1946 unpublished letter to Caresse Crosby! (1 Viewer)

[cirerita]

I finally received the Bukowski/Crosby correspondence. Quite a few revealing tidbits for sure.

-The sketches from this 1946 are strikingly similar to the ones he would publish in the LA Free Press almost 30 years later (the Clarence H. Sweetmeat series). The only other early example would be the 1961 sketches which appeared in the A&P Review, edited by S. Martinelli and reprinted in Beerspit...

-He was in Philadelphia in 1946!

-In another 1946 letter to Crosby, he mentions having "get rid of three fair stories and four unsatisfactory poems to MATRIX, a rather old-fashioned Philadelphia 'little magazine'."

-Apparently, Crosby invited him to visit her, but B. declined to do so.

-In a 1947 letter to B, they send him back a lost short-story titled "The War, the War". The letter is addressed to the same Philadelphia address which appears in the letter attached here, but it also says:
"If returned, try:
2020 Mt Vernon St
Phila 30 Pa"

-In a hand-written 1953 letter to Crosby, B mentions having sold his typer "to go on a drunk 6 or 7 years ago" and says he has lost his only Portfolio copy and asks Crosby to please send him a copy. This letter is postmarked from his Coronado St address.

-In a 1954 letter to Crosby he admits having submitted -and being rejected by- Accent. Also tells her a series of stories -"pain is an outrage. I almost died last April"- which apparently shock Crosby, who doesn't quite believe them as per her 1955 reply letter.

Looking forward now to receiving the B./Burnett correspondence...

 

[1fsh2fsh]

thanks man! this place (and you) never cease to amaze me. just too fucking cool!

 

[hank solo]

He's some kind of Spanish-Super-Sleuth

:D

How many more gems?

Thanks cirerita

 

[hoochmonkey9]

incredible.
thanks.

 

[mjp]

Well, this would seem to indicate that he did two long stints in Philadelphia then. We know he was there in '43 & '44 (since he was arrested and jailed there), but according to this letter he was back in Los Angeles when his story was accepted for Portfolio, then back to Philadelphia (in a new suit from his father - ha - the picture in Sounes?), where it looks like he stayed a couple more years...

My guess, unless further letters/addresses surface to pinpoint it more exactly, is that he made his way back to Los Angeles after Moyamensing, then in '45 or '46 headed back to Philadelphia.

If "Merry Co." is the picture frame factory it fits. He met Jane in '47, so we know he was back in Los Angeles by then.

This is quite a puzzle, but thanks to cirerita's research (Special Collections Southern Illinois University?) we continue to pick up pieces.

 

[cirerita]

You don't have to be a genius to find out where most of these letters are. If I can get them living in Spain -without the aid of interlibrary loan services!!!!- then anyone in the US could get them with their eyes closed. Why they were not included in the BSP volumes of letters simply eludes me. Well, I have a theory :D

And I still have to pay $14 for those letters -$2 for the letters and $12 for the fucking bloody postage!

 

[Snowball Fight]

That's great stuff!

Thanks.

 

[Bukfan]

This is really an interesting letter! Already in 1946 he made drawings in his letters - amazing. We even got a bit more info to our "when were Buk where" puzzle.
The $14 were well spent by our very own Nick Belane - ciretita...:D
Thanks a lot, c...!

 

[pichon64]

Thanks cirerita. Always nice and new B stuff to read and keep amazed.

 

[LickTheStar]

I didn't realize you were in Spain. That makes it even more impressive! Great find! I can't wait to get better at this research thing and dig up my own stuff... Thanks!

 

[Black Swan]

what a great letter and those dynamic sketches by
Bukowski. Just all so amazing...
Thank you

 

[Paul Sempschi]

So did Buk recover those mss.?

 

[RichardWagons]

Wow, cirerita makes coming here more than worthwhile. Fascinating find. Thanks for sharing it.

 

[Purple Stickpin]

Dig deeper here. You have absolutely no idea the depth of his guile. You could spend the rest of your days finding stuff here that he finds while asleep, apparently.

 

[Gerard K H Love]

cirerita probably has a team of college interns in a boiler room 24 hours a day in three shifts, researching the world libraries and university and literary archives to gather all of this information. At some point even the dirt from an old residence will fit into the puzzle.

Whatever however it is a good thing, thank you very much, Abel. Oh, and have a nice day.

 

[cirerita]

You guys are too much... ;)

 

[roni]

Maybe he just carries pictures of Ona with him when visiting the libraries. After the staff has seen them, they come up like: "ooooww, what a cuuute little girl! , by the way - what was it you were asking for?"



cirerita ROCKS!

 

[Buzzcat]

I find it odd that his bottles, such as in frame 6, look more like waterbongs than bottles of booze.