Photograph signed “Buk” (1 Viewer)

[snapwolfe]

Found this photo stuffed into a Bukowski book purchased at a church sale. Cheap repro photograph, but the pen marks are not part of the print (ink signature). What do the experts think?

 

[Rekrab]

I'm not sure it's real. Cool photo. The cursive "s" is unusual for him, as are lower case letters in general. Usually, he wrote in all caps. But there are examples of him using that sort of an "s." Here's one; the Christmas card from him and Linda Lee has lower case letters with a curvy "s" in the word "Christmas": https://www.finebooksmagazine.com/f...rst-editions-original-art-and-letters-auction Bill Roberts would know.

 

[Rekrab]

As you may know, the woman in the photo is Georgia Hubbard. You can read about her in the excellent book by Pamela "Cupcakes" Miller, Charles Bukowski's Scarlet: A Memoir.

 

[d gray]

from what i can make out it looks pretty good. the fact that it didn't show up for sale somewhere makes it less likely to be a fake made for profit.

i'm sure others will be by with an opinion.

 

[Rekrab]

True. Without a profit motive, it's less likely to be fake.

 

[Purple Stickpin]

I'm rather on the fence, but leaning toward genuine. Since it's not a full signature, it's difficult to say. Working against it is the script; as Rekrab notes, Buk usually wrote in all caps. But the "Buk" looks like it could be his hand. The "h" at the end of wish also bears resemblance to how the "h" in "Charles" often looks in his signatures.