BERKELEY, Calif. – PBA Galleries will hold an auction of Fine Literature with Beats, Bukowski and the Counterculture on January 13, 2022. The sale comprises more than 450 lots of fine literature and ephemera, featuring scarce works from the counterculture and the Beat Generation, as well as a large selection of Charles Bukowski material, including an original typescript story. Absentee and Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.
Leading the way is possibly the only existing copy of an original typescript story by Bukowski, titled 100 Dollar Stuff and submitted to Robert Singer for his literary journal in-the-works, which was to be called Speed Fast Reading. The journal never came to be, and there is no record of the story appearing in any journals or included in any published collection. The Bukowski original typescript story is estimated at $4,000-$6,000. Another Bukowski highlight is a scarce copy of The Wedding, privately printed in an edition of 40 copies on the occasion of Bukowski’s marriage to Linda Lee Beigle. With 12 original photographs by Michael Montfort, this copy includes the suppressed photograph of Linda fixing Hank’s fly. This limited-edition book carries an estimate of $2,000-$3,000.
Before the Flowers of Friendship Faded Friendship Faded, the second book published by Plain Edition, a publishing venture undertaken by Gertrude Stein and her partner, Alice B. Toklas, will be offered in the publisher’s original saddle-stitched binding with coarse brown wrappers. Stein’s work Written on a Poem by Georges Hugnet is signed by her at the colophon. It is estimated at $3,000-$5,000. Another highlight from an American expatriate is a signed second printing of Ernest Hemingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls. It carries an estimate of $2,000-$3,000.
Two featured science fiction works in the auction are an inscribed copy of Arthur C. Clarke’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, based on the screenplay by Clarke and producer/director Stanley Kubrick, estimated at $2,000-$3,000, and also a first edition of Frank Herbert’s Dune in its original jacket, estimated at $2,000-$3,000.
Other sale highlights include a first printing of the anti-slavery novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe, estimated at $2,000-$3,000; a scarce signed copy of The Convict Stories by James Lee Burke, his first book of short stories, estimated at $1,500-$2,500; and a lot of five fine to near fine dust jackets for works by Edgar Rice Burroughs, estimated at $1,500-$2,500.
For more information about upcoming sales, to schedule a Zoom preview or phone bidding for a future auction, please contact PBA Galleries at 415.989.2665 or pba@pbagalleries.com.
[av_button label=’Click to view the auction catalog and sign up to bid’ icon_select=’no’ icon=’ue800′ font=’entypo-fontello’ link=’manually,https://www.liveauctioneers.com/catalog/230789_literature-with-beats-buk-and-counterculture/?keyword=&page=1′ link_target=’_blank’ size=’small’ position=’center’ label_display=” title_attr=” color_options=” color=’theme-color’ custom_bg=’#444444′ custom_font=’#ffffff’ btn_color_bg=’theme-color’ btn_custom_bg=’#444444′ btn_color_bg_hover=’theme-color-highlight’ btn_custom_bg_hover=’#444444′ btn_color_font=’theme-color’ btn_custom_font=’#ffffff’ id=” custom_class=” av_uid=’av-5h7buow’ admin_preview_bg=”]
View top auction results on LiveAuctioneers here: https://www.liveauctioneers.com/pages/recent-auction-sales/