Bukowski Sampler -- variants?

[Jason]

What are your thoughts about the different variants of the Bukowski Sampler? I have three different ones:

Bukowski, Charles. A Bukowski Sampler, edited by Douglas Blazek (n.p.: Quixote Press, 1969) stapled (cream) wrappers. Fine (Krumhansl #30).

Bukowski, Charles. A Bukowski Sampler, edited by Douglas Blazek (n.p.: Quixote Press, 1969) stapled (purple) wrappers. Fine (Krumhansl #30).

Bukowski, Charles. A Bukowski Sampler, edited by Douglas Blazek (Madison, WI: Druid Books, 1973) stated second printing, stapled (blue) wrappers. Fine (Krumhansl #30).

The blue version is obviously a later printing (and perhaps a later edition, since the pagination has changed with the addition of the endpapers) as stated on the extra free endpaper signature that was added, but what about the "cream" and "purple" versions? Are they second printings of the first edition?

 

[chronic]

I think that the first edition was in orange wrappers. I have one of the copies in (grubby) cream wraps but have no idea what printing it may be. I seem to vaguely recall reading or hearing somewhere that it was an unauthorized edition, but I could be completely wrong about that.

 

[bospress.net]

Yes, Orange was the true first. That also was much larger that then reprints (The original is 9" x 7". The reprints are all about 8"x 5"). There are many different versions. some are creme, stapled, some are creme, perfect bound. I have a blue copy here, that I believe is a second printing from 1973. I'm not sure if the purple is between the orange and blue, but I'm pretty sure that the creme is later. It is completely possible that some of these editions are bootlegs.

Bill

 

[cirerita]

Add this to the list:
A Bukowski Sampler, 1983, 3rd printing [aka Quixote v.11 no.9]. Doug Blazek, ed. Quixote Press: Houston, TX. [Cream cover]
"St. Bukowski", by Morris Edelson [not included in previous editions]

 

[ROC]

The true first edition...


I don't believe there was a second printing of the first edition.

 

[bospress.net]

That is one of the very few Buk books on my wish list.... I have a later, but want the first...

Bill'

 

[ROC]

I got mine from Scott at AP for 190USD.
Not too bad (I think) for something 39 years old in mint condition.
Hell, I'm one year younger and the only thing mint about me is my toothpaste.

 

[bospress.net]

Yeah, that is about the going rate, but I am a cheap bastard at times and have not been able to talk myself into that one.

Bill

 

[Rekrab]

Jeez, Bill, don't remind me about the Sampler. There's one I really regret selling. I had an orange first edition, a beautiful thing. Probably miss that most of all the Bukowski stuff I sold in the 80s (hundreds of items). My current copy is .. nonexistent. I'll have to skip eating for a while and fill that hole with a zebra skinned bootleg from Tiawan or something.

 

[james]

my copy looks to have a purple cover and the copyright page says: "published july 1971 by druid books", and goes on to say that is was originally published by quixote press and that several changes were made to this second edition. so does that make this batch the very first reprints of the original?

 

[bospress.net]

I think that purple is the second. Followed by blue and then creme....

I could be wrong. There is some mystery to this one.

bill

 

[mjp]

There is very little (if anything?) in the Sampler that isn't found in much more easily available books, so I never understood the appeal of it (especially now that City Lights is publishing A Rambling Essay on Poetics and the Bleeding Life Written While Drinking a Six-Pack (Tall) in their new book).

It always seemed - to me - like a cheapo reprint collection put out just to make a buck at the time (and it probably was literally a buck - ha). But I guess all the different colors of covers are pretty. ;) Kind of like BLOW 6 or other multiply reprinted things.

 

[ROC]

There is very little (if anything?) in the Sampler that isn't found in much more easily available books, so I never understood the appeal of it (especially now that City Lights is publishing A Rambling Essay on Poetics and the Bleeding Life Written While Drinking a Six-Pack (Tall) in their new book).

That's exactly right.
I'm a completist (polite for OCD), so I have to have it, but you can read the material elsewhere - cheaper, easier and in more attractive books.

 

[Purple Stickpin]

That is one of the very few Buk books on my wish list.... I have a later, but want the first...

We might be able to do business, Bill. That copy I bought back in January off ebay is near mint (slight crease on the back cover). I paid about $165 for it, and mjp made it clear that he thought that I overpaid. Of course, I also got a near mint copy of Terror Street for $178 (allegedly Aaron Krumhansl's copy) in the same lot from vicarious.

Not sure; prices fluctuate. It is a nice clean copy.

Let's talk when I get back to BOS. Who knows if my apartment is still there?

 

[Rekrab]

For me the appeal of the Sampler is that I saw it as a new book in a Redondo Beach bookshop when it first came out, and didn't have a lousy buck or whatever it cost, then the next time I saw it was at an antiquarian bookfair in L.A., and I bought that copy for, I think, $30. I liked the selection, loved the orange wrappers (and isn't there a great photo on the back cover?) and there were one or two pieces not printed elsewhere that I knew of. I had one or two of the reprints (gone now), but they didn't have the heft of that first edition, and it wasn't quite the same. It's just bibliomaniac nostalgia, I guess.

 

[mjp]

That copy I bought back in January off ebay is near mint (slight crease on the back cover). I paid about $165 for it, and mjp made it clear that he thought that I overpaid.

I did? I guess I am breaking the only forum rule too often.

But I also don't understand (or didn't until now) all the variants and why the first is better. So I stand corrected.






And don't forget, I also said you could get Semina no. 2 for $40. I'm that guy too.

