Tag Archives: Loujon Press

Loujon Press

Jon and Louise “Gypsy Lou” Webb. Photographer unknown.

In the Fall of 1961, Jon and Louise “Gypsy Lou” Webb published the first issue of their avant-garde poetry and prose magazine, The Outsider. Handset and letterpress printed, the journal straddled the line between traditional books and modern works of art, and the journal made an outsized impact on the literary world, shining a light on the talents of Beat Generation, Black Mountain and other avant-garde and counterculture poets, writers, and artists of the era.

In all, Loujon Press published three issues of The Outsider (one a double issue), and two books each by poet Charles Bukowski and novelist Henry Miller. These publications received at least as much praise for their quality as physical artifacts as they did for the poems and prose that made up their editorial matter. It seems like a small catalogue, but the remarkable artistry, craftsmanship, and pioneering spirit have earned the press a much larger place in history.

As art writer Nathan Martin commented, “Loujon operated during a particular moment in the history of artistic publishing in America … and remains a distinctive and compelling entity at the intersection of fine-press publishing, counterculture literature, and the French Quarter from which it emerged.”

Loujon Press Checklist:

1. The Outsider, Vol. 1, No. 1, edited by Jon Edgar Webb
New Orleans: Loujon Press, Fall 1961
First edition, side-stapled and bound into printed and photo-illustrated wrappers, 6” x 9”, 101 pages, 3100 copies, letterpress printed with handset type on a C&P handpress by Jon and Louise Webb. Associate Editor: Louise “Gypsy Lou” Webb; Advisory Editors: Marvin Bell, Margaret Randall, Jory Sherman, Edwin Morgan, Melville Hardiment, Sinclair Beiles; Consultant: Walter Lowenfels; illustrations: F. Salantrie.

Ephemera:
1. 1. 1. Prospectus. 5.75” x 17.75” sheet folded once to make four pages, lists contributors and includes order form.

Offprints:
1. 1. Corso, Gregory. “The American Way” [offprint of page 9] [1]
  2. Bukowski, Charles. “A Charles Bukowski Album” [offprint of pages 47-54] (Krumhansl 6)
  3. Miller, Henry. Letters To Lowenfels. [offprint of pages 63-66] [2] (Shifreen & Jackson A140)
  4. Burroughs, William S. Operation Soft Machine. [offprint of pages 73-77] [3]
  5. McClure, Michael. Spontaneous Hymn To Kundalini [offprint of page 46] [4]

Contents:
1. Edson, Russell. “Editorial” – 1:1, 3
2. Webb, Jon Edgar. “The Editor’s Bit: Public Square” – 1:1, 4
3. Beiles, Sinclair. “Metabolic C Movies” – 1:1, 5
4. Gordon, Stuart. “Metabolic C Movies” – 1:1, 5
5. Corso, Gregory. “The American Way” – 1:1, 9
6. Webb, Jr., Jon Edgar. “A Peek Over The Wall” – 1:1, 15
7. Giudici, Ann. untitled [“Be careful when you step…”] – 1:1, 17
8. Giudici, Ann. untitled [“I was a child…”] – 1:1, 17
9. Giudici, Ann. untitled [“Can you pause and stay…”] – 1:1, 18
10. Di Prima, Diane. “Lord Jim” – 1:1, 19
11. Grant, John. “On The Dot” – 1:1, 20
12. Haines, Paul. “…Had Spent Laughing” – 1:1, 23
13. Snyder, Gary. “Xrist” – 1:1, 24
14. Turnbull, Gael. “A Hill” – 1:1, 25
15. Olson, Charles. untitled [“Borne down by…”] – 1:1, 26
16. Dorn, Edward. “Like A Message On Sunday” – 1:1, 27
17. Ginsberg, Allen. “The End (to Kaddish)” – 1:1, 28
18. Orlovsky, Peter. “Snale Poem” – 1:1, 29
19. Hughes, Langston. “Doorknobs” – 1:1, 30
20. Martinez, Juan. “Work Song” – 1:1, 31
21. Sorrentino, Gilbert. “Ave Atque Vale” – 1:1, 35
22. Lowenfels, Walter. “Good-Bye Jargon, Elegy for a Small Press” – 1:1, 36
23. Lowenfels, Walter. “Welcome Home to Cubby” – 1:1, 37
24. Corman, Cid. “Post Mortem” – 1:1, 38
25. Corman, Cid. “Sempre D’amore” – 1:1, 38
26. Ferlinghetti, Lawrence. “Underwear” – 1:1, 39
27. Bremser, Ray. “On Prevalence” – 1:1, 42
28. Randall, Margaret. “Series of Seven” – 1:1, 43
29. Brand, Millen. “Swinging Off Swamp Creek” – 1:1, 44
30. Creeley, Robert. “The End of the Day” – 1:1, 45
31. Creeley, Robert. “Mind’s Heart” – 1:1, 45
32. Creeley, Robert. “The Bird” – 1:1, 45
33. McClure, Mike. “Spontaneous Hymn to Kundalini” – 1:1, 46
34. Bukowski, Charles. “Hooray Say The Roses” – 1:1, 48
35. Bukowski, Charles. “Pay Your Rent or Get Out” – 1:1, 48
36. Bukowski, Charles. “Shoes” – 1:1, 49
37. Bukowski, Charles. “I Am With the Roots of Flowers” – 1:1, 50
38. Bukowski, Charles. “Go With the Rockets & the Blondes” – 1:1, 51
39. Bukowski, Charles. “A Real Thing, a Good Woman” – 1:1, 51
40. Bukowski, Charles. “To a High Class Whore I Refused” – 1:1, 52
41. Bukowski, Charles. “Old Man, Dead in a Room” – 1:1, 52
42. Bukowski, Charles. “Love in a Back Room on the Row” – 1:1, 53
43. Bukowski, Charles. “Nothing Subtle” – 1:1, 53
44. Bukowski, Charles. “And Then: Age” – 1:1, 53
45. Sward, Robert. “Momma–, Mountain” – 1:1, 55
46. Ristau, Harland. “M’sippi Town” – 1:1, 56
47. Wilson, Colin. “Some Comments On The Beats & Angries” – 1:1, 57
48. Sherman, Jory. “Dear Liz” – 1:1, 60
49. Hedley, Leslie Woolf. “Naked In My Century” – 1:1, 62
50. Miller, Henry. “Letters To Lowenfels” – 1:1, 62
51. Jones, LeRoi. “The Southpaw” – 1:1, 67
52. Jones, LeRoi. “Bo Peep” – 1:1, 67
53. Jones, LeRoi. “X” – 1:1, 67
54. Jones, LeRoi. “Boswell” – 1:1, 68
55. Jones, LeRoi. “Dr. Jive” – 1:1, 68
56. Bell, Marvin. “Portrait of a Skeleton” – 1:1, 69
57. Bell, Marvin. “Winter Poem” – 1:1, 69
58. Epstein, Lester. “Demonstrate Your Culture…” – 1:1, 70
59. Epstein, Lester. “Moment” – 1:1, 71
60. Epstein, Lester. “Cold Coffee” – 1:1, 71
61. Zahn, Curtis. “Reprimand For A Compromised Love-Object” – 1:1, 72
62. Burroughs, William S. “Operation Soft Machine” – 1:1, 74
63. Kaja. “from: The Emerald City, For Gregory Corso” – 1:1, 78
64. Crews, Judson. “Rel Bore Speng Lule” – 1:1, 79
65. Crews, Judson. “Pastoral” – 1:1, 79
66. Thompson, Tracy. “Stranger” – 1:1, 79
67. Carroll, Paul. “What Did Your Face Look Like…” – 1:1, 80
68. Oden, G. C. “Lay Your Head Here” – 1:1, 81
69. May, James Boyer. “The Salutary Snare, for Colin Wilson” – 1:1, 82
70. Schleifer, Marc D. “Here & There, for Marian’s Show” – 1:1, 82
71. Pfisterer III, Frederick. “Dolorous Somewhere Behind” – 1:1, 83
72. Frumkin, Gene. “The Fat Pigeon” – 1:1, 84
73. Williams, Jonathan. “The Big House, For Sherwood Anderson” – 1:1, 84
74. Corrington, William. “Hard Man” – 1:1, 85
75. Boyle, Kay. “Print from a Lucite Block” – 1:1, 85
76. Blackburn, Paul. “Death Watch: Veille D’hiver” – 1:1, 86
77. Eshleman, Clayton. “Red Shoes (from Songs For Exile)” – 1:1, 86
78. Kupferberg, Tuli. “Great” – 1:1,87
79. Moraff, Barbara. “A Little Spur” – 1:1, 88
80. Abrams, Sam. “Bodies Only” – 1:1, 88
81. McGuire, Terence. “Mid-Morning” – 1:1, 88

