A SURPRISE FOR THE BAGPIPE PLAYER by Kenneth Patchen (Complete set of all 18 broadsides)

Self published, 1955, First and only edition limited to 200 copies, 12" X 15", eighteen silkscreened (some hand colored) broadsides housed in an illustrated paper envelope

Fine contents in very good- envelope (Limited to 200 copies)

18 poems by Patchen with decorations and drawings reproduced on silk-screen broadsheets by Frank Bacher.

An early example of Patchen's experiments with visual poetry. His charming and eloquent painted and silkscreened poems that comprise A Surprise for the Bagpipe Player (1955) is a distinctive, joyful melange of text, drawings and decorations that furthered the explorations of Apollonaire with his  calligrams, and the Dadaists and Letterists from earlier in the twentieth century.

Silkscreened from Patchen's original painted manuscript on handmade Japanese paper, many hand-colored by Patchen, A Surprise for the Bagpipe Player is rarely found complete with all eighteen broadsides. Copies, have, alas (but with grudging understanding) been broken up to sell the broadsides individually, each a stunning work of art.

Extremely rare