Allen Ginsberg San Francisco: The City Lights Books, 1956. Marvin Tatum Collection of Contemporary Literature.

Originally read from the manuscript at the now famous Six Gallery reading of November 22, 1955, Howl was an immediate and resounding success, first among the poets associated with San Francisco's literati and then throughout the hip community at large. Lawrence Ferlinghetti, owner of the City Lights Bookstore, had recently begun publishing avant-garde poetry; he wrote to Ginsberg that night saying, "I greet you at the beginning of a great career. When do I get the manuscript?" Published in 1956 as Number Four in the Pocket Poets Series, Howl led to the arrest in May 1957 of Ferlinghetti and City Lights bookstore manager Shigeyoshi Murao on charges of selling obscene material. Against the background of heightened publicity, Judge Clayton W. Horn, a Sunday School bible teacher, found Ferlinghetti and Murao not guilty in October 1957. With a foreword by William Carlos Williams, Howl, often referred to as the "Beat Manifesto," was the first successful publication of the Beat era, and became one of the most influential books of twentieth century American poetry.

Linear Navigation

• Previous
• Next