2. The Outsider, Vol. 1, No. 2, edited by Jon Edgar Webb
New Orleans: Loujon Press, Summer 1962
First edition, side-stapled and bound into printed and photo-illustrated wrappers, 6” x 9”, 112 pages, 3100 copies, letterpress printed on a 8″ x 12″ C&P new series motorized press by Jon and Louise Webb. Associate Editor: Louise “Gypsy Lou” Webb; illustrations: Ben Tibbs, Frank Salantrie, Malcolm Paul Newman.

Offprints:
1. 1. Burroughs, William S. Wilt Caught In Time. [offprint of pages 3-4] [4]
  2. Miller, Henry. The Henry Miller To Lowenfels Letters. [offprint of pages 73-80] 2 (Shifreen & Jackson A140)

Contents:
1. Burroughs, William S. “Wilt Caught In Time” – 1:2, 3
2. Masters, R. E. L. “Editorial” – 1:2, 5
3. Webb, Jon Edgar. “The Editor’s Bit” – 1:2, 6
4. Bukowski, Charles. “Sick Leave” – 1:2, 7
5. Johnson, Kay. “from: The Fourth Hour” – 1:2, 8
6. Oppenheimer, Joel. “A Long Way” – 1:2, 10
7. Oppenheimer, Joel. “The Present” – 1:2, 11
8. Nemerov, Howard. “The Iron Characters” – 1:2, 13
9. Edson, Russell. “There Was” – 1:2, 14
10. Eigner, Larry. untitled [“the sky cross the desert…”] – 1:2, 15
11. Eigner, Larry. untitled [“visiting yesterday…”] – 1:2, 16
12. Eigner, Larry. untitled [“An easy death…”] – 1:2, 17
13. Eigner, Larry. untitled [“all these cripples…”] – 1:2, 18
14. Eigner, Larry. untitled [“that’s odd…”] – 1:2, 19
15. Dorn, Edward. “The Argument Is” – 1:2, 20
16. Corso, Gregory. “Poems From Berlin, First Week’s
17. Impression” – 1:2, 21
18. Bremser, Ray. “On The Nature” – 1:2, 24
19. Mayes, Richard. “Lament” – 1:2, 28
20. Johnson, Kay. “Poems From Paris” – 1:2, 29
21. Frumkin, Gene. “The Poet On His Lunch Hour” – 1:2, 34
22. Morgan, Edwin. “Jean Genet: A Legend, To Be Legible” – 1:2, 35
23. Hollo, Anselm. “They Fatted The Calf” – 1:2, 40
24. Stoloff, Carolyn. “Something Diseased” – 1:2, 42
25. Jacobson, David B. “Lecture” – 1:2, 42
26. Bukowski, Charles. “To A Lady Who Believes Me Dead” – 1:2, 43
27. Johnson, Kay. “Quick, Someone’s Coming” – 1:2, 44
28. Webb, Jon Edgar. “Suddenly Over” – 1:2, 45
29. Major, Clarence. “Dream In Ruins” – 1:2, 45
30. Field, Edward. “Ah, Linger A While, Thou Art So Fair” – 1:2, 46
31. Mason, Mason Jordan. “Mysterious As Any Woman Be” – 1:2, 47
32. Hazard, Geoffrey. “The Dubliner” – 1:2, 47
33. Moraff, Barbara. “Dear Solomon” – 1:2, 48
34. Musial, Frank. “Room” – 1:2, 48
35. Giudici, Ann. “Remember?” – 1:2, 49
36. Oden, G. C. “Low Calvary” – 1:2, 49
37. Bell, Marvin. “Pipecleaner, For Thin Dorothy” – 1:2, 50
38. Kaja. “from: The Emerald City, For Gregory Corso” – 1:2, 50
39. Genet, Jean. “from: Le Pecheur Du Suquet” – 1:2, 52
40. Purdy, A. W. “Love Poem” – 1:2, 53
41. Madaio, Louise. “The Wine Is Red (from Black Olives)” – 1:2, 55
42. McGrath, Thomas. “from: Letter To An Imaginary Friend” – 1:2, 59
43. Corrington, William. “Surreal For Lorca” – 1:2, 61
44. Williams, Jonathan. “The Anchorite” – 1:2, 62
45. Lowenfels, Walter. “Editorial” – 1:2, 64
46. Lamantia, [Philip]. “Last Days Of San Francisco” – 1:2, 66
47. Kerouac, Jack. “Sept. 19, 1961 Poem” – 1:2, 68
48. Margoshes, Dave. “Denise Levertov” – 1:2, 71
49. Margolis, William J. “from: The Mendicant Notebook, Vi (For Maxine)” – 1:2, 72
50. Miller, Henry. “The Henry Miller To Lowenfels Letters” – 1:2, 73
51. Finlay, Ian Hamilton. “Art Student” – 1:2, 81
52. Tagliabue, John. “Now And Then In The Fluorescence A Slight Jerking Motion” – 1:2, 82
53. Tagliabue, John. “’I Got Important Contacts’ Willy Loman Says” – 1:2, 82
54. Tagliabue, John. “Side Show / U.S.A.” – 1:2, 83
55. Tagliabue, John. “Those Mysterious Events That Stir Us” – 1:2, 83
56. Tagliabue, John. “Tall Blonde Girl And Ballet Dancer – 1:2, 83
57. Patchen, Kenneth. “letter to the editor and untitled paintings” – 1:2, 84
58. Micheline, Jack. “Street Call New Orleans” – 1:2, 94
59. Allen, Richard B. “Oldest of the Living Old” – 1:2, 97
60. Borenstein, Larry. “Oldest of the Living Old” – 1:2, 103
61. Jaffee, Allan & Sandra. “Oldest of the Living Old” – 1:2, 103
62. Russell, Bill. “Oldest of the Living Old” – 1:2, 104
63. Hentoff, Nat. “Oldest of the Living Old” – 1:2, 104
64. Wilson, John S. “Oldest of the Living Old” – 1:2, 107
65. Sperling, Jr., Godfrey. “Oldest of the Living Old” – 1:2, 107
66. Hobson, Wilder. “Oldest of the Living Old” – 1:2, 107
67. Giudici, Ann. “Didn’t He Ramble, For Steve Angrum” – 1:2, 111

