Missed our conversation with Pat Thoms and Andy Outis? Register here to watch this episode of PRINT Book Club.
Allen Ginsberg was one of the foremost minds of his generation. He was also a prolific collector. From his extensive archives at Standford, Pat Thomas worked with Peter Hale of Ginsberg’s estate to pull nearly ten thousand items for consideration. From this, Thomas narrowed it to 1,000 items encompassing Material Wealth: Mining the Personal Archive of Allen Ginsberg.
The three most remarkable pieces, according to Thomas, are a satire of Ginsberg’s Howl written by screenwriter Terry Southern (below); a transcript of a call between Ginsberg and Henry Kissinger about ending the war in Vietnam, one in which the famously exhibitionist Ginsberg suggests they discuss the issue naked on national television (below); and (not pictured), a letter from the American Nazi Party to Ginsberg about all the reasons they wanted to assassinate him: likely a “commie,” possibly gay, definitely a Jew.
Towel by Terry Southern, a satire of Ginsberg’s Howl (never published)
Transcript from a 1973 conversation between Ginsberg and Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger about ending the war in Vietnam; Ginsberg suggests they discuss the issue naked on national television
The book is a collection of 600,000 words and 300 pages, yet it is also light (uncoated paper!). Andy Outis took us through the myriad of design decisions that give this book its singular aesthetics. He began the project by reading Howl aloud to internalize it (during the pandemic). Outis leaned heavily on 90s graphic design, specifically deconstruction, for inspiration in creating a book that was more than just the sum of its artifacts—the unique open spine, the leveraging of low-resolution scans with all the original scratches, dirt, and flaws, and the use of color. Outis also typeset the accompanying text on an Underwood 315 typewriter. From there, he scanned it, making the book’s pages look very much like archival material they hold.
Ginsberg was neither conventional nor conservative. So, Andy went for it …
It’s a work of art.
Pat Thomas on collaborating with Andy Outis, designer of Material Wealth
For those who find the intersection of history fascinating, Thomas has a beautiful sentiment about this very thing as it relates to Allen Ginsberg, Stonewall, and The Beatles about 38 minutes in. You’ll also hear a surprising admission from Steven Heller, who, as a young Ginsberg fan, stole a copy of Howl from Doubleday Book Shop (eventually returning it to the shelves after he read it).
Our conversation wound from music to poetry to design to politics to culture, so there’s something for everyone. Register here to watch the discussion.
Don’t own a copy of Material Wealth: Mining the Personal Archive of Allen Ginsberg? You can order one here.