London: The Bodley Head, 1964. Translated from the French by Haakon Chevalier. Octavo; 230pp.; gray textured paper boards; dust jacket. Light bumping to board corners, a dozen or so spots of mild spotting to textblock fore-edge, “file copy” and bibliographic information penned on front free endpaper. Jacket with a number of inconspicuous vertical creases, lighting toning to spine panel, an internally tape-repaired tear at head of spine. Very good (+) in like jacket.
First British edition of this book documenting the “explorations among drugs” of the sui generis French poet and visual artist. Michaux (1899–1984) occupies an interesting place in the history of drug literature. He didn’t begin his using hallucinogens until well into his 50s, experimented heavily for a decade, and then abandoned the practice abruptly at the recommendation of his doctor. In this uniquely hybrid work, which slips fluidly between prose and poetry, he describes the sensations and thought processes prompted by his use of psilocybin, mescaline, and marijuana, as well as his extrapolations about the relationship between the drug state and mental illness. His writing strikes an effective balance between interiority and clinical detachment, particularly effective at conveying the experiential complexity of the psychedelic state.
