Unsolicited Hype was created in 1985, as a thank-you to mail artists whose work Jacob treasured, returning it in another form and keeping the gift in motion. In retrospect, it is notable for the large number of East German artists included. One year later, Jacob would meet most of them during his first trip to Eastern Europe.
Riding Beggar ceased publication in the 1990s. A complete run of PostHype was acquired by the Museum of Modern Art in 1987. Incomplete sets are held by the Getty Research Institute (acquired with the Jean Brown, Bern Porter, Carlo Pittore, and other people’s papers) and active mail art archives such as the Artpool Art Research Center.
The Riding Beggar archive is housed with the John P. Jacob Papers at the Beinecke Rare Books Library, Yale University.
