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Help! All of my Buk books are ecco/virgin editions (1 Viewer)

when i first started getting into bukowski i had no idea what black sparrow press was. I was just obsessed with reading everything Bukowski had to offerer. now that i know more of the story behind bukowski's books I find it very sad that every time i look op at my bookshelf all I see is Ecco/Virgin editions. of course i know that the words are by far the the most important thing but still it would be nice to have at least a few B.S.P editions on my shelf. so i guess what I'm asking is where do i start. what websites are good, how much do they cost, how rare and expensive are hardcover. Any help on this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks:confused:
 
Hi,
Some bookstores int he US still have old BSP editions on the shelves. Otherwise, you can buy them on ebay. Just be careful as some people pull listings by isbn and will tell you that it is BSP when it is actually Ecco.

Hardcovers seem to me more and more expensive. Back in 2001 and before (I believe this to be the case), BSP kept them all in print in paperback and hardback, so you could get them for $27.50 each.

Now you are stuck fighting with some booksellers that do now know the difference. That is the biggest thing. I have seen some 23rd printing HB tyring to be sold for hundreds of dollars.

If you want non-first printing paperback copies from Black Sparrow, it should not cost to much if you are patient.

All best,
Bill
 
You might try contacting The Bukshop. He's in Ireland, and while he doesn't appear to have any BSP right now on ebay, if you check out his items, he might be able to point you to a source of trade editions and wrapper editions in Ireland to minimize shipping. I'm not sure if he has an actual store or not, but you can find him by googling "ebay" and "the bukshop."
 
Just bought a copy of At Terror Street from him and it is in GREAT shape!

Also, I second the ABE recommendation. I bought 10 BSP books for $100 a few years back. All in near fine (or nearly near fine) condition.
 
hell yes.
spend a couple hundred bucks on that, sell your ecco's, you're set.
 
Takes a bit of the "search and find" fun out of it, but at the current price or even more, it's a pretty good deal. Especially considering shipping charges for single volumes.

Funny, that collection looks just about like mine did about 4 or 5 years ago.
 
Even if you spend $300 (which is probably higher than it will close at) it would work out to less than $10 per title which is not a bad deal.

Takes a bit of the "search and find" fun out of it

The fun starts when you begin to upgrade from paperbacks to hardcovers, then to signed and numbered hardcovers, then to signed, numbered and illustrated hardcovers, then to lettered copies. After that you can start on upgrading your upgrades to nicer copies. Then you can start on the periodicals......
 
Many independent/used bookstores stock BSP copies at random or even regularly. I recently discovered a bookstore here in Jacksonville FL of all places that has an entire shelf dedicated to BSP. Unless they are hardcover, they sell for 7-10 bucks. It has been taking a decent chunk of my funds.
 
I agree on this one. If you have a few hundred to spend you can likely snag these, and from his description it sounds like they are all in pretty good condition. I used to buy collections like that so I had extras lying around to give to people, but I gave up on that sort of evangelizing and charity a while back. The bookshelves are crowded enough without three or four 27th printings of Dangling in there. Sometimes you luck out on those bulk buys though and find a first edition in the box.

Really, there's nothing wrong with the Ecco editions if you are new to Bukowski. But if you have memories up pulling those BSP editions off the shelf when they were new...well, the Ecco stuff will never do it for you.
 
Really, there's nothing wrong with the Ecco editions if you are new to Bukowski. But if you have memories up pulling those BSP editions off the shelf when they were new...well, the Ecco stuff will never do it for you.

At least not until you find some BSP books and have both an Ecco and a BSP next to each other on the shelf. Then you can see the difference in quality. Its like Ecco's use of cheaper, shinier paper also means they have to suck all the sharpness out of the color on some of the covers (particularly Post Office and Fante's Wine of Youth).
 
i have a good many black sparrow press softcovers that arent in bad shape. i had been thinking about parting with them because I have been building up my black sparrow hardcover collection. here are the titles I have:

the roominghouse madrigals
pulp
ham on rye
factotum
the captain is out to lunch and the sailors have taken over the ship
septaugenarian stew

i have a very nice third printing of Women that I would part with as well.

also, I have a very first edition of Dangling In the Tournefortia that i may part with as well.

let me know if youre interested.
I'll cut you a good deal.

-ryan
 

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