3. The Outsider, Volume 1, Number 3, edited by Jon Edgar Webb
New Orleans: Loujon Press, Spring 1963
First edition, side-stapled and bound into printed and photo-illustrated wrappers, 6” x 9”, 138 pages, 2100 copies, letterpress printed by Jon and Louise Webb. . Associate Editor: Louise “Gypsy Lou” Webb; illustrations: Jackson Hensley, Ben Tibbs, Frank Salantrie.

Offprints:
1. 1. Miller, Henry. The Henry Miller To Lowenfels Letters. [offprint of pages 79-85] [5]

Contents:
1. Webb, Jon Edgar. “Editorial: The Editor’s Bit” – 1:3, 0
  Patchen, Miriam. “Letters to the editors” – 1:3, 2
  Patchen, Kenneth. “Editorial” – 1:3, 3
  Johnson, Kay. “The White Room” – 1:3, 7
  Snyder, Gary. “Some Square Comes” – 1:3, 15
  Snyder, Gary. “Madly Whirling Downhill” – 1:3, 15
  Kearns, Lionel. “Stress-Axis Poems” – 1:3, 16
  Creeley, Robert. “More On Kearns” – 1:3, 20
  Woolf, Douglas. “Visitation” – 1:3, 22
  McClure, Michael. ” -Three Mad Sonnets (from 13 Mad Sonnets)” – 1:3, 29
  Sward, Robert. “Donna Is Her Name” – 1:3, 31
  Sward, Robert. “Museum” – 1:3, 32
  Sward, Robert. “Mr Attis & Lady C” – 1:3, 31
  Burroughs, William. “Take It To Cut City – U.S.A.” – 1:3, 35
  Boyd, Sue Abbott. “Journey” – 1:3, 40
  Boyd, Sue Abbott. “The Following Morning” – 1:3, 40
  Weeks, Robert Lewis. “Grand Opening” – 1:3, 41
  Layton, Irving. “On Re-Reading The Beats” – 1:3, 42
  Genet, Jean. “A Colloquy (from Le Pecheur Du Suquet)” – 1:3, 44
  Fisher, Roy. “Chirico” – 1:3, 46
  Fisher, Roy. “Something Unmade” – 1:3, 47
  Webb, Jon Edgar. “The Girl There” – 1:3, 49
  Wakowski, Diane. “The First Day” – 1:3, 54
  Norse, Harold. “The Pine Cone” 1:3, 55
  Solomon, Carl. “The Madman In The Looking Glass” – 1:3, 56
  Cuscaden, R. R. “Charles Bukowski: Poet In A Ruined Landscape” – 1:3, 62
  Corrington, William. “Charles Bukowski: Three Poems” – 1:3, 66
  Bukowski, Charles. “The Tragedy Of The Leaves” – 1:3, 67
  Bukowski, Charles. “The Priest And The Matador” – 1:3, 68
  Bukowski, Charles. “Old Man, Dead In A Room” – 1:3, 71
  Bukowski, Charles. “The House” – 1:3, 72
  Bukowski, Charles. “Event” – 1:3, 73
  Bukowski, Charles. “Dinner, Rain & Transport” – 1:3, 74
  Bukowski, Charles. “Letters to the editors” – 1:3, 77
  Miller, Henry. “The Henry Miller Lowenfels Letters” – 1:3, 79
  Eigner, Larry. “Then:” – 1:3, 86
  Corrington, William. “Communion (from Prayers For Mass In The Vernacular)” – 1:3, 87
  Jouffroy, Alain. “Fatherland” – 1:3, 88
  Hollo, Anselm. “Thalidomide” – 1:3, 90
  Moraff, Barbara. “Two For Syd” – 1:3, 97
  Motley, Willard. “The Burial” – 1:3, 98
  Miller, Raeburn. “The Drowned Boy” – 1:3, 101
  Rubin, Larry. “Etiquette For Americans” – 1:3, 102
  Neish, Alex. “Review: Naked Lunch” – 1:3, 104
  Charters, Samuel B. “Jazz In New Orleans: 1899 To 1957” – 1:3, 109
  Borenstein, E. L. “Jazz In New Orleans: 1957 To 1963” – 1:3, 117

4. Bukowski, Charles. It Catches My Heart In Its Hands / New & Selected Poems 1955-1963
New Orleans: Loujon Press, October 1963
First edition, sewn signatures in printed wraparound jacket, designed and printed by Jon Edgar Webb and Louise Webb, introduction by William Corrington, illustration by Frank Salantrie, dedicated to “Gypsy Lou” Webb, 7.5” x 10”, 102 pages, 777 copies, letterpress printed, published as Gypsy Lou Series #1.
(Dorbin A5)

Ephemera:
1. 1. Publication announcement: 5” x 10.25”, with Miller quote (Shifreen & Jackson B145)

Contents:
1. “The Tragedy Of The Leaves”, “I Cannot Stand Tears”, “Shoes”, “A Real Thing, A Good Woman”, “To The Whore Who Took My Poems”, “Worm”, “The State Of World Affairs From A 3rd Floor Window”, “The Japanese Wife”, “For Marilyn M.”, “The Life Of Borodin”, “Winter Comes In A Lot Of Places In August”, “No Charge”, “Truth’s A Hell Of A Word”, “The Sun Wields Mercy”, “A Literary Romance”, “Reprieve And Admixture”, “Conversation In A Cheap Room”, “Letter From The North”, “Okay, But Later”, “A Minor Impulse To Complain”, “The Dog”, “Nothing Subtle”, “The Twins”, “The Day It Rained At The Los Angeles County Museum”, “2 P.M. Beer”, “Hooray Say The Roses”, “The Sunday Artist”, “Old Poet”, “To A High Class Whore I Refused”, “Dinner, Rain And Transport”, “Poem For These 4”, “Regard Me”, “I Am With The Roots Of Flowers”, “The Race”, “Vegas”, “Pay Your Rent Or Get Out”, “Love Is A Piece Of Paper Torn To Bits”, “The House”, “I Wait In The White Rain”, “The Kings Are Gone”, “It Is Not Much”, “Side Of The Sun”, “The Talkers”, “A Pleasant Afternoon In Bed”, “9 Rings”, “Blasted”, “A Song For Sadists With A Place To Sit Down”, “The Priest And The Matador”, “Love And Fame And Death”, “My Father”, “People Come Thru…”, “The Gift”, “The Bird”, “The Singular Self”, “Counsel”, “The Ox”, “Wrong Number”, “Sundays Kill More Men Than Bombs”, “A Farewell Thing While Breathing”, “A Rat Rises”, “A 350 Dollar Horse And A Hundred Dollar Whore”, “Bull”, “I Write This Upon The Last Drink’s Hammer”, “The Virgins Of Christmas”, “I Think Of Hemingway”, “Old Man, Dead In A Room”

