British Avant-Garde
Torok, Karl
The Swan. The Sepia Press, [nd]. No. 24 of 25 signed by Torok. 8vo, org. card wrappers, and a number of postcards to Torok from various figures such as American poets Ron Padgett and Kenward Elmslie - including from the latter a postcard showing an illustration by Torok in Elmslie's forthcoming Topiary Trek. Many postcards show work by Torok or other underground and revolutionary artists.
Torok was a Bradford-born printmaker and painter of Hungarian descent. He was linked to many small press and avant-garde collectives such as Ian Gardner's New Arcadians and the many projects of Simon Cutts and Stuart Mills.
The Blue Tunnel [Gardner, Ian]
A collection of ephemeral works by Ian Gardner and others under the Blue Tunnel imprint, this includes a number of newsletters with contributions from old friends like Simon Cutts and odd works like Edwin Morgan's whimsical 'the blue tenniel'. Amongst the ephemera are Tom Meyer's Legends, inscribed to Karl; Rod Gathercole's Canal Water Lock Gates; and Gael Turnbull's poem for Wulfstan, the Saxon Bishop of Worcester.
Meyer, Tom
Material sent from Corn Close to Karl Torok, especially of Meyer's playing with computers and dot-matrix printers to create modern (1987) takes on the old typewriter work of the early concrete poets such as DSH. These are annotated by Meyer explaining the system. Along with three greetings cards and two letters to Torok. An intriguing piece, which simultaneously of an era of mechanical (or indeed digital) reproduction, whilst very likely being unique in this form and version.