Alternating Current

Tight, square spine. Clean, unmarked interior. Some light wear to the covers, but a nice copy over all. Translated by Helen R. Lane. In 1951, at the age of 28, after a failed attempt at a career as a fine artist, Roy Kuhlman approached Grove Press's Barney Rosset to show him his portfolio. Rossett expressed disinterest, but as the artist began to put away his work, two abstract pieces he'd kept hidden slipped from a side pocket. The avant-garde publisher, impressed by these throwaways, reappraised his decision and decided to hire Kuhlman, who went on to design over 700 Grove covers. The following year, Rosset read an essay, written by a young translator named Richard Seaver, celebrating the then-unknown Samuel Beckett, leading to Rosset's decision to publish the Irish playwright and eventually hire Seaver. Seaver, who translated Pauline Réage/Anne Desclos's The Story of O, would go on to become Grove's editor in chief and would later launch the Arbor House imprint, Seaver Books, hiring former Grove colleague Kuhlman to provide this lovely op-art cover design for Paz's essay collection. 213 pp.