 

[bospress.net]

And don't forget, I also said you could get Semina no. 2 for $40. I'm that guy too.

There is one on abe now for $500, which is fair and out of my price range...

Bill

 

[Purple Stickpin]

I did? I guess I am breaking the only forum rule too often.

But I also don't understand (or didn't until now) all the variants and why the first is better. So I stand corrected.

No worries, mjp; for reference, here was your thread about the Sampler First Ed. vs. Terror Street..., which seemed to indicate what I had posted yesterday, although I suppose it's debatable (sic?).

https://bukowskiforum.com/showthread.php?t=3076

 

[mjp]

I see.

I wasn't saying you overpaid, for the record.

I was saying that Terror Street should be twice the price of Sampler. And I still don't understand why it isn't. Sampler's 400 copy first edition is not "rare" to me. 100 copies, okay, that's rare. 200, 250, you're still in the hard to get zone, but 400. Come on man. That ain't rare.

And it pales in significance to Terror Street as a historical Bukowski publication. In fact, it has no significance in comparison to Terror Street as an important book, or a book, period. So that's why I (still) don't get it.

 

[roni]

... 100 copies, okay, that's rare. 200, 250, you're still in the hard to get zone, but 400. Come on man. That ain't rare.

depends on how many copies are STILL LEFT. that's a different thing.

of course you're absolutely right, giving 'Terror Street' much greater value than 'Sampler'.

 

[mjp]

depends on how many copies are STILL LEFT. that's a different thing.

Good point. The Sampler was much more likely to be left on the coffee table or passed around and eventually mangled.

But still. There are only 777 (or so) copies of It Catches, and there are probably 20 for sale at any given time. But when is the last time you saw, say, Run with the Hunted, the chapbook from the 60's for sale? Now that's a rare book.

Anyway, you're right, the original Sampler was less likely to be left in mint condition.

Notice, in contrast, that the "suppressed" copies of Going Modern are almost always in like-new condition. Because those all went to booksellers who sold them as precious, rare and unobtainable, when they were not.

Maybe if the Sampler had been "suppressed" mint copies would be going for $50. ;)

 

[cirerita]

But when is the last time you saw, say, Run with the Hunted, the chapbook from the 60's for sale? Now that's a rare book.

Oh, don't be modest, we all know you scored a mint copy on eBay for a few bucks :D

 

[mjp]

Yes, once in my dreams I did. Turned out the seller was dyslexic though, so no luck.

 

[Purple Stickpin]

I see.

I wasn't saying you overpaid, for the record.

I was saying that Terror Street should be twice the price of Sampler. And I still don't understand why it isn't. Sampler's 400 copy first edition is not "rare" to me. 100 copies, okay, that's rare. 200, 250, you're still in the hard to get zone, but 400. Come on man. That ain't rare.

And it pales in significance to Terror Street as a historical Bukowski publication. In fact, it has no significance in comparison to Terror Street as an important book, or a book, period. So that's why I (still) don't get it.

Hey, no problem. Of course, I do value my copy of Terror Street far more than the Sampler. Out of curiosity, where can I read the pieces from Sampler elsewhere (besides "Days Run Away..." which has a good number of them)? From what you've written, it sounds as though all of the Sampler contents are also published in other readily-available volumes. I'd go look at my collection, but it's back in MA and I'm still on the Road. And by the time I get back, I'd probably forget to ask this question.

 

[mjp]

Out of curiosity, where can I read the pieces from Sampler elsewhere...

You'd have to click through the list of pieces here to see. But most were printed in lots of other places.

Now that I've seen all these variations the order seems to be orange, purple, blue, cream. With the last coming substantially later than the others (as cirerita notes). Though I have never seen the perfect bound version of that one that Bill has seen. Maybe that came out in the 90's. ;) Funny that the later printing copies more closely the original cover design, with the Old English font, etc.

 

[mjp]

FYI - I compared all three reprints and the contents are exactly the same. The exception is the last, unauthorized reprint from 1983, which replaces the colored endpapers with an article by Morris Edelson (publisher of the original Sampler), "St. Bukowski."

 

[BUK72]

I was at a used bookstore today and was just about to ask the lady behind the counter if they had any Bukowski, when I noticed on a shelf behind her a first edition of The Bukowski Sampler. I have been a collector of Buk's for about twelve years now, but this was the first time I ever laid eyes on a true Buk collectible. I asked to have a look at it, and was quite taken with its' presentation- I love the Buk drawing on the cover as well as the photo on the back,- even though it has a cheapo quality to it. I would say it is in near fine condition. They are asking $125 CDN for it. This price seems to be quite reasonable judging from what I have seen on ABE. I have been looking for a nice Buk rarity to add to my collection and 'am very tempted to get this copy. I'll probably never come across another first edition in this condition again. Is there any other indicator besides the orange wrappers to verify that it is indeed a first edition? Now if only it was a signed copy....

 

[BUK72]

Can anyone confirm that there are any poems in Sampler that aren't available anywhere else? I tried the link from mjp from post #25, but it appears to be dead. If so, I'd be more willing to invest in it than not.

 

[bospress.net]

I think that the poems in Sampler are all available elsewhere. $125 CDN seems reasonable. The true first edition is orange wrappers and is oversized (larger than all later printings, if that helps at all). I have not heard of any later printings having the orange wrapper, so unless it is a later, unknown bootleg, it is almost certainly a true first.

Bill

 

[BUK72]

Thanks Bill, I suspect that I'll be the proud owner of Sampler come tomorrow. Just curious, do most of the poems originate from BSP publications?