LGBTQ Scholarship and Literary Criticism Gay Books Bulletin Volume 1 Number 1 1979

Gay Books Bulletin

Ephemera

Gay Academic Union–New York. Gay Books Bulletin Volume I, Number 1 (Spring 1979) establishes an early scholarly forum dedicated to the critical evaluation and documentation of gay and lesbian literature in the post-Stonewall United States. Issued by the Gay Academic Union, the publication supports research into the emergence of LGBTQ studies, queer bibliography, and the institutionalization of homosexual subject matter within academic discourse. The inaugural issue articulates a program of intellectual rigor through its editorial manifesto “Sapere Aude!” (“Dare to know”), which calls for systematic study and documentation of homosexual expression as a necessary foundation for social and cultural recognition.
Gay Academic Union–New York. Gay Books Bulletin. New York: Gay Academic Union–New York, Spring 1979. Volume I, Number 1. Octavo. Stapled wrappers printed on pale yellow paper. The issue contains extensive book reviews covering biography, fiction, history, theology, and literary criticism, addressing figures such as Montgomery Clift, Christopher Isherwood, W. H. Auden, James Baldwin, Herman Melville, and Radclyffe Hall. Additional sections include “Research in Progress,” “Suggestions for Research,” and periodical notes, providing guidance for scholars and librarians working in an emerging field. International coverage includes discussions of sodomy trials in France and homosexual movements in Italy, indicating a transnational scope. The rear wrapper is formatted as a mailer bearing the organization’s New York address, reflecting its circulation through academic and activist networks rather than commercial distribution.
Approximately 25 pages. Stapled wrappers. Octavo format. Light handling wear with minor edge wear and faint toning; staples intact; no significant losses; overall very good condition. Produced at a moment when LGBTQ scholarship was consolidating into a recognizable field, the issue provides direct evidence of early efforts to construct a critical and bibliographic infrastructure for gay and lesbian studies, offering substantial value for the study of queer intellectual history and late twentieth-century print culture.

Item #22934

Price: $280.00