Prison Literature,

Berkman, Alexander (1870–1936)

Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist [Mother Earth Imprint] [Provenance: Ben Raeburn] [Radical political literature]

New York: Mother Earth Publishing Association, 1920. Second Edition.
A foundational autobiographical document of American anarchism, representing a meaningful intersection between early 20th-century radicalism and mid-century avant-garde publishing.

First published in 1912 by the Mother Earth Publishing Association—the press founded by Emma Goldman—this work recounts Alexander Berkman’s fourteen-year imprisonment following his 1892 attempt on the life of industrialist Henry Clay Frick during the Homestead Strike. More than a political tract, the memoir is a visceral exploration of incarceration, moral conviction, and the psychological endurance of a revolutionary mind.

This copy is distinguished by its direct connection to the independent literary world of New York, bearing the signature of Ben Raeburn, the founder of Horizon Press. Raeburn was a central figure in modernist publishing, responsible for issuing critical works by Ezra Pound, Allen Ginsberg, and Frank Lloyd Wright. The presence of this volume in Raeburn’s personal library creates a documented line of intellectual continuity between the radical 'Mother Earth' era and the postwar American avant-garde.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL FEATURES
+++ Visuals: Portrait frontispiece of Berkman with original tissue guard.
+++ Binding: Original olive-green cloth; black-ruled borders and spine titles.
+++ Imprint: Mother Earth Publishing Association, New York. September 1920 (Second Edition).
+++ Specs: Octavo; 512 pages.
+++ Provenance: From the personal library of Ben Raeburn (1914–1997), founder of Horizon Press, with his signature on the front flyleaf. This copy passed through his estate to his longtime partner, Patricia Percey.

CONDITION
Fair to Good minus. The bindings are intact but show significant age-related wear, including rubbing to the spine, fraying at the head and foot, and cloth loss at the lower spine edge. Corners are softened. The preliminaries are detached but present; the text block remains complete and generally clean with even age-toning. A sound, honest copy of a work often found heavily used.

SCHOLARLY FEATURES
+++ Historical Weight: A foundational document of American anarchism, recounting Berkman’s fourteen-year imprisonment following his 1892 attempt on the life of Henry Clay Frick during the Homestead Strike.
+++ The Mother Earth Imprint: Issued by the press founded by Emma Goldman, serving as the primary vehicle for radical and libertarian socialist thought in the United States during the Progressive Era.
+++ Intellectual Continuity: The Raeburn provenance creates a meaningful link between early 20th-century radicalism and the later avant-garde literary culture of Horizon Press, which published figures like Allen Ginsberg Ezra Pound, Denise Levertov, and Frank Lloyd Wright.
+++ Literary Legacy: Beyond its political content, the work is a cornerstone of American "prison literature," exploring psychological endurance and the evolution of revolutionary conviction.

HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE --
Alexander Berkman’s Prison Memoirs remains a cornerstone text in the literature of American dissent. While his 'propaganda of the deed' was controversial, his writing provided a sophisticated, psychological critique of the American carceral system that predated modern sociological studies. 

For the bibliophile, the 'Mother Earth' imprint carries immense historical weight as a symbol of underground resistance. This specific copy’s survival in the library of a major mid-century publisher like Ben Raeburn underscores the enduring influence of anarchist philosophy on the American literary vanguard.

SUBJECTS: Alexander Berkman, American Anarchism, Mother Earth Publishing Association, Homestead Strike, Emma Goldman, Ben Raeburn, Horizon Press, Prison Literature, Labor History, Political Autobiography, Radical Literature, Labor History, Modernist-era Publishing History, Association Copies.

Item #21662

Price: $85.00