Forest Books

San Francisco

About

Visit us at Forest Books Select Used & Rare Books

Some of our specialties include:

Contemporary Paperback Fiction

Literature in Translation & Poetry

Buddhism & Eastern Religion

Asian Culture & Western Philosophy

Art & Art Technique

African American Culture

Native American Culture

World & Local History

Progressive Politics

The Humanities

Plus, the largest display of uncommonly desirable collectible books

in the Bay Area

Owner, Gregory Wood

I would like to thank you for your immense kindness and participation in keeping Forest Books in our neighborhood for another year. I started this enterprise 23 years ago with the notion that Forest Books would be a place to demonstrate Right Livelihood in the marketplace in a way that makes inner peace tangible to everyone who enters. I wanted to provide Forest Books as a context and a community resource where peace and harmony are the foundation for exploration, inquiry and creative expression. Paul Yamazaki of City Lights Books noted that "Forest Books has an exceptional curated selection of books you're unlikely to find anywhere else." Please dont forget we need your business, your trades, your donations, and your praise to help us survive and thrive. Thanks to you all for keeping this democratic and spiritual enterprise going so we can flourish together. ~Jakushu Gregory Wood

We also buy, sell and trade.

Articles

Collectable and Rare Books at Forest Books

Page 8 Collected Poems 1947 - 1980Allen Ginsberg (1926-1997)SIGNED by Ginsberg and SIGNED by Ferlinghetti "At City Lights" 1984 First Edition, First Printing. Harper & Row, New YorkGold letters on full black cloth with the author’s 3 fish design in gold on the front. FINE in a like Brodart protected dust jacket. xxi, [1], 837 pages. Includes several photographs and drawings by the author, as well as the music accompanying some of the poems. With Notes, Epigraphs from Original Editions, Dedications, Acknowledgements, Introductions by William Carlos Williams to Empty Mirror and Howl, Author’s Cover Writ, Indexes of Proper Names, plus Index of Titles, First Lines and Original Book Sources. According to the literary critic, Helen Vendler, Ginsberg was “tirelessly persistent in protesting censorship, imperial politics, and persecution of the powerless.” His achievements as a writer as well as his notoriety as an activist gained him honors from established institutions. Ginsberg’s book of poems, The Fall of America, won the National Book Award for poetry in 1974. Other honors included the National Arts Club gold medal and his induction into the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, both in 1979. In 1995, Ginsberg won a Pulitzer Prize for his book, Cosmopolitan Greetings: Poems 1986-1992*** Signed on the title page “City Lights Allen Ginsberg 10/4/96 AH (circled) S.F.” and by “Ferlinghetti 10/96 at City Lights” vertically on the half title page.(10E3) No trades. Cash, or Credit Card sales only. $500.00 net.

Collectable Poetry

Page 10 WindowsRobert Creeley (1926-2005)1990 Inscribed First Edition, New Directions, New York152pp. NEAR FINE in a like dust jacket. Inscribed by the author on title page and signed by the author on title page: “"for ____ in respect indeed. My Best 1/15/91"” Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award, The Los Angeles Times Book Award, the National Poetry Series, and finalist for the National Book Award.(07F) No trades. Cash or Credit Card only. $145.00 net.

Collectable Poetry

Article 3 Wang Wei the Painter-PoetLewis Calvin & Dorothy Brush Walmsley1968 First Edition. Charles E. Tuttle, TokyoOctavo. Gold and red letters with gilt plate, calligraphy and chop decoration stamped on the front. Full black cloth in FINE condition in a NEAR FINE dust jacket protected in a clear Brodart dust jacket cover. Exception is a half-inch chip at top. 182pp. Includes frontispiece, bibliography, list of paintings, notes and index. Sixty-eight black & white illustrations, photographs, drawings, and maps including map endpapers. This book is one of the high quality books published out of Japan by Tuttle and Kodansha Presses in the 60’s with a level of artistry and care not likely to be duplicated. Splendid.(11F4) No trades. Cash or Credit Card sales only. $50.00 net

Page 9 Crossing the WaterSylvia Plath (1932-1963)1971 First Edition. Faber & Faber, LondonOctavo. Gilt letters on light blue full cloth, in FINE condition in a like Brodart protected dust jacket. Sole exceptions are some foxing at the top and a gift inscription on the FFEP. In this volume Ted Hughes has collected a number of the poems written by Plath in the transitional period between “The Colossus” 1960 and “Ariel” 1965. 34 poems. In 1982 Plath became the first poet to win the Pulitzer Prize in posthumously. This uncommon edition of her work is highly collectable, especially in this condition.(10K2) No trades. Cash or Credit Card sales only. $350.00 net

Article 2 De Amor Oscuro; Of Dark LoveFrancisco X. Alarcón,with drawings by Ray Rice[English translation by Francisco Aragon with the poet]1991 true 1st Edition, Moving Parts Press, Santa Cruz, Calif.This is the original 1st Edition limited to seventy copies and is inscribed by the poet. Especially scarce. (03/E) No trades. Cash, or Credit Card sales only. $100.00 net.

