Extremely rare signed book: The New Creatures. First edition, printed as a limited issue of 100 copies. Self-published and privately printed by Western Lithographers, Los Angeles, 1969. Hardcover with gilt lettering, "The New Creatures / James Douglas Morrison," 5.5 x 8.75, 88 pages. Simply and prominently signed and inscribed on the title page in black felt tip to Hollywood 'It' girl and author Eve Babitz, "Eve, Jim." Autographic condition: very fine. Book condition: VG/None, with edgewear and with trivial dampstaining to the lower left corner of most pages. A phenomenal association copy of Morrison's second self-published volume of poetry, inscribed to a popular chronicler of the age.
Eve Babitz once recalled her first encounter with Morrison: 'I met Jim, and propositioned him in three minutes…Being in bed with Jim was like being in bed with Michelangelo’s David, only with blue eyes.' She was reportedly the inspiration for The Doors' song 'L.A. Woman,' a title which she would borrow for a 1982 novel. The consignor notes that she lived in the same building as Babitz, and was allowed to take this book when she went into assisted living; Babitz passed away in 2021.
Babitz, a visual artist and author, first became famous as the model in Julian Wasser's iconic photograph of the nude, 20-year-old Babitz playing chess with the fully-clothed Marcel Duchamp. Romantically connected with the likes of Jim Morrison, Ed Ruscha, Harrison Ford, Steve Martin, and Annie Leibovitz, she would become one of the foremost chroniclers of Hollywood hedonism in books such as Eve's Hollywood (1974), Slow Days, Fast Company: The World, The Flesh, and L.A.: Tales (1977), and Sex and Rage: Advice to Young Ladies Eager for a Good Time (1979). Characterized by stylish prose and authentic observation, Babitz's writings have earned renewed interest in recent years.
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