Allen Ginsberg Reads His Poetry: Includes his best-known poem "Howl" with which the tape ends. Recorded October 25, 1956 (Reel-To-Reel Tape in Original Labeled Box)

Berkeley: Pacific Tape Library, 1956. First edition. Record LP. Very Good. A rare reel-to-reel tape in original labeled box containing Ginsberg reading his poetry including his best known poem, HOWL. Per our research, the first historic reading of Howl took place at the historic 1955 reading at San Francisco's SIX GALLERY for which no known recordings exist. The second reading was a February 1956 reading at Reed College in Portland (of which one known copy exists in the college's institutional holdings); and then this third known public reading was done on October 25, 1956 and is offered here in the original reel-to-reel format and labeled box. It has become almost cliche to talk about the beats and their influence on the greater literary and cultural zeitgeist, but it is no stretch of the imagination to cite Howl as one of the most iconic poems of the 20th century and any early recording of his reading of it must be viewed with more than a little reverence. We have not played the tape, but it appears to still be in clean playable condition. The box has a small inked name to the back cover; otherwise it is in exemplary condition and has accomplished its mission of protecting the tape within. The City Lights edition of Howl was published in or around September of 1956.