Value of rare book in poor condition - Post Office HB

[bospress.net]

Truth be told, I know a lot about the bible. It is very important when you get someone that starts telling you why you are sinning and that you should be born again, to be able to poke holes in their faith. I'm not for bursting any bubbles and let people be what they wat to tbe and believe what they want to believe, but when they knock on my door to tell me that I am leading a defective life and need to live life their way to be whole, all bets are off.

I can usually bring up a couple important things form the bible that makes them realize that it is better to skip my house next time:

A) The adulterous woman and the stoning (add 400 years after the oldest known edition by a scribe or priest)
B) The story of Job (Jobe) (Where God is sadistic and tortures a man that loves him to win a bet (kills his family, plucks out his eyes, etc, etc) )
C) The discrepancies between both gospels that describe Jesus' death (both give VERY different accounts and neither man was even there).
D) Jonah and the whale, which is just plain silly. The belly of a whale is like being wrapped tightly in a blanket of acid, not like it is shown in Pinocchio)
E) Exodus, where there were NO accounts by the Egyptians about any of these people, even though it would have been a VERY historical event which the Egyptians would have recorded. Plus, the Red sea was not even the right body or water. In Hebrew it was the Sea of Reeds, which is not much more than a creek.

</rant>

Best,
Bill

 

[Bukfan]

Truth be told, I know a lot about the bible. It is very important when you get someone that starts telling you why you are sinning and that you should be born again, to be able to poke holes in their faith.

Back in high school we were about to learn about Marxism and all of us said, "Oh no!", to which the teacher replied, "You gotta learn the ways of the enemy in order to fight him!" - You seem to have grasped that truth too, Bill...:D

 

[bospress.net]

I should say that I do not hate religious people, at all. My wife is religious, although she does not go to church. My daughter goes on Thursday and sometimes on Sunday most weeks. I do hate religious people that feel that I am defective and to be pitied (and CHANGED) because I do not believe in their favorite deity. It is worse when they feel that they are the majority in a society. In the US, at least, MOST people consider themselves Christian (although I believe that most of these people are non-religious). Because of this, they take it as normal to pray to Jesus before football games and at PTA meetings. If they were in a Jewish neighborhood in Brooklyn, they would be horrified to have to sit through a Jewish prayer at a football game as they are used to being the majority. It is the same way that a group of all white people does not seem strange to most white people, but they would feel uncomfortable in a group of mostly black people. I suspect that the black people feel the same way she they see a sea of white faces.

To get back to the off-topic post, religion... Where was I?

Oh yeah. I find it funny that people that believe in jesus, find it so easy to ridicule other religions (as "cults"), which are just as improbable. I mean, really, if you believe that your god was born to a 12 year old virgin, walked on water, raised the dead, is it really your place to make fun of people that believe in other religions that make about as much sense? Me, I think not.

Bill

p.s. Yep, that copy of Post Office on ebay is pretty God Damned shitty...

 

[Purple Stickpin]

Yet Another Academy

I'll have to pull a Camus here. I cannot accept this award, because I indeed have read the bible. Having grown up Catholic, I had no choice, but the words slid down my throat like poison.

But, now with concious choice, I still do on occasion, but not for the "usual" reasons; no, I do it to know thine opposition's mindset. Thanks, roni, for making my post have context. Bill makes some great points, but here's an example of what I've found that I use as fodder:

2 Kings 19, lines 1-14: "When King Hezek'iah...and spread it before the Lord." Reads word for word as Isiah 37, lines 1-14. So, two books of the old testament, written nearly 2000 years ago by different fallible men, read word for freaking word.

Adherents would cite this as the consistency of the divine word of god. I read it as a pope who forgot to wash his hands after taking a dump and going to edit the latest version of his coffer-liner.

And yes, Bill; I agree. That copy of Post Office is a mess.

 

[Bukfan]

I find it funny that people that believe in jesus, find it so easy to ridicule other religions (as "cults"), which are just as improbable. I mean, really, if you believe that your god was born to a 12 year old virgin, walked on water, raised the dead, is it really your place to make fun of people that believe in other religions that make about as much sense? Me, I think not.

