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PBA Galleries (3 Viewers)

I should have known it was him who outbid me for this one on eBay...

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They're using the database here for the manuscripts:
Carbon copy of a typed poem, signed and dated by Bukowski in ink, with several corrections in ink. Published in "The People Look Like Flowers At Last" - p.186 (2007), with note on Bukowski.net website that the manuscript differs from the collected version.
 
It appears that PBA is not only referring to Buknet, but is a step ahead of us. Take a look at their description of "woman in the supermarket". They point out that the Martinized version on p. 248 of the poem in What Matters Most leaves out the "climax" of the poem--when the narrator takes care of himself after seeing the woman in the supermarket.

Should we make a list of the 10 commandments according to JM for "editing" Bukowski? I mean the list of 10 things which are not allowed to happen in his writings?
 
Should we make a list of the 10 commandments according to JM for "editing" Bukowski? I mean the list
of 10 things which are not allowed to happen in his writings?

#1 - hack-free writing
 
Reading the forum too, it would seem...
Bukowski puts a star in the margin of manuscript to indicate Bukowski's fondness for the piece, according to his Black Sparrow Press publisher John Martin. The seller of this poem Michael Phillips, however, points to "4-notes-buk" on the top of the poem and "next poem" on the bottom (both of which which Bukowski crossed out) to say that this and other poems with the star only signify that they are part of a larger manuscript.
 
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Just toss those books around George. Now the unique scent of the binding is ruined forever. Nice work.
 
The "Poem to Yevtushenko" (is this uncollected?) on PBA is described as "not dated but circa 1965 when B still used his original antique typewriter until JM gave him a standard manual Royal Typewriter in 1969." This unfortunately cannot be
the correct date of the poem since Buk mentions the Kent State shootings and his poetry reading in New Mexico so it has to be dated after 1970.
 
You know, it doesn't make me cringe at all the way he handles that copy of the first BSP broadside. In fact, if I was bidding on that, I'd want the creases the PBA gallery added while making their important youtube video. I think they're charming.

I like how auctions always describe any face Bukowski drew or painted as a "self-portrait."

"not dated but circa 1965 when B still used his original antique typewriter until JM gave him a standard manual Royal Typewriter in 1969." This unfortunately cannot be the correct date of the poem...
It's not correct about typewriters either, but we can't fix every one of their listings. We're indirectly fixing enough of them already.
 
He reminds me of the senile guy in Seinfeld, the neighbour to Georges parents, who once knew his cars but in the episode is now so senile (or something) that he bangs on Georges engine until it breaks.
 
No. There are automated methods, but the ones I've seen have a negative effect on the overall image. I've never seen one that works as well as I'd like.

But I'm not even bothering with the watermarks on the new manuscripts. Fuck it. They aren't that distracting on the manuscripts. Not as distracting as they are on the art.

It's presumptuous to slap them on everything anyway, like some sort of stamp of ownership. If they have a problem with me using the manuscripts they've photographed on the site here (which I would doubt, anyway) they can stop using the site for research. One hand washes the other.
 
Well, a watermark is just that; a mark, indicating the maker. But this water mark has a context of 'not for copy' that indicates some sort of right by the maker of the digital artifact.
As for cleansing of hands, I can not imagine what type of industrial strength solvents would be needed to clean the San Francisco grime off of PBA Georges hands in order to handle that True Story broadisde.yeesh!
 
this water mark has a context of 'not for copy' that indicates some sort of right by the maker of the digital artifact.
Yes, I realize that. As I suggested, I don't care. And again, I doubt if they do either.

I'm finding that we already have half of them anyway (down from the 75% I previously estimated), but that 50% that we don't have are welcome additions.
 
I might be wrong, but I suspect quite a few mss will go unsold. Not that they are expensive, it's just there are too many of them... unless our friend NL is patiently watching to finally grab those items he did not win on eBay years ago...
 
Boy, I agree with that! There are just TOO DAMN MANY lots in this auction. Especially the manuscripts. I like Ross and wish him well, but I think the amount of material here is overwhelming. It'll be interesting to watch.
 
