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Charles Bukowski

PBA Galleries to offer Charles Bukowski collection July 14

Original pastel from Bukowski's 'Post Office.' PBA Galleries image
Original pastel from Bukowski’s ‘Post Office.’ PBA Galleries image

 

SAN FRANCISCO – A spectacular collection of American novelist and poet Charles Bukowski (1920-1994), formed by Allen Berlinski, will be offered by PBA Galleries on July 14. Nearly half the sale will be comprised by signed editions, limited editions with original paintings by Bukowski, periodical appearances, as well as manuscript poems and correspondence from the poet.

The second half of the auction includes modern literary works from authors such as Samuel Beckett, William S. Burroughs, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Stephen King, Jack Micheline, Henry Miller, Tim O’Brien, John Steinbeck, John Updike, Kurt Vonnegut, and many others.

Absentee and Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.com.

Also featured are several works in complete series including Game of Thrones, The Hunger Games, Harry Potter, The Twilight Saga, and a complete set of all 20 first editions from Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey – Marutin series.

A six-page original typewritten manuscript draft of Bukowski’s Notes of a Dirty Old Man is one of many manuscript items featured in this sale. Holograph edits are in red ink, including a character’s name change from Harry to Marty. The transcript also includes drawings on the first page of three men and one woman and is signed in black in on the last page. Comparison with the published text reveals that Bukowski revised the short story yet again before it appeared in book form (estimate: $3,000-$5,000).

A first edition of Bukowski’s first novel, Post Office, is also on the auction block. Published by Black Sparrow Press, an original color pastel drawing (above) signed “Buk” is tipped in opposite the title page (estimate: $4,000-$6,000).

One of only 75 copies, At Terror Street and Agony Way, also comes with an original painting (below; estimate: $4,000-$6,000). These are examples of the many works with paintings by Bukowski offered in the sale.

 

Bukowski's 'A Terror Street and Agony' original painting. PBA Galleries image
Bukowski’s ‘A Terror Street and Agony’ original painting. PBA Galleries image

 

There are also a number of lots of correspondence from Charles Bukowski to be auctioned. One example is a typed letter from Bukowski to E.V. Griffith acknowledging payment of $50 for 11 poems published in Hearse magazine (estimate: $700-$1,000).

 

Bukowski's 'Dirty Old Man typescript.' PBA Galleries image
Bukowski’s ‘Dirty Old Man typescript.’ PBA Galleries image

 

From the second half of the sale, one of the highlights is a complete set of all 20 volumes of Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey-Maturin series. All first English Editions are in their original dust jackets (estimate: $4,000-$6,000). A number of Stephen King books are offered including a signed limited edition of his 1981 psychological horror thriller, Cujo (estimate: $700-$1,000). A large selection of works by Henry Miller includes an original watercolor tribute to composer Darius Milhaud (estimate: $1,200-$1,800). Jim’s Books is the rare first work by Pulitzer Prize winner James Merrill that was published by the author’s father when the poet was a young student at the Lawrenceville School in Princeton, N.J. (estimate: $3,000-$5,000).

The sale will begin at 11 a.m. Pacific Time. For more information, please contact PBA at 415-989-2665 or pba@pbagalleries.com.

 

View the fully illustrated catalog and register to bid absentee or live via the Internet as the sale is taking place by logging on to www.LiveAuctioneers.com.