June 8, 2012 |
Tomberg Rare Books
Catalogue Review: Tomberg Rare Books, #1
It is always a pleasure to review a bookseller's first catalogue, and this one, just issued by Tomberg Rare Books, is no different. The Connecticut-based bookseller specializes in little magazines, the mimeograph revolution, Beat poetry, artists' books, art, and ephemera.
A selection of William Burroughs includes a signed catalogue from Atticus Books listing 360 items for sale with a foreword by Burroughs on "The Future of the Novel" ($400) and the very cool Burroughs cut-up of the Nov. 30, 1962 Time magazine cover ($400). That issue contained a negative review of Naked Lunch, and Burroughs lashed back with this "part parody and part critique."
A complete set (four volumes) of City Lights Journal is a nice find ($120) for collectors of Burroughs, Ginsberg, Corso, Snyder, etc. Too much San Fran? The "overseas wing of the New York School" is represented in a complete set of Locus Solus ($320).
Here are some other names you'll encounter in this stand-out debut catalogue: Timothy Leary, Bob Dylan, Ezra Pound, & Hunter Thompson.
My favorite? The Complete Press Kit for 'Fugs' Cross Country Vietnam Protest Caravan -- actually, a two-page handbill -- but what a great piece ($450). And this one comes from the collection of Ralph J. Gleason, San Francisco Chronicle music editor & co-founder of Rolling Stone.
Check out the full catalogue in PDF here.
Related articles
It is always a pleasure to review a bookseller's first catalogue, and this one, just issued by Tomberg Rare Books, is no different. The Connecticut-based bookseller specializes in little magazines, the mimeograph revolution, Beat poetry, artists' books, art, and ephemera. A selection of William Burroughs includes a signed catalogue from Atticus Books listing 360 items for sale with a foreword by Burroughs on "The Future of the Novel" ($400) and the very cool Burroughs cut-up of the Nov. 30, 1962 Time magazine cover ($400). That issue contained a negative review of Naked Lunch, and Burroughs lashed back with this "part parody and part critique."
A complete set (four volumes) of City Lights Journal is a nice find ($120) for collectors of Burroughs, Ginsberg, Corso, Snyder, etc. Too much San Fran? The "overseas wing of the New York School" is represented in a complete set of Locus Solus ($320).
Here are some other names you'll encounter in this stand-out debut catalogue: Timothy Leary, Bob Dylan, Ezra Pound, & Hunter Thompson.
My favorite? The Complete Press Kit for 'Fugs' Cross Country Vietnam Protest Caravan -- actually, a two-page handbill -- but what a great piece ($450). And this one comes from the collection of Ralph J. Gleason, San Francisco Chronicle music editor & co-founder of Rolling Stone.
Check out the full catalogue in PDF here.
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- Bright Young Things: Andrea Tomberg (finebooksmagazine.com)
![Origen of Alexandria (c. 185–253) Homilia in Genesim, Homiliae in Exodum, in Latin, translation by Rufinus, decorated manuscript on parchment [Austria, Lambach Abbey? c. 1150–1175]. Estimate: $150,000-$200,000.](/sites/default/files/styles/category_card/public/media-images/2026-06/origen.jpeg?itok=0V_4_Lt2)