It is hard to believe so many have been accumulated by one person. Especially when you multiply all the combined lots out. It is one hell of a collection! And there will have to be some lots unsold.
 
Indeed, there may be some bargains to be had. You know, with all of that disposable income everyone is sitting on.

A lot of stuff, yes, but the timing of the auction is also odd. But what do I know. People have their own reasons for not waiting for a better market/economy. And if the money isn't that important to you in the first place, I suppose selling off everything at a loss isn't such a big deal. I don't know.

But as has been mentioned, grouping the manuscripts like some of those are pretty much guarantees they'll go unsold.

A lot of them are just post-70s Xeroxes anyway, which I personally never really saw much value in. 20 years from now will people be bidding on Stephen King's old WANG hard drive (did they even have hard drives?)? What's the value of an infinitely repeatable "manuscript"?

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My strategy keeps changing and my "ceiling" keeps rising. I've been treading very very lightly with my better half on this one, throwing out lines like "our collection lacks substance" - whatever the heck that means.

I really admire the fact that this gentleman is putting this stuff up for auction as opposed to selling it en bloc to an academic institution where it would be locked up for eternity.
 
Sorry - it's the engineer in me that makes me do it - I can't control it and gave up trying to control it many years ago. As of Lot # 343, (hasn't been updated today - so maybe 343 is the extent of it?) if everything sold for high estimated price it would total $471650, low est price would be $307400. And for reserve price (low estimate * 2/3) it would be $204933. And of course, those of us that would be real time bidders get to pay an extra 20% on top of the bid price.

I am continually overwhelmed at the enormity and quality of this collection.
 
There are many little jewels in there, for sure. A lot of that may go unsold, of course. None of it will be sold to me, unfortunately, and I can guarantee that outcome in advance.

I wonder if he's done an over/under on breaking even? ;)
 
No lots sell below 1/2 the low estimate, not 2/3, unless certain lots have reserves (do they; I haven't seen any?). Then the seller gives up 15% to PBA. The buyer also pays a 20% premium. This all assumes that each item individually is less than $10,000 and that the buyer premium goes directly to PBA, which I assume is the case.
 
all lots are reserved at 2/3 for this auction. there could be a number of reasons for this, the simplest of which is that PBA wanted to keep estimates low to entice people while not selling things for way less than they're worth. a more complex reason could be that PBA didn't want a feeding frenzy of dealers chewing on all the lots at 1/2 the low estimate, so they'd rather some lots don't sell - this would allow them to "buy" unsold lots and resell them to dealers privately once the sale is over, creating the illusion of a more successful sale if the lots then get listed as "sold" for 2/3 the low estimate.
 
Thanks Jordan - all that makes sense from a perspective I don't usually adopt. Last I saw was that the range estimates were not final, so that could change also.

If I could ask a stupid question, does live on-line bidding work like ebay in that if I bid $500 on an item that is currently at $300, my bid is made incrementally to match the next required bid increase? It seems as though the phone-in pre-bids are handled this way; just wondering about the on-line bidding. Each item moves pretty fast in my experience.
 
Oh, those assholes!

"the rape of the Holy Mother" 2 pp. [c.1987]; published in magazine "Off My Face" (1987); "Septuagenarian Stew" - p.230 (1990); if any poem captures the manifesto of the Guerilla Poetics Project (GPP) of today, this is it: "they are offended by the ... antics of the maddened, they prefer their poesy to be secretive, soft and nearly indecipherable... the Academics have much to fear... there are other voices and we intend to be heard... let it be known that we have arrived and intend to stay"​
 
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Here's a little quiz for you guys. What's the name of the guy and the magazine Weissner talks about in the following excerpt?(taken from one of the PBA letters):
Joe Laro.jpg


Joe Laro 2.jpg

"You may have gotten a letter from Joe Laro??, San Francisc [cut] (edits a mag called ??) asking you for some unpub [cut] poem or maybe a story..."

The letter can be found here.

Any ideas?
 

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