5. Bukowski, Charles. Crucifix In A Deathhand / New Poems 1963-65
New York: Lyle Stuart, April 1965
First edition, sewn signatures in printed wraparound jacket, designed and printed by Jon Edgar Webb and Louise Webb, etchings by Noel Rockmore, dedicated to Marina Louise Bukowski, 8.5” x 12.25”, 102 pages, 3100 copies, letterpress printed, published as Gypsy Lou Series #2.
(Dorbin A6)

Ephemera:
1. 1. Publication announcement: 5.25” x 10”, with Miller quote (Shifreen & Jackson B164)
  2. Order form: 5” x 8.25”

Contents:
1. “Sound Down the Street”, “I Think of Mice Cooling It”, “Butterfly”, “Sing to Gods or Kangaroos”, “View from the Screen”, “Not with Boldness”, “Crucifix in a Deathhand”, “When the Berry Bush Dies I’ll Swim Down the Green River with My Hair on Fire”, “Mother and Son”, “Sunflower”, “Grass”, “Fuzz”, “Seahorse”, “A Report upon the Consumption of Myself”, “No Lady Godiva”, “The Workers”, “Beans with Garlic”, “Mama”, “Machineguns, Towers and Timeclocks”, “Good Morning, Brother, How Are You?”, “Something for the Touts, the Nuns, the Grocery Clerks and You”, “The Loss, The Loss, The Loss”, “Sway with Me”, “Lack of Almost Everything”, “No Argument”, “No. 6”, “This”, “Don’t Come Round but if You Do”, “Startled Into Life like Fire”, “Stew”, “Qp”, “Lilies in My Brain”, “Itch, Come and Gone”, “I Am Dead but I Know the Dead Are Not Like This”, “Swept Away in Orangepeel And Whistle Yowl”, “At the End of Feet The Blackbird Walks”, “Let Them Go”, “Like a Violet in the Snow”, “All I Ask Is a Faint Chance”, “Letter from Too Far”, “See this Flower!”, “Pansies”, “I Was Born to Hustle Roses Down the Avenues of the Dead”, “Farewell, Foolish Objects”, “Man in the Sun”, “I Kneel”, “The Swans Walk my Brain in April it Rains”, “The Girls on Sunset Blvd.”, “Woman”, “Confession for those Who Do Not Breathe at Funerals”, “Like All The Years Wasted”, “They, all of Them, Know”, “A Nice Day”.

6. Miller, Henry. Order And Chaos Chez Hans Reichel
Tucson: Loujon Press, December 1966
First edition, perfect bound in printed wraparound jacket in printed slipcase, leather editions bound by the Schuberth Bookbindery of San Francisco, introductory statement by Karl Shapiro, introduction by Lawrence Durrell, photograph of Miller by Ina Paulandre tipped in, 9” x 9.75”, 87 pages, 1425 copies, letterpress printed, published as Gypsy Lou Series #3.
(Shifreen & Jackson A157a-g)

Variant Issues:
1. 1. Crimson Oasis limited issue: 26 lettered copies signed, quarter leather binding (Shifreen & Jackson A157a)
  2. Blue Oasis limited issue: 99 copies signed, quarter leather binding (Shifreen & Jackson A157b)
  3. Cork issue: 1399 copies (Shifreen & Jackson A157c)
  4. Orange Oasis limited issue: 3 copies (Shifreen & Jackson A157d)
  5. Black Oasis limited issue: 11 copies lettered using letters to spell HENRY MILLER, quarter leather binding, bound in postcard from Miller to Jon Webb (Shifreen & Jackson A157e)
  6. Green Oasis limited issue: 11 copies lettered using letters to spell HENRY MILLER, quarter leather binding (Shifreen & Jackson A157f)
  7. Cork issue: 26 lettered copies (Shifreen & Jackson A157g)

Ephemera:
1. 1. Publication announcement: 20” x 26” featuring a photograph of Miller and his bicycle (Shifreen & Jackson B181)
  2. Award announcement: 8.5” x 10”, printed in brown ink, TDC [Type Director’s Club] awards for typography, type direction, and design (see Shifreen & Jackson A157c)
  3. Award announcement: 8.5” x 9”, same as above but printed in blue ink and with slightly different text

7. The Outsider, Vol. 2, No. 4/5, edited by Jon Edgar Webb
New Orleans: Loujon Press, Winter 1968-69
First edition, issued in both wrappers and hardcover in printed dust-wrapper and photo-illustrated paper wrappers, 7.25” x 10.25”, 200 pages, 500 copies. Associate Editor: Louise “Gypsy Lou” Webb, illustrations: Ben Tibbs, Frank Salantrie, Kelsie Harder. Laid into this edition is “a sprig of flora from within a mile of Geronimo’s grave”, picked by Gypsy Lou and sealed in wax paper with letterpress printed partial wrap-around band.

Ephemera:
1. 1. Order form: 5” x 8.25”

