Litmus Inc. evolved from Litmus Magazine and began publishing books in Berkeley in 1968. Charles Bukowski's Poems Written before Jumping out of an 8 Story Window was published in cahoots with The Poetry Exchange of Glendale, California. It was reprinted twice in Salt Lake City by Litmus, and Litmus Inc. independently for a total print run of 5,000 copies. Also in condominium style, the Litmus/The Smith first edition of Charles Foster's Victoria Mundi was published in New York City in 1971. The third Litmus first edition was Edward Smith's The Flutes of Gama. After the Underwater Poetry Festival in 1974 in Salt Lake City, Litmus incorporated as a non-profit 501 C3 corporation with the help of the Reverend Sherm W. Clow, who became president of the corporation, and Steve Jones, proprietor of The Cosmic Aeroplane Bookstore which became the distributor of Litmus materials. Litmus Inc. had become a subscription society by that time and continued publishing books with a small assistance grant from the National Endowment for the Arts until 1977 when Potts abandoned Salt Lake to return to Idaho.