Buk archive at PBA auction - 4/26/07

nymark

nymark

There are about five Bukowski lots in the March 15th Modern Lit auction at PBA, but that is just a tease. On April 26th, they are holding the following:

Beat Literature & the Avant-Garde, with an Important Collection of Charles Bukowski

So far, they list a copy of AT TERROR STREET w/ a painting inscribed to Cleveland bookstore owner Jim Lowell and dated in the year of publication and also one of the BSP broadsides. More to come...
 
ROC

ROC

It is what it is
Or worse... depending on your perspective.
Very frustrating to see all these things I can't afford.
 
nymark

nymark

Groff was Black Rose Press? Is that correct? He published the AFTERMATH... broadside that you occasionally see floating around on eBay. I don't know anything about the guy and have no idea why everyone has a problem with him, but I trust Bill's judgment of character and if he's got issues with the guy, then I'm SURE they are not unfounded. If it makes everyone feel better, the price estimates he set are completely insane. Nobody in their right mind will pay that kind of money for those books (well, perhaps Vicarious or Nick Lawrence) and he is in for some disappointment. Why $3-5K for BURNING IN WATER 1/50, but $6-9K for DAYS RUN AWAY 1/50??? Same number in the series but double the estimate? Eh?

Incidentally, I've exchanged a few e-mails with John Martin regarding this auction and he and I are both wondering how these "Author Copies" got out on the market. Bukowski has written many poems and stories about "friends" who walked out of his house with his books. I AM NOT ACCUSING Groff of ANYTHING underhanded but, clearly, Bukowski did not part with these books willingly.
 
mjp

mjp

Founding member
Bill, David, if you can't comment, maybe you could give us a fictional account of someone named...hmm...Tim Graff, and what he may, or may not have done.
 
Vicarious

Vicarious

nymark said:
Incidentally, I've exchanged a few e-mails with John Martin regarding this auction and he and I are both wondering how these "Author Copies" got out on the market. Bukowski has written many poems and stories about "friends" who walked out of his house with his books. I AM NOT ACCUSING Groff of ANYTHING underhanded but, clearly, Bukowski did not part with these books willingly.
Click to expand...

Certainly not disputing the recollection of your exchanges with JM, but he actually pointed me to the auction, explained in not unflattering terms who Groff is (was?), and went on to tell me in some detail what JM thought the Groff collection contained. JM obviously deserves the respect I suspect most of us accord him; that he avails himself as a resource is a gift. He is quite eigmatic, though, no?
 
bospress.net

bospress.net

www.bospress.net
mjp said:
Bill, David, if you can't comment, maybe you could give us a fictional account of someone named...hmm...Tim Graff, and what he may, or may not have done.
Click to expand...

Hi,

Yes, he was Black Rose Editions. Truthfully, I have no knowledge of anything underhanded. I have personal issues with him. Those issues do not have anything to do with anything, except that I find him very unpleasant to deal with. I expect that these books are proabably in excellent condition and are worth buying (just not maybe at those prices).

I would go into it, but it is a personal distaste for him, resulting in an interaction that we had. I probably should have just kept my big mouth shut (or tied my fingers up so that I could not type)..

Bill
 
bospress.net

bospress.net

www.bospress.net
Maybe the low, but the high is probably too high for the market to bear. If there is no starting reserve, a few of these could go for far too little, or be pulled if a minimum is not reached.

Now, I could be 100% wrong... Who knows.
Bill
 
zoom man

zoom man

Founding member
Vicarious said:
explained in not unflattering terms who Groff is (was?), and went on to tell me in some detail what JM thought the Groff collection contained.
Click to expand...

Mr Groff is (not a was),
A want-to-be 'Great Publisher'
Who is (and was) not well-liked by his muses, gurus, and/or proteges etc.

I've heard various things about him
(Some from members here)
And none of them positive,
But maybe that's what I was soliciting....

Still, I bought his lettered Aftermath production
(not from him, and 'no', the lettered edition isn't all that, it's just the way I buy)
And wouldn't hesitate to chew on some of these
In this upcoming auction....

BTW=> Are these books available for public consumption,
I mean viewing,
Before they hit the auctioneers' "Going once, going twice...."
 
niceguy

niceguy

Groff & I started collecting Bukowski around the same time (late 1970s). I had a lengthly phone correspondence with Tom between 1978 -1981 re Bukowski items & he seemed like a very nice guy & a serious Buk collector. He also had a correspondence with Bukowski during these years & was able to somehow have Buk sign copies of his AFTERMATH (1st Separate appearance) I believe against John Martin's admonitions. He was able to obtain these "Author Copies" through various dealer outlets during the early 1980s. He never personally met Bukowski. I subsequently sold my sizable collection in 1984 & lost track of Groff--until a couple of years ago when he e-mailed me & informed me that it was about time to divest of his huge Buk holdings in order to put his son through college. I guess the time has arrived. --Al
 
nymark

nymark

zoom man said:
BTW=> Are these books available for public consumption, I mean viewing,
Before they hit the auctioneers' "Going once, going twice...."
Click to expand...

It has always been PBAs policy (as it is with ALL auction houses) to display the books a few days prior to the auction. They could hardly expect the public to pull the trigger on these kinds of prices blindly, that is to say, without examining the goods.
 
bospress.net

bospress.net

www.bospress.net
Hi,
I don;t know of anyone that would be that interested ibn this lot to pay $70,000 - $100,000 for 60 letters.

Of course, I'm wrong half of the time....

Bill
 
mjp

mjp

Founding member
I actually think the low estimate is right on the money. Whether they will sell, who knows.

The 60 letters and the poem manuscripts alone and unrelated are probably worth half the low estimate, but it seems to me that having all of these related letters in one lot increases the value quite a bit, and I don't think the low estimate is out of line. Especially when you consider that one Hemingway letter can set you back $50k.

Could be that we'll look back at this lot in 15 years and think it was a steal. Or they could still be trying to sell it in 15 years. ;)

If I had the money (granted, that's a big 'if,' so this is easy to say) I think I would pull the trigger on this. In the neighborhood of the low estimate, but not the high.
 
nymark

nymark

Those letters are not part of the Groff archive. They belong to Linda King. I've heard that she's made an attempt to sell them throughout the years but could never actually bring herself to part with them when the time came. I'm not sure these will sell. She may have set a reserve north of $35K. Did you read the item description in its entirety? Fantastic. I only WISH I had this kind of scratch. I would bid without hesitation.
 
G

George Fox

PBA Bukowski Auction Catalogue

I am George Fox with PBA Galleries, Auctioneers, Rare Books & Manuscripts and I wanted to let people know that if they email me at george@pbagalleries.com we will be happy to send a printed copy, when available, of the Bukowski/Beat Literature catalogue free of charge. The catalogue will be on-line at www.pbagalleries.com upon it's completion in another week. Also, I will be happy to answer any inquiries you may have concerning the material or the auction.
Cheers, George
 
Rekrab

Rekrab

Usually wrong.
Hey, just got my print copy of the PBA auction catalog for The Beat Literature Library of Stephan Ronan & The Charles Bukowski Collection of Thomas Groff, and it is gorgeous. Great B&W photo of Hank pumping gas on the cover. Incredible books, letters, art work. It's a feast. Public viewing at PBA Galleries April 24 thru April 26th. Sale April 26th. I'll be in San Francisco April 28th. Do you suppose it may still be on view then?
 
hank solo

hank solo

Just practicin' steps and keepin' outta the fights
Moderator
Founding member
Surely not once the auction has happened? (26th)
I don't know for sure but would imagine that they'd be displaying items for a future auction by then?
 
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