Collectable Poetry

Article 1 Coyotes Daylight TripPaula Gunn Allen1978 First Edition, La Confluencia, Albuquerque, New MexicoIn NEAR FINE Condition; This is the author's scarce second book.Bound in Orange and Black. Decorated. 12mo, 50pp. The language of my mind slips daily out of phase / unlocking secrets I have no word, no image for. I / write words backwards, leave the familiar shore, / exchange the alien known for the estranged familiar; / like a forest knowing its strangeness, run with streams / that are filled with the spirits of another time and place, / waters that tremble between banks / filled with flowers of the ancient dark Near Fine in wraps protected in a clear plastic envelope.(05/B) No trades. Cash or Credit Card only. $ 69.00 net.

Collectable Poetry

Page 4 Inigo Jones:Theater of the Stuart CourtStephen Orgel & Roy Strong1973 Sotheby Park Bernet/ University of California Press Including the complete designs for productions at court for the most part in the collection of the Duke of Devonshire together with their texts and historical documentation.Numbered Limited edition #302 of 2000Gilt letters on brown cloth. Two oversized volumes, xii-xv - 844 pages in all, 13 tall by 10 wide. Both volumes are in FINE condition in FINE dust jackets set in their original brown cloth slipcase. Frontis, Color plates, an overview of the Theatre of the Stewart Court, The Catalogue 1605 1631 in volume one, and The Catalogue 1631 1640 in volume two, Bibliography, Appendices and Index. Illustrated with 482 plates featuring costumes, masks, studies and set design with detailed notes and references devoted to all elements of theater craft of the time. An amazing documentation, This book, the first major reassessment of Joness artistic and theatrical work since 1928 presents and analyses the largest surviving body of material from the hand of Indigo Jones, the designs for masques and plays produced at the Stuart court, preserved for the most part in the superb collection of the Duke of Devonshire at Chatsworth. All the drawings are here reproduced for the first time, many newly identified and dated, together with the texts of the productions for which they were prepared, and all relevant documentary and historical material. Includes four long introductory essays that constitute one of the most important studies of the culture of the English Renaissance. Books weigh 11.6 pounds in their slipcase. Special shipping charges apply. (04J) No trades. Cash or Credit card only. $ 600.00 set

Page 5 Kiplings Works Rudyard KiplingNo Date, New York, New York; P. F. Collier & Son; Ten Volume Set. 8vo - over 7 3/4 " - 9 3/4 " tall; Hard Cover; The pre-W.W. II Sahib edition of Kiplings works are known as the Swastika edition as 4 (Asiatic not German) swastikas are gilded on the spine & title page of each volume. Dark brick red cloth with gold lettering on spine. All volumes are in Fine condition. Quite rare. (02/L) No trades. Cash or Credit Card only. $350.00 net.

Page 6 The Playboy Book Forty Years. The Complete Pictorial HistoryGretchen EdgrenIntroduction by Hugh Hefner1994; First Edition. Santa Monica General Publishing GroupSigned by Playboy Magazine founder Hugh Hefner (p.93). The noteworthy history of the landmark magazine dealing with all aspects of the publication. Illustrated in full color with photographs of the many lovely women to grace the magazine over the decades. A lavish heavy coffee table-sized book. Fine clean copy in a fine dust jacket. Near mint condition. No trades. Cash or Credit Card only. (02L) $350.00 net

Page 7 Les Emaux de GeorgieMerveilles De LÁrt En OrientChalva Amiranachvili1962 First Edition, Editions Cercle d'Art, ParisIllustrated scholarly French language study of medieval and Byzantine Georgian enamel work. Gold buckram boards, 131 heavy stock pages with 109 tipped in color plates, lexicon, bibliography and Index. No bumps, stains or tears. Presented in clear glassine cover.(04/l) No trades. Cash or Credit Card only. $85.00 net.

