Signed first edition? (1 Viewer)

So I ordered this from my works library consortium and someone made a big opps and sent me a signed first edition??? Is this legit..the replacement fee is $75 if I "lost it"

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It's legitimate, I've verified it with the library's records. This is a non-circulation, special collection book that some student worker must have actually sent out by accident, it has to be worth quite a bit. I'm astonished to be holding it, it is a really special feeling.
 
the experts around here can give you a $$$ estimate but i can say library copies are considerably
less in value.

careful though - the gods may be testing your conscience and ethics...
 
Yes I obviously cant keep it but it's just such a cool experience to be able to see the book with original artwork and touch something Bukowski touched. I know he signed the pages before they went into the book and he signed 3100 of them but still. It has a magic to it. Maybe it will bring me luck with my publishing endeavors haha!
 
That's the first - and only - edition. d gray is right though, being ex-library (you know, if it were ever to become ex-library...) it doesn't have a tremendous monetary value. Its value is the value you're getting from it: the ability to hold it and read it and see the real thing.

It's good that you intend to return it, so others can have the same experience with it.
 
My heart about stopped when I found the signature in the back
It's good that you intend to return it, so others can have the same experience with it.
Yes, I've come to feel very close to the writing over the past 8 months and finding that signature brought me an almost childlike sense of wonder, it really was something special for me and I'm going to cherish the time I have it. From the dates I found online this may be one of the first hundred or so signed? Does that sound right to you?
 
From the dates I found online this may be one of the first hundred or so signed?
He started signing pages when he was in New Orleans in March, so this copy would be one of those.

A couple months later he signed pages in Los Angeles. And he probably signed more batches later, after May of 1965.

It took the Webbs a long time to assemble all the books.
 
that is cool that you're returning it. as much for mjp's reason of others getting to experience it.

i made my comment cause when i was young and conscienceless i made wrong decisions
regarding that kind of situation/opportunity and regret it alot.

finding that signature brought me an almost childlike sense of wonder, it really was something special for me and I'm going to cherish the time I have it.

i can relate to that feeling of knowing the artist had it in his/her hands. our city art museum has a special room where you can
request and sit with (and hold) original work by any artist in the collection. knowing that was the actual piece of paper the
artist had on their drawing board on their lap is hugely thrilling for me.
 
finding that signature brought me an almost childlike sense of wonder, it really was something special for me and I'm going to cherish the time I have it.
I guess everyone here can relate to this.
It IS a special feeling when you first have such a marvelous thing in hand. Makes your heart run wild.

Having said that, I have an info for you that may be either seen as a great opportunity or as a let-down:
it is possible to find a copy of this very book in good condition for less then 400.- USD these days.
So my suggestion would be: Go for one of those (even though this is obviously not as cheap as 75) and you'll have a true treasure in your home, legally bought at a fair prize, you'll never want to miss.

The relatively low prize, btw, comes from the high print-run with all of them being signed. Thus, for many fans, this beautiful item is the beginning of their collection. It was for me.
If you don't intend to become a "professional" collector, you may find a not-so very good item even as low as 200, since for the hard-boiled collectors even a tiny rip or tear presses down the "value" (as they say: "condition is king"), while some sort of fan on a budget, like I, can easily live with a not-perfect copy and enjoy.
 
What roni said.

I have shit condition copies of a few older Bukowski books and they're just as awesome as a museum-quality copy. Better, in fact. Since you can actually pick them up and read them without wearing white gloves and a spacesuit.
 
I guess everyone here can relate to this.
[...]
I am not on any sort of budget to be a collector of anysort, I have my books and they are all used and beat in, but the words are more important than the money value. Even if this copy was mine I wouldn't sell it, I just love that it found me. I have 11 dollars to my name, work somewhere where I take my typing paper from the copier and U just found an excellent bookshelf in the trash this afternoon. As long as I can read and write I'm okay. This is just something special that happened to a person who can truly soak it in and appreciate it, I dont need my own copy
...I've already got one to look at for awhile.
 

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