Oz magazine no. 15 (1968)

Richard Neville & Martin Sharp (Eds.) - OZ no. 15. One of the most influential English underground magazines. Content: Cover: Mick Jagger by Martin Sharp. Letter to Richard Neville from Clice James; Germaine Greer on legalization of cannabis; Confessions of a faithless suburban wife; Ad for Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac, Joe Cocker, Doctor K's Bluesband, Pink Floyd, and Blue Cheer (The loudest group in the world) at Middle Earth; Dreaming of a red Christmas; Full-page Martin Sharp "comic"; Television; Court cases; Interview with Allan Cohen on e.g. Meher Baba; Michael English drawing with poem by C. Logue; Edward de Bono on Continuity and Discontinuity; The state of American Protest; Two song texts of Beggar's Banquet by the Rolling Stones; British Film Institute report; Two-page drawing by John Hurford; Down on the farm; Richard Meltzer on rock. 

Condition:  Slight wear; Slight damage at one of the staples. Overall condition: Very good.
Publisher: OZ, London.
1st Edition. 1st Printing. Published: 1968.
Size: 27.8 x 20.8 cm. Pages: 48. Language: English. Seller inventory: #27908.

Background information

Oz is graphically the most beautiful and adventurous underground magazine from the Sixties. To a large part this can be attributed to graphic designer Martin Sharp. He came to London with Richard Neville from their home country of Australia. This was partly motivated by resistance of the established order against the Australian Oz, the forerunner of the English Oz. Of London Oz 48 issues appeared between February 1967 and November 1973. The editorial staff consisted of Richard Neville, Jim Anderson and Felix Dennis.

Oz's editors were taken to court for alleged obscenities in issue 28, the "Schoolkids" issue compiled by high school students. The lawsuit attracted national and international attention. Oz's circulation was 20,000 in 1968 and rose to 70,000 after the trial in 1971.

Refs.: John Noyce (1979) The directory of British alternative periodicals 1965-1974 (The Harvester Press, Sussex) p. 219-222; Tony Palmer (1971) The trials of OZ (Blond & Briggs, Manchester); Jan Pen & Peter Sijnke (2022) Nederlandse undergroundpublicaties 1964-1976 (Koninklijke Van Gorcum, Assen) p. 37.