For the opening of DadaglobeReconstuctedlast night at the Museum of Modern Art (NY), I performed “Teke Heart” by Else Baroness von Freytag-Loringhoven (as she bills herself on the holograph ms) (1874–1927). I performed it in the gallery next to the ms of the 1921 poem, sent to Tristan Tzara for his never-published anthology Dadaglobe.
8482-page PDF of the full run of the Paris-based Change magazine, ed. by Jean Pierre Faye, Maurice Roche et Jacques Roubaud & later with Philippe Boyer, Yves Buin, Jean-Claude Montel, Jean Paris, Léon Robel & Mitsou Ronat. digital edition ed. Abigail Lang,
A few days ago, Peter Stallybrass pointed me toward the digital edition of Francis Daniel Pastorius (1651-1719) work, His Hive, Melliotrophium Alvear or, Rusca Apium, Begun Anno Do[mi]ni or, in the year of Christian Account 1696. This work is a compendium of various kinds of "found" lore, a sort of precursor to Walter Benjamin's Arcades project --
Pastorius' commonplace book, usually referred to as the Beehive manuscript (from Pastorius' prologue, p. 1), is a compendium and alphabetical digest of knowledge including inscriptions, epitaphs, proverbs, poetry, Biblical citations, theological citations, quotations, a list of books he read or knew, copies of letters, and notes on science, useful herbs and other plants.
The Beehive is a foundational work of American poetics, even if few American poets know it. Key, as Peter pointed out to me, is the alphabetical index, the third volume, which enables a reader to find items scattered through the work, which consists of three volume of about 1000 pages. Certainly the index makes for a stellar, uncanny, found poem, more resonant for contemporary readers than Pastorius's own poetry.
Denken dat ik denk dat ik denk: Dutch translations by Ton Van 't Hof, Sarah Posman en Samuel Vriezen, now out from Stanza. Cover painting by Susan Bee.