Avant Garde. Editor Ralph Ginzburg. Art director Herb Lubalin.

14 vol., square 4to.

Sewn, original colour ill. wrappers (faint traces of use, lower cover of n. 2 sl. stained).

Complete set of this periodical "dedicated to the future" published by R. Ginzburg (1929-2006), an American author best known for publishing books and magazines on erotica (i.a. "Eros" for which he was accused of obscenity and sentenced to prison in 1972). "While it could not be termed obscene, [Avant Garde] was filled with creative imagery often caustically critical of American society and government, sexual themes, and (for the time) crude language" (Wikipedia). The magazine was also notable for its graphic and logogram design by H. Lubalin, the creator of the well-known typeface "ITC Avant Garde". Number 2 complete with a portfolio of flashy serigraphic prints by Bert Stern picturing Marilyn Monroe, - number 8 devoted to Picasso's erotic gravures, - number 11 ill. with erotic lithographies by John Lennon, - n. 13 contains "Portraits of the American People", a portfolio of photographs by Alwyn Scott Turner, - number 14 with the famous "Belles-Lettres photo-alphabet" or "Naked alphabet" created by Anthon Beeke in an Amsterdam gymnasium with naked girls. Texts by Roald Dahl, Norman Mailer, Arthur Miller, Jean Genet, D.H. Lawrence, W.H. Auden, etc.