Contents:
1. Kaprow, Allan. “Moving, A Happening” – 2:4/5, 0
  Goodger-Hill, Trevor. “Editorial” – 2:4/5, 1
  Plymell, Charles. “In Kansas” – 2:4/5, 2
  Taylor, David. “Panda” – 2:4/5, 3
  Edson, Russell. “The Toy Maker” – 2:4/5, 19
  Edson, Russell. “The Cult” – 2:4/5, 19
  Perchik, Simon. untitled [“He Wants To Know…”] – 2:4/5, 20
  Perchik, Simon. untitled [“The Kids Were First…”] – 2:4/5, 20
  Major, Clarence. “Weak Dynamite” – 2:4/5, 22
  Wantling, William. “That Night” – 2:4/5, 24
  Bartlett, Elizabeth. “The Walnut Tree” – 2:4/5, 26
  Greenberg, Alvin. “Taking A Stand” – 2:4/5, 27
  Severy, Bruce. “How We Do Things” – 2:4/5, 28
  Severy, Bruce. “Mud” – 2:4/5, 28
  Severy, Bruce. “From 400 Yards” – 2:4/5, 28
  Goodger-Hill, Trevor. “A Personal History” – 2:4/5, 30
  Creighton, John. “Green Hides, Lines To A Pale Lady” – 2:4/5, 32
  Eigner, Larry. untitled [“March The Route…”] – 2:4/5, 35
  Eigner, Larry. untitled [“The Great American Ballot-Box…”] – 2:4/5, 36
  Bukowski, Charles. “Kaakaa & Other Imolations” – 2:4/5, 37
  Bukowski, Charles. “Beef Tongue, for J.T.” – 2:4/5, 39
  Bukowski, Charles. “Like A Flyswatter” – 2:4/5, 41
  Bukowski, Charles. “The Last Round” – 2:4/5, 42
  Di Prima, Diane. “From: Spring and Autumn Annals: A Celebration for Freddie” – 2:4/5, 45
  Levertov, Denise. “Late June 1968” – 2:4/5, 51
  Levertov, Denise. “Not to Have” – 2:4/5, 51
  Durrell, Lawrence. “?” – 2:4/5, 52
  Mccord, Howard. “Descent into Birth” – 2:4/5, 53
  Meltzer, David. “This is a Nation of Keepers Who Had No Time to Become Gods” – 2:4/5, 54
  Cooperman, Stanley. “New York: February, 1968” – 2:4/5, 55
  Cooperman, Stanley. “Cappelbaum’s Halloween” – 2:4/5, 56
  Katz, Steve. “One Kind of Tune” – 2:4/5, 58
  Katz, Steve. “& A More Similar Tune” – 2:4/5, 58
  Randall, Margaret. “Erongaricuaro, for My Friends at the Molino” – 2:4/5, 59
  Wright, Jay. “Pastel” – 2:4/5, 60
  Morris, Richard. “Foreword to Keslie Artwork” – 2:4/5, 61
  Harder, Kelsie. untitled [“Cartoons”] – 2:4/5, 61
  Hamburger, Michael. “Travelling” – 2:4/5, 77
  Stoloff, Carolyn. “Wind and the Earth” – 2:4/5, 79
  Grapes, Marcus J. untitled [“It Came on Me…”] – 2:4/5, 80
  Grapes, Marcus J. untitled [“An Old House…”] – 2:4/5, 80
  Grapes, Marcus J. untitled [“Oh It Wasn’t So Much…”] – 2:4/5, 81
  Grapes, Marcus J. untitled [“Too Many Years Pass…”] – 2:4/5, 82
  Grapes, Marcus J. untitled [“Leaving This Clumsy Town…”] – 2:4/5, 82
  Grapes, Marcus J. untitled [“Could I Believe…”] – 2:4/5, 83
  Grapes, Marcus J. untitled [“Heaped Between The Letters The Postcards…”] – 2:4/5, 83
  Grapes, Marcus J. untitled [“The Madness Is Power And What…”] – 2:4/5, 83
  Grapes, Marcus J. untitled [“I Spoke To Jenny…”] – 2:4/5, 84
  Grapes, Marcus J. untitled [“Legendary Men In The Forest…”] – 2:4/5, 84
  Grapes, Marcus J. untitled [“And When They Killed Him…”] – 2:4/5, 84
  Grapes, Marcus J. untitled [“Finding New Bones…”] – 2:4/5, 85
  Grapes, Marcus J. untitled [“Some Jerk With Baltic-Brained…”] – 2:4/5, 86
  Grapes, Marcus J. untitled [“This Tender Minute…”] – 2:4/5, 86
  Grapes, Marcus J. untitled [“Some Of Us…”] – 2:4/5, 87
  Haines, John. “Under The Barracks” – 2:4/5, 88
  Haines, John. “In The Styrofoam Mountains” – 2:4/5, 88
  Haines, John. “From The Rooftops” – 2:4/5, 89
  Kelly, Robert. “Landing Cod (From The Common Shore)” – 2:4/5, 90
  Gast, David K. “Teresa” – 2:4/5, 93
  Patchen, Miriam. untitled [“Letter To The Editors”] – 2:4/5, 94
  Sandberg, David. untitled [“Please Do Not Ring Or Knock…”] – 2:4/5, 96
  Thomas, Norman. untitled [“If You Visit Patchen…”] – 2:4/5, 97
  Antoninus, Brother. untitled [“Word Of The Outsider’s Homage…”] – 2:4/5, 98
  Ginsberg, Allen. untitled [“I Met Kenneth Patchen At City Lights…”] – 2:4/5, 99
  May, James Boyer. untitled [“Kenneth Patchen’s Physical Presence…”] – 2:4/5, 100
  Norse, Harold. untitled [“He Is Part Of Youth…”] – 2:4/5, 105
  Brand, Millen. untitled [“I Used To Know Kenneth In The Village…”] – 2:4/5, 106
  Macdiarmid, Hugh. untitled [“I Have Been To The United States…”] – 2:4/5, 108
  Glover, David. untitled [“I Recall The First Thing I Ever Read…”] – 2:4/5, 109
  Rexroth, Kenneth. untitled [“Kenneth Patchen Is One Of…”] – 2:4/5, 112
  Corrington, John William. untitled [“I Still Remember…”] – 2:4/5, 113
  Porter, Bern. untitled [“Kenneth’s Monumental…”] – 2:4/5, 116
  Detro, Gene. “Interview: Patchen Interviewed” – 2:4/5, 117
  Ferlinghetti, Lawrence. untitled [“Kenneth Patchen & E.E. Cummings…”] – 2:4/5, 129
  Yates, Peter. untitled [“Know Him, This Man…”] – 2:4/5, 129
  Meltzer, David. untitled [“Here Is A Man Speaking…”] – 2:4/5, 130
  Young, Lafe. untitled [“Now, Nostalgically, I Realize…”] – 2:4/5, 131
  Conroy, Jack. untitled [“Since My Friend Webb…”] – 2:4/5, 132
  Eckman, Frederick. untitled [“A Decade Ago In A Review…”] – 2:4/5, 133
  Miller, Henry. untitled [“The First Thing One Would Remark…”] – 2:4/5, 134
  Blazek, Douglas. “A Few Small Things” – 2:4/5, 138
  Enslin, Ted. untitled [“As If It Were My Eye…”] – 2:4/5, 139
  Purdy, Al. “The Jackhammer Syndrome” – 2:4/5, 140
  Shelton, Richard. “The Crossing” – 2:4/5, 142
  Shelton, Richard. “& The Scars Will Be Covered” – 2:4/5, 143
  Wild, Peter. “Engine” – 2:4/5, 144
  Wild, Peter. “Snake Skin” – 2:4/5, 144
  Wild, Peter. “Saturday Afternoon On Sugar Loaf Mtn” – 2:4/5, 145
  Miller, Brown. “The Dark Oval” – 2:4/5, 146
  Duberstein, Helen. “Joke” – 2:4/5, 147
  Flaherty, Douglas. “Mrs. Godkin’s Son” – 2:4/5, 148
  Wilson, Keith. “All The Vanished Faces” – 2:4/5, 149
  Wilson, Keith. “The Wind Dragon in Spring” – 2:4/5, 150
  Holland, Barbara A. “Dust-Devil Man” – 2:4/5, 151
  Fowler, Gene. “The Natural History of Woman” – 2:4/5, 152
  Frumkin, Gene. “Poem for Childhood” – 2:4/5, 157
  levy, d.a. “For The Pigs, Rats & Adorable other Beasts of Saintly Cleveland, O” – 2:4/5, 157a
  Merton, Thomas. “Tibud Maclay” – 2:4/5, 158
  Bly, Robert. “Blown-Up German Fortifications Near Collioure” – 2:4/5, 159
  Norse, Harold. “Return to Pompeii” – 2:4/5, 160
  Gardien, Kent. “Poem Based on a List by Luis Bunel” – 2:4/5, 161
  Higgins, Dick. “Four Degrees” – 2:4/5, 164
  Antin, David. “Sociology” – 2:4/5, 166
  Hollo, Anselm. “Bouzouki Music” – 2:4/5, 168
  Krauss, Ruth. “Drunk Boat” – 2:4/5, 169
  Kryss, T.L. “Circus” – 2:4/5, 170
  Kryss, T.L. “The Withered Lemming of the River” – 2:4/5, 170
  Dowden, George. “Morning Song for My Girl by the Sea” – 2:4/5, 171
  Brown, Michael. “The Seventh Month” – 2:4/5, 172
  Kandel, Lenore. “Muir Beach Mythology / September” – 2:4/5, 173
  Perchik, Simon. “Four Photo-Poems” – 2:4/5, 174
  Shustak, Larence. untitled photography – 2:4/5, 175
  Knowles, Allison. “Journal of the Identical Lunch” – 2:4/5, 182
  Williams, Emmett. untitled [“North is this Way…”] – 2:4/5, 184
  Mac Low, Jackson. untitled [“Peace of Resembling…”] – 2:4/5, 186
  Johnson, Kay. “The Emerald City, For Gregory Corso” – 2:4/5, 188
  Cocteau, Jean. “Creation Before Life” – 2:4/5, 190
  Johnson, Ray. “Face Collage” – 2:4/5, 192
  Hansen, Al. “Gat” – 2:4/5, 193