Right! I've never understood why they think all that sorta stuff is important. All the miracles and supernatural stuff don't have much to do with the core of Jesus teaching (love God, and love your neighbor as yourself).

2 Kings 19, lines 1-14: "When King Hezek'iah...and spread it before the Lord." Reads word for word as Isiah 37, lines 1-14. So, two books of the old testament, written nearly 2000 years ago by different fallible men, read word for freaking word

Really? Somebody must have fucked up along the way...:D

 

[mjp]

I cannot accept this award, because I indeed have read the bible.

I am afraid that it isn't for you to accept or decline. It has been bestowed upon you, and it is non-returnable.

One day they will auction off your spectacles and rice bowl for more than a million dollars (as just happened with Gandhi's props), and there is nothing you will be able to do about it.

Accept your greatness as a burden if you will, but it is yours to bear.

 

[Ponder]

2001 paperbacks
251 signed hardcover
60 signed numbered illustrated hardcover
----
2312 total

- info from Krumhansl's biblio

This is what I never liked of Black Sparrow Press first (Bukowski) editons:

Why not, let's say...500 unsigned hardcovers?
Then they still give you the opportunity to purchase
a beautiful book.

250 signed hardcovers, allright.

First edition. 2000 paperbacks, good material, blanc page,
not too expensive.

60 signed numbered illustrated hardcovers, ok, for the collectors.
Fair enough. What was the original price of these?

City Lights printed 1000 hardcovers of "Portions", right?
That's the way to do it. Sure....they can't or they don't want
to compete with the hardcover quality of the BSP books.

For instance: James Broughton - Packing up for Paradise
black sparrow hardcover.
I can't find a good picture of it but I find the book cover just beautiful.

 

[chronic]

BSP didn't issue any hardcover trade editions of Bukowski's titles until Burning in Water... and I would guess that the market for Bukowski at the time didn't warrant the expense of putting out a lot of hardcovers. When Bukowski did a booksigning in '86, the store ordered most of his available titles in hardcover to sell. BSP sent first printings of many of the titles, some of which had been issued 3-5 years earlier. I guess that hardcovers weren't big sellers for them at the time.

The paperback was $4.00, signed & numbered was $15.00 and the copies with paintings were $25.00.

 

[Ponder]

Ah, right. Loud and clear.
Thank you, chronic.

I thought that BSP was trying to
focus on the rich...

 

[mjp]

Maybe someone obsessive and weird enough will distill the production numbers listed in Krumhansl down into an easy to read list so we can see how the production changed over the years. I nominate someone else to do it, but I'll probably do it myself tomorrow when I'm not so full of "lemonade"...

 

[bospress.net]

BSP didn't issue any hardcover trade editions of Bukowski's titles until Burning in Water... and I would guess that the market for Bukowski at the time didn't warrant the expense of putting out a lot of hardcovers. When Bukowski did a booksigning in '86, the store ordered most of his available titles in hardcover to sell. BSP sent first printings of many of the titles, some of which had been issued 3-5 years earlier. I guess that hardcovers weren't big sellers for them at the time.

The paperback was $4.00, signed & numbered was $15.00 and the copies with paintings were $25.00.

... and in full disclosure, "Burning in Water" was not really a "Trade" edition, but a "library" edition. These were made and marketed to libraries and not sold to stores. This explains why the library edition is harder to find than the signed edition. It was not until "Factotum" that they published a full on trade HB edition.

Bill

 

[chronic]

Even though it was labeled a "Library Edition," weren't (roughly) half of those library copies (glued) and the rest (sewn) for sale as trade editions? That's what I understood but I may be mixed-up about that.

 

[hank solo]

On the 'library edition' AK says:

221 copies were published 21 June 1974.

Note: 120 copies of this issue were sewn and 101 were glued. The price label on the acetate dust wrapper calls this a "Library Edition." This issue is not noted in the colophon.

Confusingly my own copy is an ex-library signed edition, sewn with the blue cloth.

 

[chronic]

I guess I gotta fix that info over at cb.com (I need to update the site anyway). I have the colophon stating that there were 300 hc trade copies. I must have mixed up my information somehow.

 

[PBBUK]

At least we know what a Buk signature is worth - as this book was terrible.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250386520625

Can you really give the book any value?

