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The famous "Jester" songbook, with the iconic cover illustration. When the Dead hired Alan Trist in 1970, his first assignment was to help establish Ice Nine Publishing to handle their music copyrights and publications. This songbook was a symbol of that effort, and this landmark work demonstrated the Dead's commitment to old-fashioned literary and artistic values with their own distinctive Haight-Ashbury spin. With beautiful calligraphy for the music by Bob Bayless and gorgeous full-color illustrations by famed Haight-Ashbury artists Stanley Mouse and Alton Kelley, the Jester Songbook set a standard for rock music.First printing. Fine. Rare in this condition. This first printing does not have the ISBN on the back cover. Some toning to cover, but otherwise near fine.Domestic (United States) shipping is included in the purchase price. International shipments will be subject to additional shipping costs, to be invoiced after the auction is completed.

Grateful Dead [Jester Songbook] | Ice Nine Publishing | Stanley Mouse & Alton Kelley, Illustrators | First Printing

Before there was a band, there was a story. The Grateful Dead took their name from a folk tale as old as human memory—the story of a traveler who honors an unburied stranger and is repaid with gifts beyond measure. This auction traces that literary lineage from its earliest scholarly study, Gordon Hall Gerould's extraordinarily rare 1908 volume The Grateful Dead: The History of a Folk Story, through the very dictionary Jerry Garcia consulted when he discovered the name in 1965. These foundational artifacts anchor a collection that illuminates the written word's central place in the Dead's universe.From there, the collection expands into the poetry and publications that defined the band's intellectual circle: Robert Hunter's landmark verse, Bobby Petersen's elegies to fallen friends, the iconic Jester songbook with its Mouse and Kelley illustrations, complete runs of The Golden Road, and the monumental Taping Compendium that documented three decades of live performance. Together, these items reveal the Grateful Dead not just as a band, but as a literary movement—a community of poets, scholars, and writers whose work gave shape and meaning to the music. For collectors and scholars alike, this is a rare opportunity to own pieces of that story.

A fascinating poetic exercise that grew into a full-length work, Idiot's Delight" was printed in Beat poet Raymond Foye's Hanuman Press series of pocket-sized works. Hunter played with the page's small size to superb effect, with a wide-ranging meditation on appetite and a host of other themes that will resonate with readers who know his lyrics. Funny, insightful, and moving, this is one of his rarest works.Small 16mo., 137 pp. Softbound (wrappers) in jacket. Very good condition. Some visible damage to outer jacket. Domestic (United States) shipping is included in the purchase price. International shipments will be subject to additional shipping costs, to be invoiced after the auction is completed.

Idiot's Delight | Robert Hunter | Hanuman Press

Long before the internet connected Deadheads across the globe, Blair Jackson and Regan McMahon did it the old-fashioned way — with ink and paper. Launched in 1984, The Golden Road was a labor of love: a quarterly magazine that brought serious journalism to the Grateful Dead universe, featuring candid interviews with band members and crew, sharp concert coverage, and an attentive ear to the ever-evolving Dead scene. Over 27 issues spanning nearly a decade, it chronicled one of the band's most transformative periods, ending with its final issue in 1993. For collectors, this is primary source material — a window into a world that was changing faster than anyone knew.Issue no. 1. Fine/near fine condition.Domestic (United States) shipping is included in the purchase price. International shipments will be subject to additional shipping costs, to be invoiced after the auction is completed.

The Golden Road, Issue No. 1 | Blair Jackson & Regan McMahon | 1984

Starting in 1984, Deadheads could learn about&nbsp;the Grateful Dead&nbsp;through The Golden Road, a beautifully produced quarterly published by veteran journalists Blair Jackson and Regan McMahon. The Golden Road offered insightful interviews with band members and staffers, concert reviews, tour information, and carefully monitored the pulse of the Grateful Dead scene for 27 issues, finally ending in 1993. As a document of the Dead's final era, the magazine offers an unparalleled inside look at the scene as it underwent seismic change. This set has been beautifully library-bound, preserving the magazine and making it a handsome addition to any Deadhead bookshelf. Indispensable.Complete run bound in two archival hardbound library volumes.Domestic (United States) shipping is included in the purchase price. International shipments will be subject to additional shipping costs, to be invoiced after the completion of the auction.

The Golden Road, Nos. 1–27 | Complete Run Blair Jackson & Regan McMahon | 1984–1993 | Two Volumes, Library Bound

The monumental, groundbreaking study of the Dead's performances on tape, exhaustively documented and analyzed by dozens of expert tape collectors and Deadhead writers. The essays on the band's taping practices and the history of fan taping remain invaluable, and the lavishly detailed descriptions of concerts, tapes, and first-person accounts of shows make this a high-water mark in Grateful Dead writing. Dwork was the editor and publisher of Deadhead fanzine Dupree's Diamond News, giving this series a particular cachet. A rare and revealing look at the band's music from the perspective of the Taper's Section, and an incisive look at how fan taping infused and helped to define the Dead's cultural footprint.Henry Holt / PepperTonic, 1998–2001. Paperbound. Quarto, 598 pp; 756 pp.; 711 pp.; 407 pp. Mint condition, as new. This set includes Volume 4, the Addendum, which is rare.Domestic (United States) shipping is included in the purchase price. International shipments will be subject to additional shipping costs, to be invoiced after the auction is completed.

The Deadhead's Taping Compendium, Vols. 1–4 (Complete, with Rare Vol. 4 Addendum) | Michael M. Getz & John R. Dwork, Eds. | Henry Holt / PepperTonic, 1998–2001

The rare follow-up volume to the Jester Songbook, this included the music and lyrics for Wake of the Flood, From the Mars Hotel, and Blues For Allah. The cover featured Rick Griffin's crow from Wake of the Flood and marked the last in-house production of the band's songbooks. A powerful document from the year the Dead returned to the road after their hiatus from late 1974 through spring 1976.Ice Nine Publishing, 1976. Quarto, 104 pp. Fine.Domestic (United States) shipping is included in the purchase price. International shipments will be subject to additional shipping costs, to be invoiced after the auction is completed.

Grateful Dead, Vol. II | Ice Nine Publishing, 1976 | Rick Griffin Cover Art

Softbound, Quarto, 260 + [11] pp.; 279 + [16] pp. Slipcased. Fine. Rare, especially in this condition.As the Dead expanded their catalog, Ice Nine partnered with Warner Bros. to publish new songbooks, aptly entitled Anthology I and II. With discographies in the back. These oversized softbound volumes rarely survived in good condition; we're proud to offer a pristine set here in the very rare slipcased edition. Slipcased volumes have traditionally been the mark of an author's importance, a tribute to the power of their work. This slipcased set marked the first time the Dead's music received this level of respect.Domestic (United States) shipping is included in the purchase price. International shipments will be subject to additional shipping costs, to be invoiced after the completion of the auction.

Grateful Dead Anthology, Vols. 1 & 2 | Ice Nine Publishing / Warner Bros. | Slipcased Edition

When the Dead began licensing vendors, one enterprising artisan created a beautifully detailed metal casting of Stanley Mouse and Alton Kelley's iconic reimagining of E.J. Sullivan's illustration of a skeleton crowned with roses, which became the famous Family Dog poster and Grateful Dead symbol. Years later, a few of these were turned into bookends. These are heavy, beautifully built pieces.Domestic (United States) shipping is included in the purchase price. International shipments will be subject to additional shipping costs, to be invoiced after the auction is completed.

Grateful Dead [Jester Songbook] | Ice Nine Publishing | Stanley Mouse & Alton Kelley, Illustrators | First Printing

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