8. Miller, Henry. INSOMNIA OR THE DEVIL AT LARGE
Albuquerque, Loujon Press, 1970
First edition, portfolio case with photo-illustrated sliding lid and housing 12 printed reproductions of Miller watercolors and a spiral bound book, 7 separate issues planned but far fewer were reportedly produced, published as Gypsy Lou Series #4.
(Shifreen & Jackson A175a-h)

Variant Issues:
1. 1. Issue A: 12 copies, with 12 prints plus an original watercolor and book all signed by Miller (Shifreen & Jackson A175a)
  2. Issue B: 26 lettered copies, with 12 prints inscribed to the buyer and the book signed by Miller (Shifreen & Jackson A175b)
  3. Issue C: 192 copies [planned but likely that no more than 10 were published], with 12 prints and the book signed by Miller (Shifreen & Jackson A175c)
  4. Issue D: 192 copies [planned but likely that no more than 10 were published], with 9 of 12 prints and the book signed by Miller (Shifreen & Jackson A175d)
  5. Issue E: 192 copies [planned but likely that no more than 10 were published], with 6 of 12 prints and the book signed by Miller (Shifreen & Jackson A175e)
  6. Issue F: 192 copies [planned but likely that no more than 65 were published], with 3 of 12 prints and the book signed by Miller (Shifreen & Jackson A175f)
  7. Issue G: 192 copies [planned but later increased to 385], with 12 prints unsigned and the book signed by Miller (Shifreen & Jackson A175g)
  8. Economy Issue: 199 copies, with 12 prints and the book without the box (Shifreen & Jackson A175h)

Ephemera:
1. 1. Publication announcement: 19” x 25” (Shifreen & Jackson B213)

Notes:
[1] Though not present in Robert Wilson’s Corso bibliography, this offprint has been examined.
[2] According to a Ken Lopez catalog entry, his copy of the Miller offprint is seven unbound leaves printed on both sides from volumes 1 and 2 of The Outsider and published in a set of 200 in 1963. However, Shifreen & Jackson describe the sets as 13 unbound leaves printed on rectos only.
[3] Listed in Michael McClure’s own online bibliography and confirmed by Denise Enck of Empty Mirror Books, though not present in any printed bibliography to date.
[4] First reference to the Burroughs offprints appear in Jon Edgar Webb: The Editor’s Bit and Obit by Nicky Drumbolis and are further discussed in Signatures, also by Nicky Drumbolis. Subsequent research turns up no extant copies and in later correspondence with Drumbolis, he adds, “In my Signatures study, I infer that the Burroughs piece ‘Operation Soft Machine/Cut’ may have been issued, based on layout; acknowledging further, that no copy had been recorded by Maynard and Miles.”
[5] While the existence of this offprint and another containing the full set of Miller letters from the first 3 issues of The Outsider are noted in Jon Edgar Webb: The Editor’s Bit and Obit, no evidence of these offprints has been identified.

References consulted

Dorbin, Sanford. A Bibliography of Charles Bukowski
Los Angeles: Black Sparrow Press, 1969

Drumbolis, Nicky. Jon Edgar Webb: The Editor’s Bit & Obit
Toronto: ECS, 1993

Drumbolis, Nicky. Signatures
Toronto: Letters, n.d.

Krumhansl, Aaron. A Descriptive Bibliography of The Primary Publications of Charles Bukowski
Santa Rosa: Black Sparrow Press, 1999

Maynard, Joe and Barry Miles. William S. Burroughs: A Bibliography, 1953-73
Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1978

Shifreen, Lawrence J. and Roger Jackson. Henry Miller: A Bibliography of Primary Sources
Ann Arbor: Roger Jackson, 1993

Wilson, Robert. A Bibliography of Works By Gregory Corso 1954-1965
New York: The Phoenix Bookshop, 1966

little magazines

The Outsider and Loujon Press

July 19, 2022 jason

The Outsider, No. 1, edited by Jon and Louise Webb. New Orleans, Fall 1961.

In the Fall of 1961, Jon and Louise “Gypsy Lou” Webb published the first issue of their avant-garde poetry and prose magazine, The Outsider. Hand-set and letterpress printed, the journal straddled the line between traditional books and modern works of art, and the journal made an outsized impact on the literary world, shining a light on the talents of Beat Generation, Black Mountain and other avant-garde and counterculture poets, writers, and artists of the era…

>>> further reading >>>

Charles Bukowski: Books and Chapbooks

>> return to CHARLES BUKOWSKI main page >>

SECTION A:
This index includes books, chapbooks, booklets and bound offprints featuring poems and stories during the 1960’s: from Bukowski’s first book to roughly the time that his work started being published in collected volumes by John Martin’s Black Sparrow Press; the period of time covered by Sanford Dorbin’s Bibliography.

