21 Tuesday Jan 2014
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Debord, Guy. スペクタクルの社会 La Société du Spectacle. Tokyo: Chikuma Shobo, 2003. 282 p.; 15 x 10.5 cm. Illustrated black cover with text in purple, red and white
Later Japanese edition of Guy Debord’s masterpiece, translated by Kinoshito Makoto. An earlier edition was published in 1993.
21 Tuesday Jan 2014
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NLC / More to come. Meeting w/ Verlaan. San Francisco (CA): More to Come, 9 April 1975. 8p.; ill.; 21 x 13.5cm.; ill. white wrappers with text in black, B&W picture of “The Cowboys” feat. John Wayne.
In this brief pamphlet, the anonymous author – likely a member of More to Come, a Bay-Area anarchist / prositu collective active in the early and mid-1970s – recounts a conversation with Tony Verlaan, a former member of the American Section of the Situationist International. The text is highly critical, with the author noting that “In the San Francisco Bay Area in the years 1964 to 1972, their (the S.I.’s) practical achievements are nil”. He goes on to criticize Isaac Cronin and others for their obsession with theoretical considerations and similar lack of practice.
This pamphlet is absent for institutional holdings, with the exception of the Labadie Collection at the University of Michigan. To my knowledge, It has not been reproduced on the internet, which is why the full text is featured below.
20 Monday Jan 2014
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Council for the Liberation of Daily Life, Robert Chasse, Situationist International, Situationist International - American Section
[ROBERT CHASSE] Situationist International. Letter dated December, 1968. New York: Situationist International, Dec. 1968. 21 x 29.5 cm. Single-page mimeographed letter; black text on white paper with a correction in blue pen.
Announces the dissolution of the Council for the Liberation of Daily Life as it merges with the Situationist International. Also announces the publication of a “Situationist International magazine” and solicits money for that project. The proposed magazine is described in some detail, and the address of the new Situationist International (at its Cooper Station P.O. Box, New York) is provided.
This document pre-dates the publication of Post Mortem Ante Facto by a few weeks, and that of Situationist International 1 by over six months. It is critical to understand the transition from the pre-Situationist Council for the Liberation of Daily Life to the American Section of the Situationist International
The current letter is rare, unavailable on OCLC and – despite its importance – in digital format. It is mentioned tangentially at http://www.cddc.vt.edu/sionline/si/dailylife.html.
24 Saturday Aug 2013
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Cartes Postales. Paris: Bibliotheque Nationale de France, 2013. 10.5 x 14.8 cm.
Set of 8 detourned postcards postcards released on the occasion of the Guy Debord exhibit at the Bibliotheque Nationale de France. Limited Edition of 500 each. Some postcards are “detournements of detournements”
Carte Postale #1 – “Construisez vous-memes une petite situation sans avenir” (originally printed by the IL in May 1955)
Carte Postale #2 – “Si vous vous croyez du genie, ou si vous estimez posseder seulement une intelligence brillante, presentez-vous [a l’exposition Guy Debord. Un Art de la Guerre. du 27 mars au 13 Juillet 2013 a la BnF, Paris 13e (originally printed by the IL in December 1955)
Carte Postale #3 – “Guy Debord: Un Art de la Guerre” (picture originally taken in Sept. 1960)
Carte Postale #4 – “A Bas la Societe Spectaculaire-Marchande” (CMDO poster originally released in May-June 1968)
Carte Postale #5: “Aaaaahhh l’Internationale Situationniste!!!” (originally published 16 May 1968)
Carte Postale #6 – “Realisation de la Philosophie” (originally published 17 June 1963)
Carte Postale #7 – “Le matin apres dix heures…” (originally published in 1958)
Carte Postale #8 – “Depassement de l’art” (17 June 1963)
27 Saturday Jul 2013
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Internationale Lettriste. Internationale Lettriste no. 3. Paris: Internationale Lettriste, August 1953. 1 p. in-folio (27.5 x 43 cm). Contributors include Guy Debord (also acting as editor), P.J. Berle, Bull D. Brau, Hadj Mohamed Dahou, Gaetan M. Langlais, Jean-Michel Mension and Gil J. Wolman.
Iconic, but short-lived bulletin of the Internationale Lettriste (4 issues published in total). In 1954, Internationale Lettriste was replaced by Potlatch, which was published from 1954 to 1957.