 

[marina del rey]

I actually think that was a pretty decent price for it in that condition. It is signed, and it is a semi-rare edition of that book. A good way to get a copy of a $400+ book for under $100, if you're not picky.

 

[PBBUK]

I wrote to the guy trying to sell the beat up signed Post Office asking what he really thought it was worth as I didn't think it was worth much.

This is his reply:

Thank you for your email. I appreciate your interest in the book. However, I do not agree with your assessment on the value of the book. I have over 20 years experience as a bookseller (you can check out my site, www.franklinbooks.com, and this particular edition of Post Office is particularly rare and normally sells in the $1800 plus range. I have already received a few offers in the $1100 range for the book. If I dont get an offer a little more than that, I'm probably going to accept one of those offers. If you want to do more research on this particular edition, please let me know and I'll get you information on past sales, etc
Regards,
Larry

Yeah, it sells in the $1800 range if it is near fine. What a crock - offers for $1100. He would have taken that offer in a heart beat!!

 

[bospress.net]

I guess that you did not fall for his story. This sounds like the used car salesman trying to sell a junker by saying that two other people want it, but he "likes" you.

If he can get $1100 for this book then he is one of the greatest salesmen of all time. It is worth maybe $400 in TS condition (Truly Shitty).

I love how he tried to shame you and make you feel like you were uneducated in values of rare books by Bukowski because you thought that it was overpriced. In fact, it is the seller who is ignorant.

Bill

 

[PBBUK]

I was going to fire off a response but refrained. I don't think the book is worth much over $200. I know it is rare but it really is TS condition. And it doesn't come with an acetetae dj!!!!!!!!

 

[mjp]

Why would you need a dj for that? What would you be protecting, the books next to it?

I clicked the "make offer" button and put in $295 and was instantly "declined." So he's got a minimum set on the offer. Maybe $1100. ;)

I think we'll be seeing the book around for a long time. I have to call bullshit on the "few offers in the $1100 range" line. He would have sold it for that.

 

[bospress.net]

I offered $400 and was also immediately declined.

I agree. Having an acetate DJ on this will do wonders in making sure that the TS condition does not rub off on adjacent books.

Good call...

Bill

 

[PBBUK]

Bill

Forget the acetate DJ.

This is when one of your clamshells is worth its weight in gold - it hides the crappy condition but you still get the respect for having a copy of the book!

 

[Rekrab]

Actually, that's one of the traditional uses of a clamshell -- to protect (and dress up) a shabby copy of a rare book. Here it is, a book that in nice condition is worth thousands, and your copy is in crappy shape but it's still rare and so it's worth hundreds, but it looks like hell sitting there next to all the other rare books in their fine bindings, so you have a clamshell made that it sits in like a halloween costume, passing for a book in fine condition when it is really a falling apart wreck of a book. This would be happening in your walnut paneled private library where you sip sherry, surrounded by your big game hunting trophies.

 

[bospress.net]

Maybe the sucker, er, I mean "buyer" that is willing to pay $1100 for this will want to buy a clamshell from me? If so, maybe I can ask $500 for it since this "buyer" seems to have lost all touch with reality.

Bill

 

[mjp]

I make an "offer" every day, but each time they are a little less. I'm down to $249 now. They are automatically rejected, but I know he sees them. ;)

 

[willrodgers]

Its Baaaaack!
Now at a BUY IT NOW of $1295.00.

 

[bospress.net]

This is the fourth time at that price, I believe. He will not take friendly advice. If he finds a buyer at that price then he has found someone with too many dollars and not enough sense.

Bill

 

[mjp]

I continue to make "offers" that decrease steadily every time I see it. I'm sure he's really thrilled with that, but if he doesn't get the point soon, then he's just too far gone.

 

[bospress.net]

Maybe he is hoping to find someone that thinks that this is a good deal? It is a strange way to do business; Price a book 5 times more than it is worth in hopes of finding someone who is uneducated enough about values to buy it.

Bill

 

[mjp]

He will never sell it at that price. I would assume that anyone spending the money on that book knows what it is and what it's worth. It's like trying to sell a beat up old car full of dents and rust for $10,000 because, hey, a brand new one is $25,000! Same car! Buy now!

Where's Gerard, he could sell that fucker...