SAN FRANCISCO BURNING By Helen and Pat Adam, with Drawings by Jess. Published by Oannes, Berkeley, CA, September 1963, Limited first edition, 500 copies. This is copy #10 as indicated by the small black ink stamp on the rear cover. Illustrated wraps printed in black and brown attached to card covers, 9.75" x 7.5", 98 numbered pages printed on heavy brown paper, with one leaf of blue paper serving as a section divider, illustrated with line drawings by Jess in black and brown ink here and there throughout. NEAR FINE Condition: tight, bright, clean and unmarked, one of the best preserved copies I've seen.

A controversial 1963 ballad opera written by Helen Adam in collaboration with her sister Pat Adam is replete with subversive themes of occult destruction, sexual transgression, and explicit blasphemy. Set during the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire, the dark chaotic narratives reflect subversive queer and alternative lifestyles which challenged the traditional gender power dynamics of the mid 20th century. Scottish American Poet Helen Adam (1909-1993) A prominent figure in the San Francisco Renaissance and was one of only four women included in Donald Allen's The New American Poetry 1945-1960 anthology. She was a great performer and maybe one of the most important forebears of the way poets read their poetry in public today.