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The Days... 1st ed (1 Viewer)

I suppose. Though I never understood the desirability of a trashed 1st. But I guess they have their charm.
 
Maybe its a case of
1) get the book in any format
2) get a good copy
3) get a hardback
4) get a first edition any format
5) get a first edition hardback
6) get a signed first hardback

or what ever - sort of upgrading your collection?

or maybe its for bragging rights.... like "oh yeah, i bought that one the week it was published, and read it a thousand times since..." though i doubt it personally ;)

I've seen battered books on ebay and the sellers love to suggest that the books look the way they would if they'd been through the life that Bukowski wrote about, and he'd love them all the more for being so damaged.... erm... maybe not
 
in my case it's simply because I don't have any 1st ed., that's all. In Billy's case I suspect he'll probably sell it back for 5-6 times that price :D
 
I would like to see the first proof of Women, the galleys that made Bukowski mad due to all of Martin's changes.

Other than that, I guess I don't understand the cult of the first edition, the numbered edition, or even the signed copy, for that matter. Unless the author signed it while you were standing there in front of them.

The problem is, there's always something better if you collect that stuff..."What's that? You've got a signed first edition of Post Office with an original painting? What number is it? #32? Well, I just heard #6 is for sale in Santa Fe..."

So he drives to Santa Fe and buys #6 for several thousand dollars, but it still drives him crazy that there are five people out there with lower numbers than his! Heh.

In my opinion, cirerita has the best Bukowski collection in private hands anywhere in the world. And it's mostly xerox copies. To me, the words are the thing. Not Martin's many wrappers for the words.

-------------

If the preceding inspires you to get rid of your signed, numbered, and first editions, you can send them to me at 839 S. Beacon St. #1030, San Pedro, CA 90733.

;)
 
I do agree, words are the really important thing here... but, you know, you gotta have at least a 1st ed.!!!

and then a 1st hardcover ed.
and then a 1st hardcover signed ed.
and then a 1st hardcover signed #1 ed.
and then a 1st hardcover signed #1 ed. with an original painting -not tipped in.
and then find the goddamned Write magazine somewhere in Georgia!!!! :D

and then you can die and it will all rot
silently.

so I guess I'll stick to an old, battered 1st ed.
that will do.
now.
 
My name is nymark and I am addicted to Bukowski collectibles. I have no idea how it all started but I noticed my obsession/illness having a negative effect on my budget about 20 years ago. I have spent more $$$$ on Bukowski rarities than some one in my income bracket has a right to. I have been roped into all the limited editions that Martin published and all the early, early pre-Sparrow stuff. Why? Why? Why! Not an answer in sight. I am only too happy that I am in the sunset of my collecting career and started long before all these pieces became INSANELY expensive. My long-suffering but understanding wife is just glad that my addiction is limited to books and not whiskey and whores.

The copy of DAYS RUN AWAY at the beginning of this thread looks like it fell out of the car on the way home from the bookstore. Condition is king!
 
You might as well ask me which testicle I prefer. How about this: a copy of IT CATCHES MY HEART with a painting on one page and a full page inscription to John Martin dated 1967 on another page? OR a copy of SIGNATURE #1 from Targets ca. 1960. Only six copies were thought to be printed. I could go ON AND ON. It's AWFUL. I wouldn't wish this obsession on Dick Cheney.
 
I'll tell you a little story: when I was at the UCSB Special Collections Department I had the chance to copy all the Targets issues. They kept them in the "regular" Bukowski section. One day I was taking a look at Al Fogel's book and I noticed that the Targets mags where the most valuable Bukowski items.
I became a close friend of most people working there -you know, I spent 3-4 months there, and I went to that Department DAILY- and one day I told one of them -a real nice guy who also liked Bukowski's work- that those Target mags. were too valuable to be there, in the regular Bukowski section. I can't recall how many they had, but I would say there were 2-3 SIGNATURE #1 issues. Anyway, this friend of mine talked to the head of the department and the following day ALL the Targets issues were moved to the Vaults. You need a special permission to take a look at the material held there.
So there!
 
Thanks for the info! I've had a lifelong desire to sift through the notorious catacombs of the UCSB Bukowski collection. I've always heard about it but have never had the pleasure. Also, I've heard that a university in Tucson has a substantial Bukowski archive. Ever seen it?
 
sure, I spent 3-4 days in Tucson and interviewed Linda King the day before in Phoenix. What an unbearably fucking hot place!
 
