“Listen, Little Man!” By Wilhelm Reich. First Edition.

Description

Rare First Edition By Wilhelm Reich

 

Listen, Little Man: A Document from the Archives of the Orgone Institute by Wilhelm Reich. Illustrated by William Steig. Orgone Institute Press. New York. 1948.

Scarce first edition of Wilhelm Reich ’s comedic classic of anti-authoritarian thought, Listen Little Man was a collaboration with Reich’s student and New Yorker cartoonist William Steig, pairing his artwork and Reich’s philosophy to comment on society, fascism, and male fragility.

Reich, perhaps the most colorful of the students of psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, has mostly been relegated to the Quack bin of history for his belief in the universal life energy, orgone, and his claims about its impact on cancer. Reich was also among the first to apply psychoanalytic principles of libido to society at large, offering explanations for the rise of Fascism in Europe. Exiled from Germany for publishing “The Mass Psychology of Fascism”, he moved to the United States where he enjoyed success until his 1955 arrest for continuing to manufacture and use orgone accumulator devices.

In 1956, the majority of Reich’s work— 6 tons of papers and books— were gathered and burned by New York State authorities in one of the biggest acts of American censorship, making true first editions of his work such as this one even harder to find. Reich died in prison in 1957.

 

First edition. 8vo. Tan cloth bound boards with title and small cartoon printed in red on front. Title and publisher printed it read on spine. Publisher and publisher’s logo printed on back board. Light discoloration to top edge of front and back boards near spine. Back fore corners bumped. Bookblock slightly discolored. Pastedown and pages darkening. Small black smudge along bottom of first free endpaper. Occasional pencil underlines and stars. Illustrated throughout by William Steig. Very good condition. Red dustjacket with title, cartoon, and publishing information printed in tan on front side. Title and publisher repeat on spine, and publisher with logo printed on back side. Front wrapper detached at spine joint with losses along top edge around spine and smaller loss to lower edge. Small losses along spine and top edge on back wrapper, pigment loss along hinge and front and back flap edges. Narrow scrape with pigment loss running straight across back wrapper for 3”. Yellowing and darkening to interior, with dark discoloration along top edges of flaps. Both top fore corners chipped. Fair Condition.

 

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