Tarantula, Bob Dylan. Early Pirated Edition.

Tarantula is Bob Dylan's first book, a collection of experimental prose poetry in the style of Jack Kerouac, William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg. It's an odd little book, reflecting the turbulence of the time and giving a unique insight into Dylan's creative evolution, showing his ability to combine the humanity and compassion of his country roots with the playful surrealism of modern art. Dylan would later state that he never really signed up to publish the book, saying "Things were running wild at that point. It never was my intention to write a book." In any case, it was edited by Dylan and a few galley proofs were printed in 1966, but official publication was delayed until 1971 due to his motorcycle accident.

This is an early rare pirated copy, from around 1968 that was put together by A. J. Weberman, an American writer, political activist/gadfly, and Dylanology specialist. In the introductory notes inside front cover he writes: "The copy we received to work from was xeroxed and, according to the grapevine, was taken from the printer’s galleys. We have tried to keep as close to that as possible. This edition has the same number of pages. Each line has the same words in it. The graphics were of our own choosing. Proceeds from the sale of this underground edition are going to legal defense funds around the country." Pretty rad.