1. Bukowski, Charles. FLOWER, FIST AND BESTIAL WAIL
First edition:
Eureka: Hearse Press, October 1960
Saddle-stapled in printed and illustrated wrappers, 5.5″ x 8.25″, 28 pages, (200 copies), offset printed, cover illustration by Ben Tibbs, edited by E.V. Griffith. Published as Hearse Chapbooks 5.
(Dorbin A1, Krumhansl 3)

Note: Charles Bukowski’s first book.

2. Bukowski, Charles. A SIGNATURE OF CHARLES BUKOWSKI
First edition:
Albuquerque: Targets, December 1960
Saddle-stapled in printed and illustrated wrappers, 7″ x 8.5″, (6 hors commerce copies), offset printed.
(Dorbin B2, Krumhansl 4)

Note: an offprint from Targets, No. 4, edited by W.L. Garner (Sandia Park, December 1960).

3. Bukowski, Charles. BUKOWSKI SIGNATURE 2
First edition:
Albuquerque: Targets, August-September 1961
Saddle-stapled in printed and illustrated wrappers, 7″ x 8.5″, offset printed.
(Dorbin B3, Krumhansl 5)

Note: an offprint from Targets, No. 7, edited by W.L. Garner (Albuquerque, September 1961)

4. Bukowski, Charles. A CHARLES BUKOWSKI ALBUM
First edition:
New Orleans: Loujon Press, 1961
Side-stapled in printed and illustrated wrappers, 6″ x 9″, (10 copies), offset printed.
(Krumhansl 6)

Note: offprint from The Outsider, No. 1, edited by Jon Edgar & Gypsy Lou Webb (New Orleans: Loujon Press, Fall 1961)

5. Bukowski, Charles. LONGSHOT POMES FOR BROKE PLAYERS
First edition:
New York: 7 Poets Press, (1962)
Saddle-stapled in printed and illustrated wrappers, 5.5″ x 9.25″, 44 pages, (200 copies), offset printed, illustrations by Bukowski, edited and published by Carl Larsen.
(Dorbin A3, Krumhansl 8)

Note: according to Krumhansl, “Bukowski’s title for this book Longshot Pomes for Broke Players, appears in its correct form on the front cover only. Illustrations by Bukowski on front cover, title pages, and throughout the text. Photograph of Bukowski and autobiographical material on recto of last leaf.”

6. Bukowski, Charles. RUN WITH THE HUNTED
First edition:
Chicago: Midwest Poetry Chapbooks, 1962
Saddle-stapled in printed wrappers, 5.5″ x 6.25″, 32 pages, (300 copies), offset printed, dedicated to William Corrington, edited by R.R. Cuscaden. Published as Midwest Poetry Chapbooks 1.
(Dorbin A4, Krumhansl 9)

7. Bukowski, Charles. POEMS AND DRAWINGS
First edition:
Crescent City: Epos, 1962
Side-stapled sheets bound into printed wrappers, 6.5″ x 9.25″, 28 pages, (500 copies), letterpress printed, illustrations by Bukowski, edited by Will Tullos and Evelyn Thorne. Published as Epos Extra Issue.
(Dorbin A2, Krumhansl 7)

Note: according to Krumhansl, “Of the 500 copies printed it is estimated that about 300 copies were sent gratis to subscribers of Epos magazine, the remaining 200 being for sale at the published price.”

8. Bukowski, Charles. IT CATCHES MY HEART IN ITS HANDS
First edition:
New Orleans: Loujon Press, 1963
Perfect-bound in printed and illustrated wrappers with dust jacket, 7.5″ x 10″, 98 pages, 777 copies, letterpress printed, introduction by William Corrington, illustrations by Frank Salantrie, dedicated to Gypsy Lou Webb, edited by Gypsy Lou and Jon Webb. Published as Gypsy Lou Series 1.
(Dorbin A5, Krumhansl 12)

9. Bukowski, Charles. GRIP THE WALLS
First edition:
Storrs: Wormwood Review, 1964
Saddle stapled in printed and illustrated wrappers, 5.5″ x 8.5″, 8 pages, 600 copies, offset printed.
(Dorbin B5, Krumhansl 13)

Note: published as a detachable booklet in The Wormwood Review, Vol. 4, No. 4, Issue 16, edited by Marvin Malone (Storrs: The Wormwood Review Press, December 1964).

10. Bukowski, Charles. CRUCIFIX IN A DEATHHAND
First edition:
New York: Lyle Stuart, 1965
Perfect-bound in illustrated french-fold wrappers, 8.25″ x 12.25″, 102 pages, 3100 copies, letterpress printed, dedicated to Marina Louise Bukowski, illustrations by Noel Rockmore, edited by Gypsy Lou and Jon Webb. Published as Gypsy Lou Series 2.
(Dorbin A6, Krumhansl 15)

11. Bukowski, Charles. COLD DOGS IN THE COURTYARD
First edition:
Chicago: Literary Times and Cyfoeth Publications, 1965
Saddle-stapled in printed and illustrated wrappers, 5.5″ x 8.25″, 24 pages, 500 copies, letterpress printed, “Foreward” by Bukowski, cover illustration by Betsy Millam, dedicated to Frances Bukowski, edited by Bukowski.
(Dorbin A7, Krumhansl 16)

12. Bukowski, Charles. CONFESSIONS OF A MAN INSANE ENOUGH TO LIVE WITH BEASTS
First edition:
Bensenville: Mimeo Press, August 1965
Saddle-stapled printed and illustrated wrappers, 5.5″ x 8.5″, 52 pages, 500 copies, text mimeograph printed, wrappers offset printed, introductory note by Steve Richmond, cover illustration by Anna Purcell, edited by Douglas Blazek.
(Dorbin A8, Krumhansl 17)

Note: according to Krumhansl, “There is an introduction consisting of twelve lines excerpted from a Steve Richmond letter to Douglas Blazek on the verso of title page. Of the circa 500 copies, 25 copies were issued with a special autographed drawing by Bukowski. The special copies were announced in Ole, No. 3. This ‘long short story’ is the first appearance of the fictional character Henry Chinaski.”

13. Bukowski, Charles. THE GENIUS OF THE CROWD
First edition:
Cleveland: 7 Flowers Press, 1966
Side-stapled sheets bound into printed and illustrated wrappers, 4.5″ x 6″, 22 pages, 103 copies, letterpress printed by d.a. levy, block prints by Paula Marie Savarino, edited by d.a. levy.
(Dorbin A9, Krumhansl 21)

According to Krumhansl, “Many sheets for this chapbook were printed on trimmed envelopes and are therefore double leaves, with envelope flap sections glued together.”

