OLYMPIA PRESS]. A superb and virtually complete collection of titles published by the Olympia Press and its various imprints including the Ophelia Press, the Collection Merlin, the Atlantic Library Series, and the Traveller's Companion Series. Paris and New York, 1953-1974. All the major publications of the press are present, (only a handful of reprints and New York works absent). Together approximately 400 volumes, most FIRST EDITIONS, most 8 o , in original bindings, including a small number of duplicates. Provenance : Patrick Kearney, the Olympia Press bibliographer.
OLYMPIA PRESS]. A superb and virtually complete collection of titles published by the Olympia Press and its various imprints including the Ophelia Press, the Collection Merlin, the Atlantic Library Series, and the Traveller's Companion Series. Paris and New York, 1953-1974. All the major publications of the press are present, (only a handful of reprints and New York works absent). Together approximately 400 volumes, most FIRST EDITIONS, most 8 o , in original bindings, including a small number of duplicates. Provenance : Patrick Kearney, the Olympia Press bibliographer. THE BIBLIOGRAPHER'S COLLECTION OF THE CELEBRATED OLYMPIA PRESS Started in 1953 by Maurice Girodias and based on the model of the Obelisk Press, which had been run by his father Jack Kahane, the Olympia Press holds an important and unique place in literary history. Publishing works of great literary value by some of the most renowned authors of the 20th-century, Girodias and the Olympia Press confronted the issues of intellectual and sexual freedom in the 1950s and 1960s. "A FOUR-LETTER WORD NEVER KILLED A READER" (Maurice Girodias) After his father's death in 1939 and with war inevitable, young Girodias was penniless and the Obelisk Press had folded. Having worked for his father for several years, Girodias stayed in the publishing business. He first published reprints in a 50/50 partnership with Kurt Enoch under the Unicorn Press. When Hitler's armies entered France and Enoch left for the United Sates, Girodias began publishing arts books as Les Editions du Chene. He became a successful art book publisher, but decided after the war to expand in a more literary direction. In 1946, he published a pamphlet by an ex-resistance fighter named Yves Farge, who denounced the official protections given to black market operators. Girodias was sued for libel, but to his surprise, the case went in his favor. He was indicted again in 1947 for publishing a French edition of Henry Miller's Tropic of Capricorn under Editions du Chene. Girodias launched an aggressive anti-censorship campaign, taking up where his father and the Obelisk Press had left off, with a resolve that would continue throughout his publishing career and change the course of his life. Mismanagement of his affairs led to the loss of Editions du Chene and three years of desultory wanderings throughout Paris. Until one day, after a shadowy doctor gave him ten injections of monkey glands (according to Girodias), he decided to embark on his second publishing career. So began the Olympia Press. When Henry Miller who had remained friends with Girodias from his days working with the Obelisk Press, heard that he had started a new publishing venture, he sent him the manuscript of Plexus , the first book to be published by the Olympia Press. Around the same time, Girodias began meeting young English and American expatriots full of literary good will and aspirations. Writers were abundant, readers were hungry, and soon the existence and reputation of the Olympia Press had spread throughout the world. "THREE SEX SCENES PER CHAPTER. ANYTHING LESS AND YOU'RE FIRED." (Maurice Girodias) Although Girodias was able to reconcile the publication of his sex novels with works by Beckett, Queneau, and others, the Olympia Press was mainly known as a publisher of erotic fare. Girodias began routinely fighting censorship by officials in France, who were often under influence by American and British authorities. Several Olympia Press books were banned due to erotic subject matter. "What probably offended the authorities was the fact that Girodias was a fighter who stubbornly refused to give up. Whereas most publishers in his line of business would simply stop selling a book if it were banned, Girodias would fight the ban to the highest court, organize support from notable literary figures, and even bring lawsuits against the French government. Worst of all, he often won" (Kearney, The Paris Olympia Press , 2008, p.7). And he d
OLYMPIA PRESS]. A superb and virtually complete collection of titles published by the Olympia Press and its various imprints including the Ophelia Press, the Collection Merlin, the Atlantic Library Series, and the Traveller's Companion Series. Paris and New York, 1953-1974. All the major publications of the press are present, (only a handful of reprints and New York works absent). Together approximately 400 volumes, most FIRST EDITIONS, most 8 o , in original bindings, including a small number of duplicates. Provenance : Patrick Kearney, the Olympia Press bibliographer.
