Airplane Dreams: Compositions from Journals

[San Francisco]: House of Anansi / City Lights Books, 1969 First American edition, first printing. Signed and inscribed by Ginsberg on the title page: Allen Ginsberg / For Ron Benham." With a few annotations by Ginsberg to the title page, including "-Yeats" beneath printed quotation, and "AH" and "Naropa" and a couple of undeciphered words around printed 3-fish symbol. One of 5,000 copies. Publisher's white and blue wrappers, with photo of Ginsberg by Terry Walker to front wrapper, lettered in black. Near fine, with small crease to top right corner of front wrapper, and light spotting to rear wrapper. Overall, a clean copy. Airplane Dreams contains some of Ginsberg's journal writings from between 1948 and 1968. In a note at the beginning of the book, Ginsberg describes the collection as "... a few solid fragments typed up published out of context, not exactly poems, nor not poems: journal notations put together conveniently, a mental turn-on printed across the border by long hair youthful exiles disunited from these States by the war of sighs and spears." The fragments are titled: "History of the Jewish Socialist Party in America," "Understand that this is a dream," "New York to San Fran," and "Consulting I Ching Smoking Pot Listening to the Fugs Sing Blake." . Inscribed by Author. First American Edition. Original Wrappers. Near Fine.