BERKELEY, Calif. – PBA Galleries will hold an auction of Fine Literature with Bukowski, Beats & the Counterculture on October 21. Absentee and Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.
The sale features more than 500 lots of fine literature and ephemera, featuring a large selection of scarce works from the counterculture and the Beat Generation, as well as a section dedicated to Charles Bukowski. The sale includes works by Gertrude Stein, Jack London, John Steinbeck and numerous other important figures of the 20th century, many of them signed or inscribed. The Beat/Counterculture section includes a number of important works by the likes of Jack Kerouac, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Allen Ginsberg and the San Francisco Poet Laureate Jack Hirschman, who recently passed away. The section dedicated to Charles Bukowski features scarce editions of most all of his major works, including a twice-inscribed copy of his first chapbook, as well as original correspondence and poems and numerous pieces of original art.
Leading the sale is the first book published by Charles Bukowski, Flower, Fist and Bestial Wail. One of only 200 volumes of the first edition, this copy is signed and inscribed twice to Jon and Louise Webb of the New Orleans LouJon Press. The earlier inscription, dated 9-18-63, includes a drawing of a flower and carries an estimate of $10,000-$15,000. Also in the sale is Buk’s rare third book, Longshot Poems for Broke Players, containing 26 poems and five drawings by the author. It is estimated at $3,000-$5,000.
Featured in the Beats & Counterculture section of the sale is a first printing of Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s Pictures of the Gone World, signed by the author. One of the highlights of Beat literature, this was the first book published by Ferlinghetti’s City Lights Books, and is estimated at $2,000-$3,000. Also in this section is a unique group of ephemera including original paste-ups and author’s corrections for Mind Breaths: Poems 1972-1977 by Allen Ginsberg, estimated at $3,000-$5,000.
Literature highlights include a presentation copy of Gertrude Stein’s Portrait of Mabel Dodge, signed and inscribed to French historian Bernard Fay, estimated at $5,000-$8,000; the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam signed by artist Susan Allix and bound by Sangorski & Sutcliffe, estimated at $4,000-$6,000; and a presentation copy of Fahrenheit 451 inscribed by Bradbury and 1/50 specially bound, estimated at $4,000-$6,000.
For more information about upcoming sales, to schedule a Zoom preview or phone bidding for a future auction, please contact the galleries at 415.989.2665 or pba@pbagalleries.com.
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