Notations Compiled by John Cage, assisted by Alison Knowles. Something Else Press. Preface by John Cage. (1969). First printing with no listing of later printings. 9" x 8 1/2" pages not numbered Paperback. Light soiling to covers. Curling and wear to both front and back cover tips and edges. Some discoloration to and inside both covers. Some creasing on the spine. Dust soiling on the top of the page block. Spots of staining on the other edges of the page block and inside the front cover. Original cover price, $4.50, intact. Otherwise, no previous owner markings. No tears, folds or creases to pages. Binding is tight with no looseness to pages. Not ex-library, not remaindered and not a facsimile reprint. For sale by Jon Wobber, bookseller since 1978. JC03a
"This book illustrates a collection of music manuscripts which was made in recent years to benefit the Foundation for Contemporary Performance Arts. The collection was determined by circumstances rather than any process of selection. Thus, it shows the many directions in which music notation is now going. The manuscripts are not arranged according to kinds of music, but alphabetically according to the composer's name. No explanatory information is given.
The text for the book was is the result of a process employing I-Ching chance operations. These determined how many words regarding his work were written to be written by or about which of two hundred and sixty-nine composers. Where these passages (never more than sixty-four words, sometimes only one) have been especially written for this book, they are preceded by a paragraph sign and followed by the author's name. Other remarks were chosen or written by the editors-- John Cage and Allison Knowles. Not only the number of words and the author, but the typography too--letter size, intensity and typeface--were all determined by chance operations. This process was followed in order to lessen the difference between text and illustrations. The composition of the pages is the work of Alison Knowles." from the preface by John Cage