transition 16-17 was published in June 1929. Edited by Eugene Jolas with advisory editors Harry Crosby, Stuart Gilbert, Matthew Josephson, Robert Sage, and Elliott Paul.
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This issue features a smaller cover leaf that announces a manifesto titled “Revolution of the Word” and other contents and leaves “transition no. 16-17” exposed. When you fold it back you reveal the cover art by Gretchen Powel underneath.
Contents of Issue 16-17
Revolution of the Word:
Proclamation - Signed by:
— Kay Boyle, Whit Burnett, Hart Crane, Caresse Crosby, Harry Crosby, Martha Foley, Stuart Gilbert, A.L. Gillespie, Leigh Hoffman, Eugene Jolas, Elliot Paul, Douglas Rigby, Theo Rutra, Robert Sage, Harold J. Salemson, Laurence Vail.
Stuart Gilbert - Thesaurus Minusculus: A Short Commentary on a Paragraph of Work in Progress - 15
Baroness Elsa Von Freytag Loringhoven - Poems - 24
Eugene Jolas - Logos - 25
Harry Crosby - The New Word - 30
Henry Michaux - Le Grand Combat - 31
Theodore D. Irwin - Slanguage: 1929 - 32
Theo Rutra - Faula and Flona - 34
— Storiette - 35
August Stramm - Verzweifelt - 36
United States:
Gertrude Stein - Four Saints in Three Acts: An Opera to Be Sung - 39
Gretchen and Peter Powel - Manhattan: 1929 (photograph series)
Whit Burnett - Two Me Free - 73
Kay Boyle - On the Run - 83
Charles Lindbergh - Observation - 85
Joseph Stella - The Brooklyn Bridge (A page of my life) - 86
— Brooklyn Bridge (photograph)
Eugene Jolas - Tumult at Midnight - 89
Josephine Herbst - Once a Year - 94
Alexander Calder - Wire Sculpture
W. Sprague Holden - A Twig, Three Sisters, and a Moon - 105
Alexander Calder - Wooden Sculpture
Laurence Vail - Murder Murder - 108
Letters:
— Frederick N. Sard - A Big Job for Transition - 120
— Josephine Herbst - The Phecanical Melonium - 121
— Matthew Josephson - Mr. Josephson Answers His Critics - 122
— Richmond Noble - The Cult of the Familiar - 123
— Joseph Kling - Ballats and Compass - 124
Hanns Skolle - Hic Rodus Hic Salta or A Leopard Cannot Change His Spots - 126
Hamilton Basso - I Can’t Dance - 127
Michael Fraenkel - Mounting Breath - 133
A.-L. Gillespie, Jr. - Amerikaka Ballet
Harry Crosby - Head, 1929
Jacques Le Clereq - The Case of Abigail Fitch - 157
Erskine Caldwell - July - 170
Kathleen Tankersley Young - Fragment - 174
Herman Spector - A Very Little Incident - 177
Katharine G. Salmon - Beginnings - 179
E.W. Titus - Mr. Titus still Married - 180
Geoffrey Stone - Soul Kiss…… 30 cts. - 181
Kathryn Hulme - Competition - 187
Pierre Loving - Praying Insects - 192
Combat:
Harry Crosby - Observation-Post - 197
Thomas F. Farley, R.H.M., J.S.C. - Injunction - 205
Eugene Jolas - The Innocuous Enemy - 207
Cornelia McD Pemberton - As the Twig Is Bent - 213
Eugene Jolas - Notes (auto-commentary on transition) - 219
Marius Lyle - Feeling Out - 225
Samuel Beckett - Dante… Bruno. Vico.. Joyce - 242
Stuart Gilbert - The Song of Ko San - 254
H. Christopher Holme - Monotone - 260
Samuel Beckett - Assumption - 268
Edouard Roditi - Description of the Last Woman - 272
European Continent:
Pablo Picasso - Harlequin
— Harlequin
George Braque - Nature Morte
— Nature Morte
— Nature Morte
Michel Leiris (Trans. Eugene Jolas) - From the Heart to the Absolute - 277
Philippe Soupault (Trans. Maria Mc D. Jolas) - Whither French Literature - 283
Roger Vitrae (Trans. Maria Mc D. Jolas) - The Work of G.L. Roux - 289
G.-L Roux - Combat d’Oiseaux
— Le Loup-Garou
Léon Pierre-Quint (Trans. L.E. Frederickson) - Lautréamont and the Chants de Maldoror - 291
Constantine Brancusi - Le Chef
— Photo of His Studio
Fluviana - 1) Hydra 2) Foot 3) Lobster 4) Racer
— 1) Foot 2) Head of Gazelle
— Seal
— 1) Foot 2) Lobster
Pierre Unik - The Night of the Ages - 297
Carl Einstein (Trans. Eugene Jolas) - Bebuquin - 298
Gottfried Benn (Trans. Malcolm Campbell) - Primal Vision - 302
Ernst Robert Curtius (Trans. Eugene Jolas) - Technique and Thematic Development of James Joyce - 310
Kristians Tonny - Painting
Extra Material:
Glossary - 326