Hello, everyone. I'm writing to clear up some questions about the latest copy of Bukowski's Flower, Fist, and Bestial Wail we have offered on ebay, as well as to tell you a little about our library's Bukowski collection. I feel a little guilty for lurking on these boards, so now you know I'm here.
First of all, this IS a different copy than the one we sold a couple months ago. There are different condition issues you might notice--the back cover of this copy, in particular, has some odd discoloration. The number in pencil is a (Library of Congress-style) call number, written at some point in the past to show that this is an extra copy of a book already catalogued in our collection under this call number. This particular copy was never catalogued, though, so it has no other library markings and is not an ex-library copy. The copy we already have catalogued is inscribed--I'll come back later with more information about the inscription, because it's pretty interesting.
It's also surprising to ME that we've come up with so many copies of this rare book (in fact, I've also found ANOTHER one. so now you all know...) Here's what I think happened. We have an extensive Polish/Polish American archive on campus. The archivist in the '60s and '70s, now deceased, collected Bukowski because of his Polish name. Prices were no doubt a lot lower back then. Some of those items were added to the library's collection, and some were housed separately and never catalogued (I'm getting around to it slowly...). Some were kept together and some were scattered--and I do mean scattered--around our various campus buildings. I took over the archives a few months ago, so I'm now digging up some of those items. If you look at our flickr page (
www.flickr.com/photos/orchardlake) you'll see how these things could have been lost for decades.
Among the Bukowski stuff I've located, there is also a very gracious hand-written letter from Buk to our former archivist in answer to an inquiry about his Polish background. I'll also have to come back with more information about that later, because I'm writing this from home, not from the library.
Anyway, I just wanted everyone to know the situation. I've learned a lot from this website that will help me as I continue to catalogue this collection. I wasn't sure of the best way to make the extra copies available to collectors, and decided that ebay was the fairest option to everyone. It may also be that the other extra copy we now have should be offered to another library or archive.
If you've got any other questions, I'm happy to try to answer them. Don't feel constrained in your discussion on this forum just because I'm here, though. It's a learning curve for me when it comes to this material.
Joseph Swastek might know the answer to this.
Joseph Swastek, as "cirerita" indicated, IS the reason our obscure library came to hold so many copies of this book (In fact, I've just uncovered ANOTHER one, which makes 4 altogether, SO FAR). We have an extensive Polish and Polish American archive and other collections here on campus.