Piacenza: Stampa Gi-Bi, 1973. Octavo (21.3 x 15 cm). Original printed and illustrated side-stapled wrappers; 22 pp. Some light soiling and damp-staining to covers, overall about very good. Limited edition of 600 copies.

Emilio Villa's "Flippant Ball-Feel" text was composed and published on the occasion of the "Flippers Chimeri" by Corrado Costa and William Xerra, exhibited in the contemporary gallery of the Mana Market Hall in Rome. Villa (1914-2003) was a poet, visual artist, art critic, and translator. A forerunner of the neo-avant-garde and a precursor to Gruppo 63, he spent time in Brazil in the 1950s and became involved with the Brazilian concrete poetry group before returning to Rome.

A student of languages, Villa often wrote in a dialect of Milan rather than what he saw as the problematic and academic "Ytaglya" of the post-war period. He also often inserted words and phrases in ancient Greek, Provençal, French, and other languages into his poems, complicating his texts. His goal at times is to deliberately disorient and confuse his reader.

As of January 2023, OCLC locates only three copies of this small work in Italian libraries and none elsewhere.

Book ID: 52609

Price: $350.00