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122.
THE NEW EARTH CATALOG: LIVING HERE AND NOW.
NY: Putnam/Berkeley and Heller & Son., 1973. First edition of the second and final volume. Folio. Stapled wrps., 144pp. Ed. Scott French. Illustrated throughout with photographs, cartoons, drawings and diagrams. Section heading art by Greg Irons.
Resembling the Whole Earth Catalog in both format and content, though unconnected to it (it was probably intended to fill the gap left by the publication of The Last Whole Earth Catalog two years earlier), 'The New Earth Catalog' was "put together by a loosely knit group of people known as Gnu Publishing" in San Francisco. It contains ten how-to sections, each providing information and details of relevant products, including on Backpacking; Media (video, musical instruments); Cooking, Growing and Eating; Alternative Living (childbirth, energy, domes); Education (free schools); Tools; and "The Fully Illustrated, Worry-Free, A to Z, How To Make Your Own Book" (burning banana, bio-cosmic energy, IBM card reading, sourdough, massage balls, etc.).
The electronic trips part of the Hip section features the 'ASCID' ('Altered States of Consciousness Induction Device'), developed by Robert Masters and Jean Houston "to facilitate basic research into eidetic (visual) imagery." Manufactured by the Cambridge Cyborgs Corporation in Massachussetts, it was, unlike everything else in the catalogue, unavailable to the public. Any Damn Thing, the final section, includes an extensive range of products, including everything from books on naked yoga to a gyro-copter and "a programmable melody synthesizer".
Contemporary bookseller's price label top right front cover; several small circular indentations to front cover, o/w Very Good.
