Books and Manuscripts

(New Mexico): Lama Foundation, 1970. First edition. Square 4to. 108 leaves. Profusely illustrated. Original limp printed brown paper wrappers, illustrated paper label depicting a mandala on front wrapper, bound in twine; all edges trimmed; scattered minor wear; scattered dampstaining in fore-edge of leaves and at bottom corner of cover label; original box and other ephemera wanting.

A scarce and well-preserved first edition of American guru and spiritual teacher Ram Dass's highly influential spiritual guidebook, the prototype for his landmark and best-selling book Be Here Now (1971). This book and its 1971 iteration were seminal publications in the Hippie and New Age movements of the 1970s, and helped popularize Eastern spirituality in the West. This book was originally mailed in a cardboard box with other ephemera, including a record and other booklets, but it rarely survives complete or intact.

Ram Dass (1931-2019), born Richard Alpert, was an American spiritual teacher and icon of the psychedelic and counter-culture movements of the 1960s-70s. In his early career at Harvard he conducted research with Timothy Leary on the effects of psychedelic drugs that eventually led to their dismissal, in 1963. In 1967 he travelled to India, and under the guidance of Hindu mystic Neem Karoli Baba, changed his name to Ram Dass, meaning "servant of God". Upon his return to the United States, he toured the country extensively lecturing on spirituality and he helped popularize the New Age movement to Western audiences.