I lived in Phoenix in the mid 1990's for a total of 18 months and got the hell out of there. Phoenix has two seasons; hot and really fucking hot. It's good weather for books, though! Pacific Northwest = bad for books. Arizona = good for books.

cirerita said:
nymark,

which is your most cherished piece of Bukowski memorabilia?
Click to expand...

Okay, your turn. Which piece on your shelf has the most throw-weight?
 
The Saguaro area was beautiful, though. And I saw prairie dogs there for the first time in my life!

I had to do other things to not to become too obsessed with the Bukowski research, so I travelled around quite a bit in an old BMW I bought for half the price people pay for Bukowski manuscripts :D



as you know, I don't have any original material, it's all xeroxed copies. I was bidding on that trashed 1st ed. of The Days... so go figure!
 
well, I'd say the Wormies collection of uncollected stuff. Most of the things B published there were first-rate Bukowski.


on second thought, I'd say the uncollected Wormies + all the interviews I conducted in the U.S. -and nobody has ever seen them! Well, I did mail one to Philomene Long shortly after John Thomas' passing and another to JJ.Smith. That's it.

Of all the people I interviewed there -12 or 13- only one of them kept looking at the camera, never at me. Guess who? :D
 
cirerita said:
well, I'd say the Wormies collection of uncollected stuff. Most of the things B published there were first-rate Bukowski.
Click to expand...
Those wormwood all-Bukowski books are great -- Legs, Hips and Behind, Horses Don't Bet on People and Neither Do I, etc.

That's where I first read a masterpiece of Bukowski's later period (after he moved to San Pedro) called "locks" (later collected in Open All Night). Damn, that is a funny poem.

cirerita said:
Of all the people I interviewed there -12 or 13- only one of them kept looking at the camera, never at me. Guess who? :D
Click to expand...
Montfort. Wait, Martin! Someone who's last name begins with M.

nymark said:
Okay, your turn. Which piece on your shelf has the most throw-weight?
Click to expand...
It's not necessarily a book for me, but a letter and a poem manuscript. This letter isn't ridiculously valuable, but there's something about the India ink painting on it that makes the whole package very representative of Bukowski. If I was ever forced to part with all but one thing, this would be my keeper:

buk_art02.jpg


Value-wise, it's either a copy of War All The Time with a painting, or this poem manuscript:

https://web.archive.org/web/2020/ht...ay_man.php?show=poem1979-11-27-wall_clock.jpg

Because it's not a carbon or a xerox, it's original. Unheard of for him to send out an original during that era, so it was probably a mistake on his part (I know it was a mistake on the part of the guy who sold it to me ;)).

I know the general value of the book with the painting, but the original manuscript, I haven't seen one sell for years, so who knows. Guess it would depend on the buyer/bidders.
 
hank solo said:
Thats a nice drawing... how did it end up here:

http://www.artdamage.com/buk/bukltr4.htm
Click to expand...
I guess they lifted it out of the manuscripts section of this site, or the old smog.net. I bought it from a dealer offline a million years ago (well, pre-eBay anyway), so this is the only place they could have nabbed the pic.

Interesting that they didn't include a link to smog in that long page of crappy, broken links. ;)

Just as an added note, a friend of mine bought some of the other Nancy Flynn letters from the same dealer at the same time. Some of them are pretty impressive:

https://web.archive.org/web/2020/ht...splay_man.php?show=letter1975-04-21-flynn.jpg
https://web.archive.org/web/2020/ht...splay_man.php?show=letter1975-04-29-flynn.jpg

(More in the manuscripts section.)

cirerita said:
nope. I'll give you another chance
Click to expand...
Um, I give up.
 
Hi,
As far as the copy of "The Days", I know that it is a beat up copy, although it looks better in person thatn in the scan. I wanted it as a first and this is one of the few Buk firsts that I don't have any copies of. I cannot afford the HB Signed edition and there were no copies of this book on abe (first editions). I assure you that I am not planning on selling it for 4-5 times what I paid for it. By the way... I'm not sure that there are many people selling on ebay and makeing 4-5 times their money. So, I bought that not to make money, or to screw anyone out of the book, but because I wanted it and did not have it. sorry.
Bill
Bottle of Smoke Press

by the way, I'm selling off all of my ebay books, etc. Starting most of them at $.01, so maybe someone will get a deal. I'm tired of ebay and have a bunch of books that need to find a home. Look on ebay on Sunday for the books.
 

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