This issue includes the following articles: “Il Faut recommencer la guerre en Espagne”, “Dimensions du langage”, “Principes d’Un Théâtre Nouveau “, “Pour en finir AVEC le confort nihiliste”, “Allez-vous y voir-memes”, “Acte additionnel à la constitution d’une Internationale Lettriste”, “Totem et Tabou”, “Manifeste du Groupe Algérien de l’Internationale Lettriste”, “A la recherche de l’Asymptote” and “Vagabondage spécial”
The full text is available in French at Debordiana (http://debordiana.chez.com/francais/il.htm) An English translation can be found at Not Bored! (http://www.notbored.org/LI.html)
22 Saturday Jun 2013
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Rumney, Ralph. The Leaning Tower of Venice. Paris: Silverbridge, 2002. 36 p.; ill.; 20 x29 cm.; blue cover with text in black. Limited and numbered edition of 368. In the 18 copies of the special edition on old Lana, one page in the last chapter (La stampa non é l’impronta) carries the hand print of the author in gold leaf with his signature. In the edition of 350, the hand’s imprint is screen printed on Centaure paper by the Charnière printer
“The first complete reproduction of Ralph Rumney’s seminal contribution of the International Situationist Movement’s conception of Psychogeography. This detournement of ‘fotonovella’ which Rumney realized in Venice in 1957, was meant to be published in the first issue of the International Situationist Review. In the preface, Ralph Rumney recounts all the misfortunes of this famous work of art which had disappeared under unclear circumstances and became invisible for many years” (Silverbridge)
The full book can be seen at (and ordered from) http://www.royalbooklodge.com/en/publications/the-leaning-tower-of-venice/
22 Saturday Jun 2013
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Bodson, Guy. La F.A. et les Situationnistes: Mémoire pour Discussion dans les Familles après Boire. [Paris]: n.p, [1973]. 130 p.; ill.; 31.5 x 22.5 cm; grey wrappers with text in black.
A set of photocopied letters and documents that contextualizes the relationship between the Anarchist Federation (F.A..led by Guy Bodson) and the Internationale Situationniste in the mid-1960s. As Gonzalvez points out, Bodson blames the the breakdown of the F.A. to a Situationist conspiracy.
The Institute of Social History (IISG) in Amsterdam and the Center for Research on Anarchism (CIRA) own copies, but these are the only library holdings.
10 Monday Jun 2013
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Debord, Guy. La Société du Spectacle. Paris: Buchet-Chastel, 14 November 1967. 14 x 21.5 cm; 175 pages. White cover with title printed in black, bound in contemporary black binding.
First edition, first printing of Guy Debord’s magnum opus. Self portrait of Debord on back cover, placed in the left quartal of the page, as called for with true first issue. Buchet-Chastel issued two more printings, in 1969 and 1971, before Debord transferred the rights to Champ Libre and, eventually, Gallimard (whom Debord had many times insulted in his lifetime…). This copy comes in a contemporary, sober black binding that reflects the serious tone of this “book of theory”
P-S: It was rightly pointed out that Buchet-Chastel issued a fourth printing in 1972, following the Champ Libre publication
10 Monday Jun 2013
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Debord, Guy. La Société du Spectacle: Dossier de Presse du Film. Paris: Simar Films, 1973. 20 p.; ill. 21 x 29.5 cm.
This is a rather unique piece of Situationist ephemera – the “Dossier de Presse” released on the occasion of the release of Guy Debord’s La Société du Spectacle in 1971. Contents include: a an introduction to the film, excerpts from press articles about the film, and a biography of Debord. The publisher, Simar Films, was set up by Gerard Lebovici to produce Debord’s films.
05 Wednesday Jun 2013
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Bernstein, Michele. La Nuit. Paris: Buchet-Chastel, Septembre 1961. 181 p.; 20 cm; cream-colored cover in contemporary blue binding.
Second roman de celle qui fut la première épouse de Guy Debord, La Nuit forme un savoureux pastiche du Nouveau du Roman – en vogue à l’époque. Reprenant la même histoire que dans Tous Les Chevaux du Roi (publié l’année précédente), l’ouvrage “dépeint le quotidien et les amours d’un jeune couple ‘moderne’, comme l’on disait alors. On peut reconnaitre Bernstein et Debord sous les traits des deux héros” (Gonzalvez). Longtemps épuisé – et introuvable – l’ouvrage est de nouveau disponible chez Allia (2013).
L’exemplaire que nous présentons a la particularité d’être relié dans une couverture bleue cartonnée et entoilée qui n’est pas sans rappeler la dimension psychogéographique du roman: les longues ballades à pied dans Paris, qui sont légion dans le roman, évoquent la dérive si chère à Debord et aux membres de l’Internationale Situationniste.
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