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$225 for the most disgusting book i've ever seen (1 Viewer)

I was going to message that seller and offer him 15 cents, but I don't want to offend anyone.
 
I was thinking about offering $20 for it. It is funy that they would offer this book for nearly what you would pay for a perfect one.

I bet that this one's binding smells like coffee grinds and armpit.

Bill
 
That really is a nasty looking thing. The seller is hathisisfunnyha which is also a good description of the starting bid.
 
Hey, I kind of have this fetish for ex-library books. And they're not all trashed. I recent upgraded a very rare book in my collection from a very trashed non-ex-library copy to a very clean ex-library copy. The only sign it has of its history is a handwritten call number label on the spine, and that's vintage 1920 and quite neutral. It's a signed, numbered limited first edition of THE STORY OF OPAL, if you must know. It wasn't sold as ex-library or even as the signed edition, and I got it dirty cheap, so I'm not about to complain to the seller. Back on topic, I wouldn't pay more that $50 for that signed Bukowski ruin.
 
Well, this is kind of interesting in a roundabout way, because what is the value of that book? I might pay Bill's $20 (might), but I don't think I'd pay David's $40. The way I look at that mess, the only thing of value is the signature, independent of the book, and I don't really know what that's worth. It would be a different story if it was a rare book.

There's another telling thing, and that is that a school bought a signed copy, which was more expensive, presumably because the unsigned first hardcover was sold out. Those trade hardcover firsts are more rare than the signed firsts because so many of them went to schools and ended up looking like this one (I offer that up for the newbies in the audience, as I know many of you are thinking, "No shit, everyone knows that"). It's food for thought, mobsters!
 
I have a signed library copy of SOUTH OF NO NORTH someone brought into the coffee shop I was working at and gave me because he liked my poetry and thought I'd appreciate it.

I know, who cares, right?

why are library copies are the bastard children around here? they have rights too...
 
They don't have the same value that a pampered and protected copy has, of course, so most people shy away from them as collectibles or investments. As reading copies I think they're great though. And I doubt that I would own It Catches or Terror Street if it weren't for ex-library copies.
 
Also surprising is that so many VT students could have checked out this book, read and abused it, yet no one had the nuts to remove the signature. That says a lot about VT students. If this book was a standard library book, the signature page would have been removed long ago to be sold on ebay.

Bill
 
That's right, Bill! - Along with a photo of Buk, as we've seen before...
 
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Michael Vick
&
the VT shooter.

I can see that the VT shooter would have had a better chance of having read this book, though.

Bill
 
What's really kind of messed up is that I bought a not called for but signed, fine hardcover trade edition for less than $170 back in July from Scott @ AP.

So now that the economy is down, this cat wants what? for a piece of shit?

BUMWAD indeed!

Hey Jordan: this is a good candidate for that gummy eraser bag thingy, or whatever that whacky thing is. ;) Good luck!!!
 
This book will need more than that. I suggest to repair this book:

1) Buy it from the seller for $40
2) remove the signature page
3) mat and frame the signature with a nice picture and put it on your wall.
4) give the book away or sell it for $10 to someone as a reading copy

Normally I would not suggest removing a signature page, but this is a reading copy only. It is stinky enough that you should be able to lend it to a friend without worrying about getting it back....

Bill
 
What I like about library books is that they have history. They have been used. They were there when it was happening. Okay, so most of them are beat to hell. That's why libraries get rid of them; they are past the point of reasonable repair and have become a restoration project, if they can be helped at all. And as mjp says, you can handle them without worry; there's no way you're going to lessen their condition with normal handling.
 
for $235? I'm not saying that it is useless of valueless, but it is not worth any more than a copy that you could buy in Borders. There is nothing collectible that would justify that price.
 
1) Buy it from the seller for $40
2) remove the signature page
3) mat and frame the signature with a nice picture and put it on your wall.
4) give the book away or sell it for $10 to someone as a reading copy

I agree! I would'nt mind pay $40-50 just to get the signature and frame it together with a nice pic of Buk. As for the book itself, I would'nt have such a bad copy on my book shelf. I would give it away...
 
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I just saw this one...

If you notice the buyer keeps outbidding himself.

Yes, that's legit [to my eyes]. The bidder with 133 feedback wasn't bidding against himself, an earlier bid was higher (the guy with 659 feedback had bid $365.00 earlier and that's how ebay's proxy bid system works).
 
Has'nt this letter been offered before? If not, then the seller has changed a couple of the pics, because last time he showed a pic of the whole envelope, and now the envelope has been split into pics each showing part of the envelope. The pic of the whole envelope has certainly disappeared...
 
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It has been listed a few times. I thought that it sold before, so I'm not sure. It certainly is not the best letter that I have seen. More of a curiosity.

Bill
 
Thanks, Bill! I thought so. The description of the letter is certainly not correct when the seller states:

"This is perhaps one of the finest Bukowski letters ever offered at an auction...Content is priceless, Bukowski at his best."

Talk about hype...
 
It has been listed a few times. I thought that it sold before, so I'm not sure. It certainly is not the best letter that I have seen. More of a curiosity.

It was listed by the same seller from Hawaii back in November. Back then, he had a Buy it Now Price of $850, if I recall and all that, and it had no hits. Bidders nowadays don't know how to keep a price down. They bid too early, perhaps beating off in anticipation, but they only succeed in attracting attention to the item, and then they overpay.
 
thanks

I contacted the seller about it. He bought it from Abandoned books out in SF. I guess Linda King was there at the time she signed a book of Buk's poetry. :o
 

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