OLYMPIA PRESS]. A superb and virtually complete collection of titles published by the Olympia Press and its various imprints including the Ophelia Press, the Collection Merlin, the Atlantic Library Series, and the Traveller's Companion Series. Paris and New York, 1953-1974. All the major publications of the press are present, (only a handful of reprints and New York works absent). Together approximately 400 volumes, most FIRST EDITIONS, most 8 o , in original bindings, including a small number of duplicates. Provenance : Patrick Kearney, the Olympia Press bibliographer. THE BIBLIOGRAPHER'S COLLECTION OF THE CELEBRATED OLYMPIA PRESS Started in 1953 by Maurice Girodias and based on the model of the Obelisk Press, which had been run by his father Jack Kahane, the Olympia Press holds an important and unique place in literary history. Publishing works of great literary value by some of the most renowned authors of the 20th-century, Girodias and the Olympia Press confronted the issues of intellectual and sexual freedom in the 1950s and 1960s. "A FOUR-LETTER WORD NEVER KILLED A READER" (Maurice Girodias) After his father's death in 1939 and with war inevitable, young Girodias was penniless and the Obelisk Press had folded. Having worked for his father for several years, Girodias stayed in the publishing business. He first published reprints in a 50/50 partnership with Kurt Enoch under the Unicorn Press. When Hitler's armies entered France and Enoch left for the United Sates, Girodias began publishing arts books as Les Editions du Chene. He became a successful art book publisher, but decided after the war to expand in a more literary direction. In 1946, he published a pamphlet by an ex-resistance fighter named Yves Farge, who denounced the official protections given to black market operators. Girodias was sued for libel, but to his surprise, the case went in his favor. He was indicted again in 1947 for publishing a French edition of Henry Miller's Tropic of Capricorn under Editions du Chene. Girodias launched an aggressive anti-censorship campaign, taking up where his father and the Obelisk Press had left off, with a resolve that would continue throughout his publishing career and change the course of his life. Mismanagement of his affairs led to the loss of Editions du Chene and three years of desultory wanderings throughout Paris. Until one day, after a shadowy doctor gave him ten injections of monkey glands (according to Girodias), he decided to embark on his second publishing career. So began the Olympia Press. When Henry Miller who had remained friends with Girodias from his days working with the Obelisk Press, heard that he had started a new publishing venture, he sent him the manuscript of Plexus , the first book to be published by the Olympia Press. Around the same time, Girodias began meeting young English and American expatriots full of literary good will and aspirations. Writers were abundant, readers were hungry, and soon the existence and reputation of the Olympia Press had spread throughout the world. "THREE SEX SCENES PER CHAPTER. ANYTHING LESS AND YOU'RE FIRED." (Maurice Girodias) Although Girodias was able to reconcile the publication of his sex novels with works by Beckett, Queneau, and others, the Olympia Press was mainly known as a publisher of erotic fare. Girodias began routinely fighting censorship by officials in France, who were often under influence by American and British authorities. Several Olympia Press books were banned due to erotic subject matter. "What probably offended the authorities was the fact that Girodias was a fighter who stubbornly refused to give up. Whereas most publishers in his line of business would simply stop selling a book if it were banned, Girodias would fight the ban to the highest court, organize support from notable literary figures, and even bring lawsuits against the French government. Worst of all, he often won" (Kearney, The Paris Olympia Press , 2008, p.7). And he d
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