[Rarebooks] FS: Rare self-published edition of Anne Herbert's RANDOM KINDNESS AND SENSELESS ACTS OF BEAUTY

[A.E. Tishman]

Ezra and Josh offer an unusual opportunity to enjoy a self-published, early printing of the tome that introduced the world to the power of Acts of Random Kindness and Senseless Acts of Beauty:


Herbert, Anne and Margaret M. Pavel. RANDOM KINDNESS AND SENSELESS ACTS OF BEAUTY.  Oakland CA: Margaret M. Pavel and Anne Herbert, 1992. Early Edition. Stapled pamphlet, 11 in. x 4 in. Unpaginated offset booklet (54 leaves). Light green cardstock cover with title and calligraphic "O" to front. Light age-toning to cover; very light thumbing to corners. The second leaf is 1/3 page-size (upper portion cut off?). Unmarked interior. Very Good. Staplebound Pamphlet. (#86391):  $200

This is the rare self-published offset staplebound edition, issued in Oakland, California one year before the “first edition” printing by VolcanoPress/Kazan Books (1993).

From the copyright page: "This work in progress is part of an ongoing project. Many people have responded by sending us stopries of random kindness and senseless acts of beauty. We welcome your participation and invite you to experiment in living the idea."

Also from the copyright page: "The phrase 'random kindness and senseless acts of beauty' was created by Anne Herbert in 1982 and was first published in The CoEvolution Quarterly."

Anne Herbert (1950-2015) was an American journalist and author. She was raised in Ohio and wrote mostly in California. Herbert was an assistant editor of CoEvolution Quarterly, a precursor to the Whole Earth Review. She coined the phrases, "Practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty," and (paraphrasing The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers) "Libraries will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no libraries." An article in the December 1991 issue of Glamour about the history of the "random kindness" phrase described Herbert as "tall, blonde, and forty" and as living in Marin County, California. Between 2005 and 2012, she lived in the Haight-Ashbury in the guise of a street person, while writing and editing. Anne Herbert died on December 18, 2015, in Alameda, California. (from Wikipedia)

Paloma Pavel of Earth House Center wrote: Anne Herbert and I were responding to our despair at accelerating systemic violence, specifically the domestic Rodney King incident of racial violence and police brutality and the international drum beat to war in the Persian gulf that was engulfing the nighttime news. We wanted to stop the wars... To create a spell that would shatter the trance . So we took the phrase “random violence and senseless acts of cruelty” and created a “reversal” (to use feminist philosopher Mary Daly’s strategy). It was not too tough to find kindness for violence. Not wimpy kindness but tough Dalai Lama never give up kindness.” Beauty” for “cruelty ” was the radical innovation. (from "Improvised Life”)

 

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