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Meditation

Meditation at Forest Books

Jakushu Gregory Wood hosts Zen meditation

every Saturday 9:30am-Noon

Quotes Inspirational Quotes
It is wisdom that is seeking for wisdom.~Shunryu Suzuki-roshi, (1904-1971) Zen Mind, Beginners Mind In poetry, technique is another name for morality; it is not a manipulation of words, but a passion and asceticism.~Octavio Paz (1914-1998) Mexico. Winner of the 1990 Nobel Prize in Literature A sound mans heart is not shut within itself / But is open to other peoples hearts: / I find good people good, / And I find bad people good / If I am good enough; / I trust men of their word, / And I trust liars / If I am true enough; / I feel the heart-beats of others / Above my own / If I am enough of a father, / Enough of a son.~The Way of Life According to Lao Tzu, Witter Bynner Compassion and non-violence help us to see the enemys point of view, to hear his questions, to know his assessment of ourselves. For from his view we may indeed see the basic weaknesses of our own condition, and if we are mature, we may learn and grow and profit from the wisdom of the brothers who are called the opposition.~Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) USA. Winner of the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize Hatred and bitterness can never cure the disease of fear; only love can do that. Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illumines it.~Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) USA. Winner of the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize "These places & persons as things & spots are all inside any one of us ... the whole world & all experience is, no matter how real, only a system of metaphor for the allegory (Keats called it) a man's life is." ~Charles Olson to Robert Duncan, 24 August 1955 (from Tom Clark's biography) Resistance, at root, must mean more than resistance against war. It is resistance against all kinds of things that are like warso perhaps, resistance means opposition to being invaded, occupied, assaulted and destroyed by the system. The purpose of resistance, here is to seek the healing of yourself in order to be able to see clearlyI think that communities of resistance should be places where people can return to themselves more easily, where the conditions are such that they can heal themselves and recover their wholeness.~Zen Master, Thich Nhat HanhThe confidence of the [spiritual] warrior is not the confidence of the ordinary man. An ordinary man seeks approval in the eyes of the onlooker and calls that self-confidence. A spiritual warrior seeks impeccability in his own acts and calls that humbleness. ~Carlos Castaneda (1925/31-1998) Anthropologist & teacher of Mesoamerican shamanismThe surest sign of health in any ecosystem is in its diversity.~Gary Snyder, American. Pulitzer Prize winning poet. No one today can afford to be innocent, or indulge himself in ignorance of the nature of contemporary governments, politics and social orders. The national polities of the modern world maintain their existence by deliberately fostered craving and fear: monstrous protection rackets. The free world has become economically dependent on a fantastic system of stimulation of greed which cannot be fulfilled, sexual desire which cannot be satiated and hatred which has no outlet except against oneself~Gary Snyder, American. Pulitzer Prize winning poet. Earth House Hold p.90-91What matters most is the strength of your compassion.~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, teacher of the Dalai Lama The Creative is the strongest of all things in the world. The expression of its natures is invariably the easy, in order thus to master the dangerous. The Receptive is the most devoted of all things in the world. The expression of its nature is invariably simple, in order thus to master the obstructive. ~The I Ching, Ancient China (2800-2100? BC) Wilhelm / Baynes tr. p 353 It is our duty, as men and women, to proceed as though the limits of our abilities do not exist.~Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, (1881-1955) French philosopher and Jesuit Priest Because of the way individuals are institutionalized as students, The pupil isschooled to confuse teaching with learning, grade advancement with education, a diploma with competence, and fluency with the ability to say something new. His imagination is schooled to accept service in place of value. Medical treatment is mistaken for health care, social work for the improvement of community life, police protection for safety, military poise for national security, the rat race for productive workNot only education but social reality itself has become schooled.~Ivan Illich, (1926-2002) Austrian philosopher, social critic, ex-Roman Catholic priest and Vatican lawyer. At the root of the problem where our civilization goes wrong is the mistaken belief that nature is something less than authentic, that nature is not as alive as man is, or as intelligent, that in a sense it is dead, and that animals are of so low an order of intelligence and feeling, we need not take their feelings into account. ~Gary Snyder, American. Pulitzer Prize winning poet.

Publications

Publications

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The Examiner

"San Francisco Mission district's Zen oasis: Forest Books teaches for peace"

August 2009

City Search

Best used bookstore in San Francisco 2008

Contact Us
3080 16th Street San Francisco, CA 94103We are located in the Mission District near the corner of Valencia(one block from the 16th St. BART Station)Hours: Noon-10:00pm Daily Tel: (415) 863-2755Email: zenbooks_earthlink.net

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