Earth Rose 1 -- Fuck Hate, Signed by Steve Richmond

Earth Rose 1 -- Fuck Hate, Signed by Steve Richmond

THE EARTH ROSE 1 was produced in 1966 by Steve Richmond for distribution at his legendary Earth Rose Bookshop in Santa Monica, California. It included two poems by Charles Bukowski, three poems by John Buckner, and three poems by Steve Richmond.

But its must distinctive feature was its broadsheet cover, which started with the giant headline, which would tower over even the largest New York Daily News headlines:
FUCK
HATE

The rest of the front page reads as follows:

The police had been watching Richmond closely, hoping to catch him on a drug charge. But this was enough reason to shake down the young  poet and his shop. The shop’s inventory was seized, including some Bukowski books.

The next day the local newspaper ran its own headline:
“Smut Peddler Jailed”

Richmond was charged with:
Section 311.2 of the California Penal Code - CRIMES AGAINST THE PERSON INVOLVING SEXUAL ASSAULT, AND CRIMES AGAINST PUBLIC DECENCY AND GOOD MORALS – more specifically, publishing and distributing obscene material.

Richmond would win the case, with his defense pointing out that similar sentiments had been expressed freely in Europe for generations, and that his statement was in the vein of the United States Declaration of Independence itself.

Richmond 1, District Attorney 0

Earth Rose I is composed of a single sheet of white stock measuring approximately 22" x 17". It was offset printed in black and was meant to be folded once vertically to make a four-page tabloid.

This copy was never folded and is signed by Steve Richmond as if he were signing the statement on the front. There is small tears along the very top and bottom edges from having been stored in a tube, but the rest of the sheet is in Fine condition.

Crate 1