Flawless set of first 5 BSP broadsides

[Vicarious]

True Story, On Going Out to Get the Mail, To Kiss the Worms Goodnight, The Girls/The Flower Lover. LA: Black Sparrow, 1966. First editions of each of the first five Bukowski items published by Black Sparrow Press. Shockingly flawless. To say more about their condition is pointless. Each was done in an edition of 3 lettered copies and 27 numbered copies. True Story is #14, The Girls is #10 and each of the others is #8. Approximately 9 copies of each of these broadsides are in institutions. John Martin is reputed to have given 8-10 copies of each away upon publication, sought out the giftees in order to reacquire copies of the appreciated works, and found that each of his acts of kindness was destroyed or lost. In other words, good luck finding copies of any of these in any condition. Finding a complete set is a pipe dream. I expect to go to hell for having a set like this. I know many of you think I belong there regardless.

alottman@vicariousbooks.com

 

[bospress.net]

Are these for sale, or are you just telling us about them.

Also, I'm not sure if there are any people on the forum that think that you belong in hell. Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't remember people having a problem with you. I certainly have no problem with you.

Bill

 

[mjp]

Yeah, I think the only thing I ever read is that your prices were high, which they do usually seem to be. But hey, if you've got the goods you can price 'em however the hell you want to. Never read any personal digs, so jump on in.

Unless you are just gloating about the broadsides, in which case, fuck off!

Er, I mean, congratulations!

;)

 

[Vicarious]

I assure you that my wife is certain of my place in hell - she made the reservation. They are for sale, and much sooner than I had [lanned. I had hoped to frame them and keep them for a good while. I collect art and other items that can be displayed on my walls. Just my thing I guess. But as soon as i opened the package these came in, it was clear that I certainly can't frame them. They are that dramatic.

 

[Bukfan]

What price are you asking? Not that I could ever afford it. Just curious...

 

[ROC]

That's the problem... I don't think anyone will be able to afford them! :eek:

 

[Vicarious]

What do you guys think they should be priced? Think about what it would take to get them away from you. Of course, I also have to take into account what had to pay to get them. In this way my "high" prices hurt me as much as anyone. I assure you that I make not much more than the pleaseure of owning some fabulous material until others with better access to "cheap" material also fall prey to aggressive pricing. Also, I find that even very material that I am able to price more "reasonably" does not tend to sell any faster than those items which are simply too good for me to pass up even at prices that will require some pushing to cover my costs. No excuses, I have mixed feelings about this effect. Remember, though, that each of you who has been collecting Buk for some time certainly benefits from this unfortunate phenomena to some degree.

 

[ROC]

If I owned them and could afford to keep them, I simply wouldn't sell them. Nothing would get them away from me.
If I owned them and could not afford to keep them I would sell them for whatever I could get over cost until I got desperate enough to go below that.

I'm speaking from practice here, not theory. I have have had to sell a piece that was just too much $ to keep and I sold it for a little less than I bought it when exchange rates were taken in to account.

It hurts, but cash flow is king.

Good luck Andrew.

 

[chronic]

I would offer you $5,000 if I had $5,000 (which I don't,) though I expect that is far below what you would be asking for something like this... so, how about you give us a hint.

 

[Bukfan]

I wasn't hinting at you having high prices! I don't know anything about your prices being high or low. I was just curious to know what the price would be - nothing more...

 

[cirerita]

I have this feeling that those broadsides are closer to the $10,000 barrier than just $5,000.

 

[Vicarious]

I think a copy like this of True Story alone is worth over $10k. I'm offering the set at $50,000 and I fully expect, to sell them for at least$42,500. Unfortunately, these are not for everybody, and there certainly are not enough to go around to all the Buk fans who would appreciate copies. I've decided I can't even keep them temporarily, as I had planned. I truly do not expect to see another set like this in my lifetime (though, I never expected to see these either). I really believe that there are less than 5 marginally collectible copies of each broadside outside of institutions. I know there are other rarities we'd all love to have - the Signatures, Genius of the Crowd, etc. - and while they are certainly tough books, I know where a handful of each are located that will eventually shake loose. I cannot say the same of these broadsides. Both the 1/50 Dear Mr. Buk and the 1/50 Post Office with painting are tough and desirable, but I've managed to get my hands on 6 or seven copies of each over the last 5 years or so. I never thouht I'd get a full run of these BSP broadsides, let alone copies that simply haven't seen the light of day.

To show the veracity of my conviction, I spent months plotting a play for these:

[Removed old, dead link.]

Dig in and deep: proofs, mss., etc. etc. Holy moly. JM thinks about this collection every day. He aint gettin' it and neither are we.

 

[HenryChinaski]

too rich for my blood but somebody should end up being very happy with these.

 

[mjp]

I'm offering the set at $50,000 and I fully expect, to sell them for at least$42,500.

I would be very surprised if you did, but if you can, good for you.

Those first broadsides are certainly interesting artifacts, but I'm not sure I'd lay down 40k for them, even if I found 40k in the pocket of a bathrobe that I forgot I'd left there. Just not worth it - for me - for a few sheets of paper.

---

An interesting, if completely unrelated, story: my ex was a costume designer in the film business, and at the end of one work day Cheech Marin, from Cheech and Chong, he handed her a jacket that was used as wardrobe. She always checked the pockets of wardrobe, because actors tended to leave things in them. When she checked the pockets of Cheech's jacket she found a check for one million dollars from a TV network that was putting on a variety show he was producing. She handed it to him and said, "Here, you might want to take this," and his response was a blase, "Oh, yeah. Thanks."

You know you're rich when a million dollar check can slip your mind.

 

[Bukfan]

:D That's some story, mjp! Thanks for sharing...

 

[Ponder]

too funny :)