Dorbin, BSP, letterpress (1 Viewer)

[mjp]

I was making a new cover to replace the brittle, tattered rag that was pathetically semi-covering my copy of the Dorbin biblio, when I realized the the entire book was letterpressed. Hadn't noticed that before.

At Terror Street And Agony Way ('68) was letterpressed, then If We Take ('69), and Dorbin ('69). But the next book, Days Run Away ('69), was offset printed. Looks like they quit letterpress when they established the BSP softcover "template" with Days Run Away.

This is all apropos of nothing, as the kids say. I hope you weren't expecting it to go anywhere.

 

[jordan]

spine labels were printed letterpress for a lot of books... and not only for first editions. they kept it going for a while off and on (up until around the mid-80's), although i don't know when they stopped it altogether.

 

[bospress.net]

The New Year's Greetings were letterpress printed, I believe.

Bill

 

[mjp]

Yeah, the covers were letterpressed for some time (I think War All The Time is the first completely offset cover, and that was '84), and the NYGs up to around the same time. I guess by 1970 letterpress wasn't cost effective for the guts of books anymore. Well, probably long before 1970 for longer runs...

 

[Rekrab]

mjp: it may not go much of anywhere, but I found it interesting. I've never seen the Dorbin biblio firsthand (or even a copy ... that I remember). It was always out of my reach.

Speaking of early BSP, in the bookstore where I moonlight cataloguing books on Saturdays, I found a 1969 BSP paperbound book by Robert Kelly, Finding The Measure, with an earlier version of the sparrow logo on the title page. It's a beautiful book, and cheap. I see on ABE you can snag one for $5. If that was Bukowski title, it'd be a lot more.

 

[chronic]

... I found a 1969 BSP paperbound book by Robert Kelly, Finding The Measure, with an earlier version of the sparrow logo on the title page. ... If that was Bukowski title, it'd be a lot more.

If it was a Bukowski title, it would be The Days Run Away Like Wild Horses Over the Hills.

 

[Rekrab]

Indeed, it would be.

There are early BSP books by obscure authors going for $1 or $2 on ABE. Martin seems to have published whatever he wanted, the market be damned, knowing that Bukowski and Wakoski would sell enough copies to cover his whole operation. Obviously, that was a good business model.

 

[mjp]

I found a 1969 BSP paperbound book by Robert Kelly, Finding The Measure, with an earlier version of the sparrow logo on the title page.

They changed the logo (or "publisher's device") in 1969 then, since Dorbin has the modern, elongated sparrow. I always preferred the earlier, squat little sparrow. It has more moxie.

I've never seen the Dorbin biblio firsthand (or even a copy ... that I remember). It was always out of my reach.

It was always out of my reach too. As usual, my copy has a flaw (or two) that made collectors pass it by so I could afford it.

 

[Rekrab]

mjp: any chance you might post a photo of your battle-scarred copy of Dorbin? I have this fetish for beat to hell books, ex-library copies in particular.

 

[mjp]

Hmm, my Dorbin isn't actually in terrible shape. From the outside it looks great. But it has pencil notations throughout (it was Ed Blair's copy), and the page with the facsimile of the first broadside is wrinkled. That's why it was cheap. The clear cover was trashed, but I threw that out over the weekend when I cut a new one.

The most fucked up book I have is easily this one (which you've already seen). But I can look for some pictures of my library bound It Catches...

 

[Rekrab]

Ah, that AT TERROR is indeed kinky. I'd love to see your legended IT CATCHES.

I've been able to find some fairly rare books ($50 to $100 price range) at $1 each, in trashed condition. Mostly, they just need binding repairs, or binding period in a few cases. Book dealers don't want to bother with books that have condition problems, and will stash them in backroom junk piles. If you can get into those places, you can find some amazing cheap treasures. Most of the books I've found like this are rare items from the 1800s, for some reason. Maybe they don't even buy the newer books with condition problems. Nothing I like better than spending an hour of two with paper and cloth or leather and glue, reassembling one of these monsters. Then, when they're fixed, you can read them guilt-free -- no way you can hurt them now, and they are sturdy again.

 

[roni]

... The most fucked up book I have is easily this one ...

DAMN that hurts!
And it doesn't even have THE typo!

 

[Gerard K H Love]

....(snip..)...

The most fucked up book I have is easily this one (which you've already seen)....

Is it me or are those teeth marks on the left side of the white label? Like someone was trying to bite the Charles off. You should have a dentist check that out.

 

[bospress.net]

someone was trying to remove the label to see the typo below...

Bill

 

[Rekrab]

Kind of like the Beatles' Butcher album?