Rare example of the Edwin Denby issue of the mimeographed poetry journal, C, featuring a silk-screened cover (front and back) by Andy Warhol. With contributions by Denby as well as pieces about his work by Berrigan, Frank O'Hara and John Wieners, this issue #4 is most famous for the cover, which "was designed by Andy Warhol from photographs of poets Edwin Denby and Gerard Malanga."  An early and important Warhol production: this is the first known instance of Warhol using Polaroid photographs for making silkscreen images, a practice he came back to later and which became his standard approach for portraits.

"Andy made a silkscreen of two of the photos, and supervised its application on to the paper, while it was applied in turn by me, Gerry [Malanga], Pat Padgett, Sandy [Berrigan], most of the covers being done by Pat. The idea was for every cover to be different, to utilize inexperience to produce 'happenings.' " (Ted Berrigan. "Some Notes about 'C.'" Unpublished manuscript, May 1964.) For further detailed discussion on this process, see Andy Warhol, Poetry, and Gossip in the 1960s (Reva Wolf).

The clarity and resolution of the images vary from copy to copy of the production, either as a result of the screen getting clogged by re-use or as a result of deliberate manipulation by Warhol. In the present example, the front cover images are very clear and more identifiable than sometimes encountered; the rear cover, which is a shot of the two poets kissing, exhibits streaking within the image, but is likewise fully legible.  

Side stapled wrappers. Corrections to the text in ink in Berrigan's or Denby's hand. Front cover with scattered light stains, small tears to the outer edge and a small loss to the lower left and lower left of title (without loss to text); some chipping along the fold of the spine; rear cover fine and otherwise fine throughout.