Lenny Bruce & Post-War Counterculture 2019-06-13 Auction - 202 Price Results - PBA Galleries in CA
Posters from Stop the Draft Week, Oakland 1967Vintage audio tapes of Lenny Bruce performancesLenny Bruce's stage microphone
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Berkeley, CA, United States
Auction Details

Lenny Bruce & Post-War Counterculture

PBA Galleries

PBA Galleries

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Over 200 lots reflective of the massive social changes that occurred in the United States in the decades following the Second World War, as the Beats gave way to the Hippies, and what became known as the Counterculture emerged. The first 80 lots in the auction comprise an important archive of material from the life and career of the comedian Lenny Bruce, best remembered today for his arrests for obscenity and drug possession. At the time, his comedic challenges to social mores captured the evolution of middle-class America, underscored by the first amendment issues and his tragic death from a heroin overdose in 1966. Included are letters, business records, performance transcripts, court documents, and other key source materials. Also in the auction are scarce publications and ephemeral items from the era, from such authors as Allen Ginsberg, Richard Brautigan, Lawrence Ferlinghetti and others, plus classic rock and psychedelic posters, counterculture newspapers, underground comix, drug culture, and more.
SOLD
Lenny Bruce's address books: Heading: (Address Book)Author: Title: Two loose leaf address books, a softbound address book, and set of loose file cards with hundreds of typed and handwritten entries Place Published: Publisher:
0001: Lenny Bruce's address booksEst. $2,000-$3,000
SOLD
Vintage audio tapes of Lenny Bruce performances: Heading: (Audio Tapes)Author: Bruce, LennyTitle: Twelve reel-to-real audio tapes of Lenny Bruce performances in San Francisco, Chicago, and elsewhere, 1962-1964 Place Published: Publisher: Date
0002: Vintage audio tapes of Lenny Bruce performancesEst. $5,000-$8,000
SOLD
Lenny Bruce's bar tabs: Heading: (Bar Tabs)Author: Title: Five of Lenny Bruce's bar tabs, 3 of them signed by Bruce Place Published: Publisher: Date Published: c.1962 Description: Each approx. 20x10.5 cm (8x4¼").Lenny
0003: Lenny Bruce's bar tabsEst. $300-$500
SOLD
Lenny Bruce's bar tabs: Heading: (Bar Tabs)Author: Title: Six of Lenny Bruce's bar tabs, 5 of them signed by Bruce Place Published: Publisher: Date Published: Undated Description: Each 18x10.7 cm (7x4¼").Lenny seems to
0004: Lenny Bruce's bar tabsEst. $300-$500
SOLD
Lenny Bruce's bar tabs: Heading: (Bar Tabs)Author: Title: Three of Lenny Bruce's bar tabs, each signed by Bruce Place Published: Publisher: Date Published: c.1962 Description:
0005: Lenny Bruce's bar tabsEst. $300-$500
SOLD
Lenny Bruce writes to Melvin Belli: Heading: (Belli, Melvin)Author: Bruce, LennyTitle: Significant letter from Lenny Bruce to attorney Melvin Belli regarding both personal and legal matters Place Published: Los Angeles Publisher: Date
0006: Lenny Bruce writes to Melvin BelliEst. $1,000-$1,500
SOLD
Note from Lenny Bruce to lawyer Melvin Belli: Heading: (Belli, Melvin)Author: Bruce, LennyTitle: Typed memo on Bruce’s personal letterhead to attorney Melvin Belli concerning trial strategies Place Published: Publisher: Date Published: 1962
0007: Note from Lenny Bruce to lawyer Melvin BelliEst. $2,000-$3,000
SOLD
Lenny Bruce's business records: Heading: (Business records)Author: Title: Collection of approximately 1,500 business records from 1957 through 1965, the bulk of Bruce’s productive career - about sixty have Bruce’s holographic
0014: Lenny Bruce's business recordsEst. $5,000-$8,000
SOLD
Lenny Bruce sells records at S.F.'s City Lights: Heading: (City Lights Books)Author: McBride, Robert G.Title: Letter from Robert G. McBride, business manager at City Lights Books in San Francisco, proposing reducing the price of Bruce's records for
0017: Lenny Bruce sells records at S.F.'s City LightsEst. $500-$800
SOLD
Lenny Bruce's breakout at Chicago's Cloisters night: Heading: (Cloisters performance contract)Author: Title: Signed contract between Lenny Bruce and the American Guild of Variety Artists [AGVA] for his national breakout at the Cloisters night club,
0018: Lenny Bruce's breakout at Chicago's Cloisters nightEst. $800-$1,200
Love letter to Lenny Bruce: Heading: (Correspondence)Author: Mendez, LynnTitle: Letter to Lenny Bruce from Lynn Mendez, recounting her visit to Bruce when he was a patient at Cedars of Lebanon hospital in Los Angeles, and
0020: Love letter to Lenny BruceEst. $300-$500Lot Passed
Letter to Lenny Bruce from a fan: Heading: (Correspondence)Author: Meyers, J.E.Title: Humorous letter to Lenny Bruce from a fan who caught Bruce’s act in Baltimore in February 1961 Place Published: Baltimore, MD Publisher: Date
0021: Letter to Lenny Bruce from a fanEst. $200-$300Lot Passed
Birthday poem to Lenny Bruce: Heading: (Correspondence)Author: "Sheila"Title: "The Libretto of Lennie the Libra" - handwritten birthday poem to Lenny Bruce Place Published: No place Publisher: Date Published: No date Description:
0023: Birthday poem to Lenny BruceEst. $200-$300Lot Passed
Letter to Lenny Bruce c.1961: Heading: (Correspondence)Author: "Todd"Title: Letter to Lenny Bruce (Leonardo Cardinal Bruce, a.k.a. Lord Byron), signed Todd Place Published: No place Publisher: Date Published: [c.1961]
0024: Letter to Lenny Bruce c.1961Est. $200-$300Lot Passed