Rare signed book: Grapefruit. First edition, first printing. NY: Simon & Schuster, 1970. Hardcover with dust jacket, 5.75 x 5.5. Signed on the first free end page in black ink by John Lennon: "Thanks for the offer. Read this and join the living. Love and peace to you all. John + Yoko." Lennon adds small portraits of himself and Yoko Ono, each with speech bubbles that read "You are here" and "this is not here." Lennon adds a riddle postscript below, which reads: "P.S. ‘This is not here’ is here when this is not here is officially here, so until you hear this is not here, this is not here is not here." The consignor notes that the book was signed on October 9, 1971, Lennon’s 31st birthday, on the opening night of Yoko Ono’s ‘This Is Not Here’ exhibition, which took place at the Everson Art Museum in Syracuse, New York. In fine condition, with some light wear and scuffing only to the dust jacket.
Accompanied by modern photos from the exhibition, a certificate of authenticity from Tracks, and a letter of provenance from the original recipient: “I met John briefly at the Toronto Pop Festival a year or two prior to Yoko’s exhibition in Syracuse, New York. John Lennon and Yoko Ono held an exhibition of Yoko’s art entitled ‘This is not Here’ at the Everson Museum of Art in October 1971. A friend of mine, Mindy Gaudshalk, was one of the organizers of the event. John and Yoko were deluged by large crowds of people who believed that all the Beatles were going to be in attendance. The Beatles were not there but guests included, for the opening night, Ringo Starr and his wife Maureen Starkey, Allen Klein, Phil Spector, Bob Dylan, Andy Warhol, Frank Zappa, Spike Milligan, Jack Nicholson, Dick Cavett, John Cage and Dennis Hopper. They really couldn’t get a moment of peace, so we offered them the use of our house in Jamesville, NY, some twenty minutes from the Everson museum. We offered to give them the keys and not be there, giving them the entire house to themselves as a refuge and we planned to stay somewhere else with friends so they could escape the madness. They were touched by the gesture and gave us the book the next day as a token of their appreciation…It was a true pleasure and this memento they gave to us has been lovingly enjoyed and helped us remember what a warm and nice person John was to us. Yoko was equally nice.”
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