When analyzing an economic concern, one likes to see stable and sustainable growth. If rare book catalogs can be read as economic indicators (and they can), then Brian Cassidy appears to be on his way to reaching the Fortune 500 of booksellers. See http://www.briancassidy.net/cataloguesix.pdf.
In each and every catalog Brian has put out, there has been an increase in the quality of books, in the breadth and depth of selection, and in the level of bibliographic detail. His latest catalog is one more step up the booksellers' ladder.
Full disclosure: To some extent this review is insider trading. I am friends with Brian. We go out to lunch. His number is on my speed dial and he has to suffer through late night talks when I am wrestling with a case of Natty Boh in my alley and I get a hankering for book talk. So on a personal level I am invested in seeing Brian succeed, but even the most casual observer can not help but notice the step up in Brian's latest catalog. To take just one example, the Warhol material is stunning and meticulously presented. It should be noted that Brian can write and has a fine research library at his disposal. He is not afraid to use it. The Warhol alone would set off the catalog but look how he plays Pop along side Outsider Art in the entry on the train collection. Thus the catalog comes across as a seamless whole. What holds it all together is Brian's eye for the "intrinsically interesting."
What makes Brian so exciting as a bookseller is that he is historically aware. Brian knows deeply the tradition of bookselling and he studies and respects it. Best of all Brian is ambitious. Yes to be financially successful, but more importantly to make a mark, to leave a legacy in the trade. Let me be clear this latest catalog by Brian does not rank with Division Leap's Art Terrorism in Ohio catalog. Adam and Kate's catalog will become an essential reference and it is a key document (not to mention their other creative publications, like Division Leap Magazine) by an emerging group of young booksellers currently on the scene. Brian is in this group but he has yet to arrive with such a definitive statement. Yet based on this latest catalog, I would expect that statement sooner rather than later. Keep an eye on him. What he does next is sure to be interesting and informative.
JB
MIMEO MIMEO #8: CURATORS' CHOICE features 16 bibliophiles on 6 highlights from their personal or institutional collections. Contributors include Steve Clay, Wendy Burk, Tony White, Brian Cassidy, Thurston Moore, J.A. Lee, Michelle Strizever, Adam Davis, Michael Basinski, Joseph Newland, Alastair Johnston, Tate Shaw, Michael Kasper, Steve Woodall, Molly Schwartzberg, Nancy Kuhl, James Maynard, and the Utah posse (Becky Thomas, Marnie Powers-Torrey, Craig Dworkin, Emily Tipps, Luise Poulton, & David Wolske)
MIMEO MIMEO #7: THE LEWIS WARSH ISSUE is the first magazine ever devoted in its entirety to poet, novelist, publisher, teacher, and collage artist Lewis Warsh. Warsh was born in 1944 in the Bronx, co-founded Angel Hair Magazine and Books with Anne Waldman in 1966, and went on to co-found United Artists Magazine and Books with Bernadette Mayer in 1977. He is the author of over thirty books of poetry, fiction and autobiography, the Director of the MFA program in Creative Writing at Long Island University in Brooklyn, and as you’ll soon discover, so much more. Includes an introduction by Daniel Kane, an interview conducted by Steve Clay, 10 new stories, 5 new poems, dozens of photographs and collages, and an anecdotal bibliography.
OUT OF PRINT
MIMEO MIMEO #6: THE POETRY ISSUE is devoted to new work by eight poets who have consistently composed quality writing that has influenced and inspired generations since the golden era of the mimeo revolution. Contributors include Bill Berkson, John Godfrey, Ted Greenwald, Joanne Kyger, Kit Robinson, Rosmarie Waldrop, Lewis Warsh, and Geoffrey Young. Cover art by George Schneeman.
OUT OF PRINT
MIMEO MIMEO #3: THE DANNY SNELSON ISSUE examines the relationship between structuralism and the poetries of the mimeo era by presenting a detailed analysis of Form (a Cambridge-UK magazine published in 1966) and Alcheringa (a journal published by Boston University in 1975), two exemplary gatherings that illuminate the historical, material and social circumstances under which theory informed art (and vice versa) in the early works of some of today's most celebrated experimental writers. Also includes a special insert, The Infernal Method, written, designed and printed by Aaron Cohick (NewLights Press).
OUT OF PRINT
MIMEO MIMEO #2: features Emily McVarish on her artist's book Flicker; James Maynard on poet Robert Duncan's early experiences as an editor and typesetter; Derek Beaulieu on the relationship between the influential Canadian poetry journal Tish and Black Mountain College; and an extensive interview with Australian poet and typographer Alan Loney conducted by Kyle Schlesinger. Cover is by Emily McVarish.
OUT OF PRINT
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