Ali's Smile Companion Box, 2021

London, England: Aloes Books (boxed set, deluxe, LP, cassette, books, ephemera), 2021.
13" x 13" x 1.25" overall, multiple items (see Contents).

This Ali's Smile Companion Box is a brilliantly composed box-set of items by Jim Pennington of Aloes Books, London, adding context and depth to the LP re-release of the Ali's Smile recording that originally was released with the Unicorn Press (Bill Butler) book of the same name.  At the time of its original Ali's Smile pressing, all 99 copies of the published hardcover book were to be released with a one-sided LP in a slipcase. Due to an accident with copies warping atop a heater, only roughly 50 copies of the LP were released, and only a portion of those together with the book. Both the book and LP are highly desired by Burroughs collectors.

In 2021, Paradigm Discs re-released the Ali's Smile LP in an edition of 1000, along with additional audio, with the support and assistance of Jim Pennington.

This box set was limited to 26 copies, of which this copy is #7, marked on most of the set's contents. This copy was acquired directly from Jim Pennington.

Contents of the Box:

• "Matter Be? Lies so long at the fair" – A Dossier of Association Blocks, 8 leaves split-pin fastened to allow for additions. 10" x 8.125".
• Insert with two pockets and an attached sleeve for a cassette, 12.25" x 12.25" x ~0.5" overall containing:
• first pocket:
• "Jo'burg Security Check Sheet" – HCO Policy Letter of 7 April 1961, 13" x 8.25" (folded once), 3 pages, recto only, stapled, red ink on pink paper.  A facsimile Scientology Security Check form.
• "If You Read This I Made It: The Life, but Mostly the Death of Bill Butler" by Jeremy Reed, published by Aloes Books. 6.75" x 5" x 0.125", 30 pages with a bound-in photograph of Bill Butler by Graham Keen. Noted as an edition of 26 copies, this #7.  A history of Unicorn Books publisher Bill Butler.
• "Saint Hill postcard set" – eight 3.75" x 5.25" postcards on stiff card of Sint Hill Manor in 1963 – the location owned by L. Ron Hubbard where Burroughs undertook his training in Scientology.  These cards are in a black envelope with "7" on a red star-shaped sealing label (the number of this copy).
• "May Day buffoonery" – a facsimile greeting card from the 
  Unicorn Bookshop, Brighton: "Hooray, Horay, The First of May; Outside Fucking Starts Today"
• second pocket:
• "Ali's Smile" – text booklet. 6.5" x 4.125", 10 pages, staple-bound. The complete text of the 1971 Unicorn Books release. The back cover contains details on the Companion Box with a star-shaped label with the number of this copy, "7".
• "Nova Dispatches" -- text and commentary booklet. 6.75" x 4.375", 28 pages, staple-bound. This is formed as if it were a book in The Olympia Press' series of books, and "comprise recordings sent to Gary Goldhill... made by Burroughs before or around 1963 and possibly recorded by Ian Sommerville in the English Bookshop basement." This contains the following content:
• William S. Burroughs (the text from the LP, Nova Dispatches): 
• "Pry Yourself Loose..."
• "... and Listen"
• "What Are Words"
• "Nova Mythology"
• "the nova police"
• "Cut-up and Fold-in Techniques"
• "Virus"
• "Association Blocks"
• image of "The Board Books in Towers Open Fire
• image of the radio and military transmitter towers in Gibraltar
• notes
• Association blocks between Burroughs and Goldhill
• On Gary Goldhill – an exploration through emails and periodicals
• Clip from the Edinburgh Conference Transcript
• A list of Companion Box items
• An "Inventory" of the items in the Companion Box.
• cassette (#7):
• Side A: 
• "Nova Despatches [sic] ", 2'27". The Gary Goldhill take-outs
• "Ali's Smile", 2'33". Vinyl flip-side truncated edit.
• Side B: 
• "sound association blocks" – 1972 Duke Street, "Dawes, car horns, lift gates, WSB tv tape, dreams..."
• Insert with A. Durazzi image [same as the 2021 LP cover] on recto, and a reproduction of a page from Radio Times, March 5, 1964 on verso, with a description of the Eric Mottram "Algebra of Need" program listed. 12.5" x 12.5" on heavy stock. Numbered with the copy number, "7"
• Insert with assorted relational images on the verso, and a site plan for the Scientology training facility Saint Hill Manor with a description.  Numbered with the copy number, "7"
• #7 of 1000 copies of the 2021 LP release of Ali's Smile, black vinyl. Contains an insert by Jim Pennington [on which the copy number is noted] discussing the LP contents, which are:
• Side 1:
• "Ali's Smile", 20'58": The full audio from the 1971 LP release
• "Nova Dispatches":
• Pry Yourself Loose", 6'43"
• Side 2:
• "Nova Dispatches":
• "...and Listen", 2'58
• "What Are Words?", 1'12"
• "Nova Mythology", 4'24"
• "Reading from The Ticket That Exploded", 3'37"
• "Cut-up and Fold-in Techniques", 4'37"
• "Virus", 4'35"
• "Association Blocks", 2'04"