SEMI-COLON Vol. 1 No. 1

New York: Tibor De Nagy Gallery, 1953. First Edition. Very Good.. First number of this "poets' newsletter" edited by Myers and published by his gallery, Tibor De Nagy, with contributions from Frank O'Hara, Max Jacob (tr. John Ashbery), Edwin Denby, Nicolas Chamfort (tr. James Merrill), and others. Tibor De Nagy Gallery was in many ways ground zero not just for the abstract expressionist movement but for the first generation New York School as well. The gallery published early books from Frank O'Hara, John Ashbery, Kenneth Koch, James Schuyler, and Barbara Guest and encouraged collaborations between them and the painter the gallery represented. SEMI-COLON, which ran ten issues, served as something of a semi-private mode of communication between these New York writers, not unlike the way FLOATING BEAR would a decade later. The dates of these newsletters are somewhat in dispute. Clay and Phillips date the first issue to 1950, but Tibor De Nagy was not founded until the following year. O'Hara's and Ashbery's bibliographers both suggest "[1955?]" for Vol. 1, No. 1. Most likely correct, however, are the dates 1953-ca. 1956 provided by the inventory and catalogue of the Myers' archive (on deposit at the Smithsonian Museum of American Art), and our date follows their lead. Issues, especially early ones, are scarce. 11'' x 8.5''. Single sheet folded once to make four pages. Minor creasing, wear to edges. Some toning. Else sound.