US // Whole Earth Catalog / 1969
The Whole Earth Catalog (WEC) was an American counterculture catalog published by Stewart Brand between 1968 and 1972, and occasionally thereafter, until 1998.
The title Whole Earth Catalog came from a previous project of Stewart Brand. In 1966, he initiated a campaign to have the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) release the then-rumored satellite photo of the sphere of Earth as seen from space, the first image of the "Whole Earth"; which he thought the NASA photo might be a powerful symbol, evoking a sense of shared destiny.
This edition #1070, the Fall 1969, which Stewart Brand co-authored with Lloyd Kahn, had 132pages, sold for $4 retail and featured a cover photo of Earth from deep space.
Although the WECs listed all sorts of products for sale (clothing, books, tools, machines, seeds things useful for a creative or self-sustainable lifestyle) the Whole Earth Catalogs themselves did not sell any of the products. Instead the vendors and their prices were listed right alongside with the items. Notable among these items were the first public offerings of the Whole Earth Flags, which in this catalog are offered on page 80.
SEE ZFC1209 for a first printing of the Whole Earth Flag.
Brand, Stewart & Kahn Lloyd,
Whole Earth Catalog,
The Portola Institute, Inc.,
Menlo Park,
1969, 128pp.,
#ASIN B000KVJ3ZC
