (fragile newsprint, nicks to spines from being sewn together previously, chipping, tears, and wear to edges, vertical creasing through center of all issues, two notations in first issue, one to December 1922 issue, two to March 1923, one in May 1923).

September 5-10, 1978, compiled specifically for Delta Airlines CEO David C. Garrett, Jr (served 1978-1987).Contains 215 color photographs of the week’s activities at the Abara Ranch in Wyoming, including the induction ceremony of Garrett (now a member of the Georgia Aviation Hall of Fame). Beautifully presented, with Garrett’s photo and nameplate on front of this 12” x 11” album (4” thick with gilt edges). Contains lists of participants and members from inception in the 1930s. Photographs of astronaut Neil Armstrong, a member, and many other notables from the aviation industry. Conquistadores del Cielo (Conquers of the Sky) is the “secret club” for aviation industry executives and other aviation experts, and these week-long ranch meetings contain a mix of sporting events and competitions, rituals, and activities. INSCRIBED by Conquistadores President Dan Burns to Garrett on title page: “To Dave A Great New Conquistadore! Sincerely, Dan.” A Who’s Who of the 1970s airline industry… Read More

No. 198 (PSA graded Ex-Mt 6), along with four ungraded: No. 199, No. 1301, No. 1302, No. 1303. Warhol’s EPI [Exploding Plastic Inevitable], an experimental, sensory-fueled multimedia experience we could now describe as performance art, was performed in various U.S. cities in the late 1960s. “At its height, the EPI featured musical performances by the Velvet Underground and Nico, while anywhere from 3 to 5 of Warhol’s films such as Eat, Sleep, and Vinyl, as well as Screen Tests of band members were projected on multiple screens. A mirrored ball hung from the ceiling and floor, reflecting lighting overlaid by colored slides with patterned cut-outs, changed by hand. The addition of strobe lighting, Gerard Malanga, Mary Woronov, and Ingrid Superstar dancing on stage, as well as the movements of the rest of the crowd all contributed to a multisensory experience” (www.warhol.org).

16+ pages of handwritten material written by [name withheld]. “This is a Musical Play showing gang member exactly what effect is laid upon other with gang activity in today society. The reason I’m writing this Musical Play is because I’ve seen the effects of these actions. I also hope that in some way the play will make at least one look at what he or she is really doing both to themselves, society, and to a once proud and strong black race.” Includes Concept for songs: Song One: Family Life-A Mother CryingSong Two: The ending of a blood line-Family destructionSong Three: The retaliation of the home boyz-RevengeSong Four: A river of red-running wildSong Five: Black by nature Proud by Choice (Bravery Love Attitude Courage Knowledge)Lays out scenes and includes lyrics to one song, “A Mothers Crying” as well as snippets of other songs. Includes plan to reference Martin Luther King Jr.An incredible unfinished West Coast Gang Musical Treatment from the late 1990s.

Includes 8 color photos of performers (3 of live performance), drawings and doodles scattered throughout, more than 100 pages total including handwritten lyrics. Also included are a set of poems from a woman in Costa Mesa, CA.

Material belonging to Charlie Allen, trumpeter in the funk/soul band Bar-Kays (formed in 1964 in Memphis). Includes handwritten lyrics, musical arrangements, letters, band biography, postcards (one addressed to Ruby Wilson), show notes, 1974 hotel reservations and tour schedule, plus a few photos. The Bar-Kays had a number of hits, including “Son of Shaft,” “Soul Finger,” and “Boogie Body Land.” Additional photos sent upon request.

25 pieces total—handwritten lyrics, his EP, plus 2 drawings—by Memphis musical artist Al Jay (real name Al James) from the early 1990s. Edgy R&B/funk/rap/disco/hip hop fusion sound. Listen at https://www.reverbnation.com/aljay12. Lyrics include “DoTha Gangsta Dance,” “Big O Studd U,” “I’m Just a Getto Man,” “It’s X Rated,” and “Slippen In Early.”