[Small Press][New Mexico] Laughing Horse No. 13 the D.H. Lawrence Number

Item Details

Santa Fe, New Mexico, Laughing Horse, 1926

[Small Press][New Mexico] Laughing Horse No. 13 the D.H. Lawrence Number, Willard "Spud" Johnson Editor, April 1926, Santa Fe, New Mexico.  8 5/8 x 6 1/2 inches. Frontis, 30pp., [8].

Staple-bound booklet with orange printing to front and back of wrapper. Light soiling and wear to yapp edges. 1/4-inch tear to back wrapper. Binding remains tight. Interior is clean except for one soiled fore edge leaf. Very Good Condition.

One of the best-known issues of Laughing Horse was Issue No. 13, the "D.H. Lawrence Number". Lawrence would contribute six items of poems and prose for his issue. Witter Bynner contributed a pen portrait of Lawrence and Frederic Leighton wrote "The Bite of Mr. Lawrence."  Loren Mozley provided two lino cuts and Mabel Dodge Luhan wrote "The Plumed Serpent."

One of my favorite small press efforts which showcased the skills, wit and political chops of Willard "Spud" Johnson.  "Spud" Johnson (1897-1968), was born in Illinois, but spent most of his childhood in Greeley, Colorado where he excelled in journalism, including starting and edited a newspaper at Greeley High School. From there he before entered Colorado State Teacher's College in 1916, where he continued his journalism. Feeling tethered by the "small-town" life in Boulder, Colorado, Johnson transferred to the University of California at Berkeley. It was at Berkeley he met poet Witter Bynner who became a mentor for young Spud Johnson.

In 1922, Johnson and three friends, founded a small primitive magazine, Laughing Horse. Intended as an alternative campus publication, the editors presented "...polemics, philippics, satire, burlesque and all-around destructive criticism...." Soon the Berkeley administration showed displeasure with Laughing Horse and Johnson would land in New Mexico. Johnson continued to contribute to Laughing Horse from Santa Fe, and later Taos, eventually taking it over and publishing it intermittently over the next thirty years. Johnson soon ran with noted New Mexico literary figures D.H. and Frieda Lawrence, Mabel Dodge Luhan, Mary Austin and Dorothy Brett. He was active in various community affairs and causes mostly supporting himself with his writing and his printing press. One of his most durable activities was an editorial column which ran under the title "The Horse Fly"; later called the "The Gadfly." 

While the first few Berkeley issues are virtually impossible to acquire, later issues are scarce and desirable. Single issues appear infrequently in the marketplace. 

Author Sharyn R. Udall published "Spud Johnson & Laughing Horse" in 1994 and is a required reference for Johnson and his life.