Loba. Part II.

Pt. Reyes & Kathmandu: for Eidolon Editions by Dreamweapon Press,, 1976. First edition, signed limited issue, number 2 of 50 hardbound copies signed by the author and the illustrator to the rear, and signed and inscribed by Di Prima to the bookseller and collector Robert Wilson on the front pastedown, "For Bob, with, as usual, thanks and much love". Di Prima was one of the few women writers to attain prominence in the male-dominated Beat movement: this is the second part of her exploration of Loba, the she-wolf, as mythic mother of the world. Wilson's Phoenix Book Shop in Greenwich Village was a regular hangout for Pulitzer and Nobel Prize winners and Beat poets;. Wilson (1922-2016) was a prominent patron of the Beat poets and himself a prolific publisher and bibliographer, producing over 40 limited editions and bibliographies, including works for Gertrude Stein, Marianne Moore, and Ginsberg, Kerouac, and Auden. Loba been acclaimed as the female counterpart to Allen Ginsberg's Howl. Di Prima's work spanned decades, and culminated in a 1998 edition which comprised Parts I–XVI, at over 300 pages long. The author has further inscribed on the limitation page, "Of the proposed 50 hardbound copies, 36 were usable, numbered 1-36, and 9 others, with binding flaws were numbered A-I & used as presentation copies by author & artist. Diane di Prima". Octavo, 36pp. Original lokta paper boards, titles and imprint to covers in brown, Loba illustration to front in black, lokta stock. With woodcut illustrations in black and brown throughout by Josie Grant. Contents foxed, else a near-fine copy.