Bukowski books I wish I hadn't sold. (dedicated to bospress & rekrab) (2 Viewers)

Ponder

"So fuck Doubleday Doran"
RIP
I sold many Black Sparrow Bukowski books and books, mags.
with and on Buk because I needed the money.

I'm not sure I regret it.
 
I sold an original letter from Buk to Jon and Lou Webb from about 1965 when I was out of work after September 11th. That and about $5000 worth of books comprising much of my collection, which was packed up and sent away to keep me from losing my house.

Most of it has been replaced, but for that damn letter.

Bill

p.s. I also sold a copy of The Captain (from 1997, NOT 1998), and I think that it sold for about $400. This was about 8 years ago. The book is $1000 now.

No chance of me getting that one back.
 
The manuscripts and letters are irreplaceable, for sure. But I don't regret selling the poems and letters that I sold. I made sure to hold on to a few that I thought were the best. ;) "How many manuscripts does one person need?" was pretty much my thinking at the time (and now). And you would have had to have been a fool not to sell during the great stnickl/dermaface grudge match.

Books are just books, you can always get them back. Unless you're talking about a collection like nymark's, which is so full of unique items.
 
If I had a lot of books like that to sell, I'm not sure I'd regret doing it either. But I would regret not keeping a few.
 
Poems and Drawings. Sold my copy to stnckl and I'm pretty sure that I'll never find another copy that I could afford.
 
Why sell a BUK collectible?

1. Thin the herd
2. Don't like the piece
3. Have duplicates (see #1)
4. Need the money
5. Tired of the piece (see #2)
6. Buying something better; need cash flow
7. Starting a new collection (different author, etc.)
8. Cash in; profit

Curious as to why? There's my list. Feel free to add...
 
I had two hardcover copies of FIRE STATION with beautiful inscriptions. Beautiful copies. Red tissue and all. Each copy was inscribed to the two publishers at Capricorn Press"”the outfit that published the book"”one to Noel Young and the other to Graham Macintosh. A fantastic pair of books. A set that should never be broken.

I sold the copy inscribed to Graham Mackintosh because of some financial "calamity" that I can no longer recall. But I remember that damn book no problem! I could fucking shoot myself.

(My inscribed copy to Noel Young was the first in my series of "inscription" posts. It's one of the best inscriptions in my collection.)

Ross Runfola bought it in some spirited eBay bidding against his nemesis. A year or so later I BEGGED Ross to sell them back to me but of course, he would not and I certainly don't blame him.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Nothing yet that I regret. All I've sold at this point is three issues of the Sparrow though. There's still time if the economy still sucks a year from now though...
 
i dont collect rare stuff, but i sold a copy of hollywood to a local used book for some extra change, now i am dying to re read it, but the cheapest copy i can find is the one i sold to the used book store. shit, i have gotten over the idiot level of selling a book to a store for a dollar then buying it back for five, what bothers me most is the look the snooty bitch who owns the place is going to give me.
 
I sold off a complete set of Outsider magazines Really only miss #3 The Buk issue.
I figured it would be reissued and the paper was getting fragile but here we are 12 years later and no Outsider #3 reissue.
Kept a few things but am not a collector per se do want "reading" copies though.
In this spirit I sold off original Blue Note LP'S when good sounding reissues were available

I had a great little facsimile set of Targets these were 2 or 3 little booklets which were copied and hand sewn. The originals came from Al Purdy's copy of Targets which included A Signature of Charles Bukowski Poetry.
This original copy was for sale in Toronto in 1992 for 12.5k !!
The dealer loved Buk and made a few facsimilies I regret selling mine.

I remember now There were 2 pamphlets. A Signature of Charles Bukowski Poetry which was like a small chapbook , and then, Signature 2 which was a mini. Wish I'd kept them
 
Yes, the original pre-publication overrun is VERY, VERY expensive, but the reprint from Toronto is not. In addition, there was a problem with people pulling out the detachable booklet from Targets to pass it off as the offprint. The actual pre-publication copies were without staples and without staple holes. David Barker made a very detailed examination of this in his Bibliography/checklist, if I remember correctly.

Bill
 
Yes , it was done by Nicky Drumbolis of Letters Bookstore in Toronto.
I never meant it was expensive but just to state I should have kept it.
Would the ones listed on ABE have both Signatures 1 and 2?

My reproduction copies came with the catalogue[list 93] he prepared for the Smallpress Bookfair Fourteen November 1992.
In it he offers Purdy's original copies for $12500.00 !!
 
I sold hundreds of early Buk items in the 1980s. Four kids and a mortgage, not to mention the credit card companies, were my reasons. Too many to remember them all. But I miss Fire Station, A Bukowski Sampler, Poems Written Before Jumping From An Eight Story Window, It Catches My Heart In Its Hands, The Outsider issues, His Wife, The Painter broadside, and a few others. I may have some of the titles garbled...
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top