October 14, 1966. 12 pp. 12” x 17”. VERY GOOD.

Started on the 14th of October, 1966 with a concert in the London Roundhouse which featured Soft Machine and Pink Floyd, the “International Times” was one of the earliest and most important British underground papers. After threats by the London “Times” daily newspaper, the “International Times” changed its name to “IT” but it often kept the sub-heading “The International Times” on its cover. It appeared regularly for thirteen years. The paper's logo was a black-and-white image of Theda Bara. Contributors included most of the prominent underground figures of the period, including Allen Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs, Germaine Greer and John Peel.

Issues were often multi-coloured and psychedelic, while later editions were almost completely without color printing. Its graphical style often changed; sometimes the front page was a poster or a comic strip, other times it tried to look like tabloid or a “serious” broadsheet paper. In the late seventies, the punk “cut and paste” style was also sometimes used. From spring 1967 onwards, IT was subjected to police repression and raids. Due to this, “The 14 Hour Technicolor Dream” was organised as a benefit concert for IT and took place at the Alexandra Palace on 29 April 1967. The bands which played included top British psychedelic groups such as the Soft Machine, Pink Floyd, and The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, plus rockbands such as The Pretty Things, Savoy Brown and The Move.

Uncommon.