New Departures. Double issue 7/8 [and] 10/11.

8vo. XVI, 8, XVII-XXII, 9-192 pp. With numerous illustrations and photographs by David Hockney, R. B. Kitaj, Kenneth Patchen, Mal Dean, John Furnival and many more. Original illustrated wrappers. One of only 25 signed copies. The famous double number of the avant-garde literary magazine: a milestone of the Beat Generation and one of the most important anthologies of underground literature of the 1960s and '70s. Featuring 56 original signatures by leading figures of the Beat Generation, including William S. Burroughs, Jack Kerouac, John Cage, Samuel Beckett, David Hockney (monogram), Ronald D. Laing, Allen Ginsberg, Gregory Corso, Robert Creeley, Thom Gunn, and Jack Hirschman. - The lion's share of signatures are on the last page; 16 signatures are mounted beneath the corresponding texts. The present copy is number 14. - "New Departures" was founded in 1959 by the editor, poet, translator, and performance artist Michael Horovitz (1935-2021), a pioneer of London underground culture during the Swinging Sixties. - From a Viennese private collection. In fine condition. - OCLC 314592223.