14. Bukowski, Charles. ALL THE ASSHOLES IN THE WORLD AND MINE
First edition:
Bensenville: Open Skull Press, 1966
Saddle-stapled in illustrated wrappers, 5.5″ x 8.5″, 28 pages, 400 copies, text mimeograph printed, wrappers offset printed, illustrated by Bukowski, dedicated to William Wantling, edited by Douglas Blazek.
(Dorbin A10, Krumhansl 23)

15. Bukowski, Charles. NIGHT’S WORK (INCLUDING BUFFALO BILL)
First edition:
Storrs: Wormwood Review, 1966
Saddle stapled in printed and illustrated wrappers, 5.5″ x 8.5″, 12 pages, 600 copies, offset printed. (Dorbin B11)

Note: Published as a detachable booklet in The Wormwood Review, Vol. 6, No. 4, Issue 24, edited by Marvin Malone (Storrs: The Wormwood Review, March 1967)

16. Bukowski, Charles. 2 BY BUKOWSKI
First edition:
Los Angeles: Black Sparrow Press, 1967
Hand-sewn in printed wrappers, 5.5″ x 8.5″, 8 pages, 111 copies, letterpress printed by Philip Klein.
(Dorbin B12, Krumhansl 25)

From the colophon: “Printed April, 1967 in Los Angeles by Philip Klein for the Black Sparrow Press. This edition is limited to ninety-nine copies; three copies lettered a, b and c, which are not for sale, and ninety-six numbered copies, for sale, all signed by the poet.”

Note: according to Krumhansl, “111 copies were published 7 April 1967, of which 99 were signed, the remaining 12 copies are unsigned, numbered 1-12, and marked ‘Review Copy’ in holograph red ink.”

17. Bukowski, Charles. THE CURTAINS ARE WAVING AND PEOPLE WALK THROUGH THE AFTERNOON HERE AND IN BERLIN AND IN NEW YORK CITY AND IN MEXICO
First edition:
Los Angeles: Black Sparrow Press, 1967
Hand-sewn in printed wrappers, 6.25″ x 6.25″, 12 pages, 125 copies, letterpress printed by Graham Mackintosh.
(Dorbin B14, Krumhansl 26)

From the colophon: “Designed and printed September, 1967 in San Francisco by Graham Mackintosh for the Black Sparrow Press. The edition is limited to one hundred and twenty five copies; three copies lettered a, b, c which are not for sale and one hundred and twenty two numbered copies, for sale, all signed by the poet.”

Note: according to Krumhansl, “According to John Martin, as Bukowski signed The Curtains he added a drawing to his signature in every tenth copy or so. Thus about fifteen copies contain an original drawing.”

18. Bukowski, Charles. AT TERROR STREET AND AGONY WAY
a. First edition, paperback issue, first state:
Los Angeles: Black Sparrow Press, May 1968
Perfect-bound in printed wrappers, 6″ x 8.5″, 89 pages, 18 copies, letterpress printed by Graham Mackintosh.
(Dorbin A11, Krumhansl 27a)

Note: front cover of this state included a misprint whereby “Street” was misprinted as “Sreet”. According to John Martin 18 copies exist thus, without the white label which was affixed to the second state.

b. First edition, paperback issue, second state:
Los Angeles: Black Sparrow Press, May 1968
Perfect-bound in printed wrappers, 6″ x 8.5″, 89 pages, 747 copies, letterpress printed by Graham Mackintosh.
(Dorbin A11, Krumhansl 27b)

Note: this state has a 3.5″ x 5.5″ printed white label tipped on to the front cover to correct the misprinting of the first state.

c. First edition, hardcover, numbered, signed and illustrated issue:
Los Angeles: Black Sparrow Press, May 1968
Hardcover in cloth-bound boards with printed paper spine label, 6″ x 9″, 89 pages, 75 numbered and signed copies, letterpress printed by Graham Mackintosh, with an original watercolor painting by Bukowski tipped in.
(Dorbin A11, Krumhansl 27c)

Note: introductory note by Bukowski, dedicated to John Thomas, John Martin, and John the Baptist, edited by John Martin, printed prospectus issued.

From the colophon: “Designed and printed April, 1968 in San Francisco by Graham Mackintosh for the Black Sparrow Press. The edition is limited to 800 copies in wrappers and 75 hardbound, signed copies each with an original illustration by the poet.”

19. Bukowski, Charles. POEMS WRITTEN BEFORE JUMPING OUT OF AN 8 STORY WINDOW
First edition:
Glendale: Poetry X/Change, 1968
Saddle-stapled sheets bound into illustrated wrappers, 6.5″ x 8.25″, 32 pages, (400 copies), offset printed, introductory note by Bukowski, cover illustration by P. David Horton, center-fold illustration by Bukowski, dedicated to Douglas Blazek.
(Dorbin A12, Krumhansl 28)

Note: according to Krumhansl, “Circa 400 copies were published in the summer of 1968. Note on verso of title page: ‘… a Litmus first edition…’ Published by Darrell Kerr and Charles Potts. Originally this volume was to have been published by Mel Buffington’s Blitz/Mad Virgin Press in August or September of 1965.”

20. Bukowski, Charles. NOTES OF A DIRTY OLD MAN
First edition:
North Hollywood: Essex House, January 1969
Perfect-bound in printed and illustrated wrappers, 4.5″ x 6.5″, 256 pages, (c. 28,000 copies), offset printed, introductory note by Bukowski, cover illustration by Larry Gaynor.
(Dorbin A13, Krumhansl 29)

Note: according to Krumhansl, “Collected from Bukowski’s weekly column in Open City, a Los Angeles underground newspaper. The newspaper published circa 92 issues between 1964-1969. Bukowski was listed as a Contributing Editor throughout the life of the paper and contributed to 87 issues.”

21. Bukowski, Charles. A BUKOWSKI SAMPLER
First edition:
Madison: Quixote Press, July 1969
Saddle-stapled in printed and illustrated wrappers, 7″ x 9.25″, 80 pages, 400 copies, offset printed, introduction by Douglas Blazek, illustrations by Bukowski, printed prospectus issued.
(Dorbin A14, Krumhansl 30)

22. Bukowski, Charles. IF WE TAKE
a. First edition, regular issue:
Los Angeles: Black Sparrow Press, 1969
Hand-sewn with green thread in printed wrappers, 4.5″ x 5.5″, 16 pages, 350 copies, letterpress printed by Noel Young.
(Krumhansl 31a)

Note: 350 unsigned copies issued, not 300 as stated in the colophon.

b. First edition, signed issue:
Los Angeles: Black Sparrow Press, 1969
Hand-sewn with red thread in printed wrappers, 4.5″ x 5.5″, 16 pages, 100 numbered and signed copies, plus one marked “File Copy”, letterpress printed by Noel Young.
(Krumhansl 31b)

From the colophon: “Design by Barbara Martin. Printed by Noel Young. Published as a New Year’s Greeting to the friends of the Black Sparrow Press in an edition of 400 copies, 100 of which are numbered and signed by the author.”

23. Bukowski, Charles. THE DAYS RUN AWAY LIKE WILD HORSES OVER THE HILLS
a. First edition, paperback issue:
Los Angeles: Black Sparrow Press, 1969
Perfect-bound in printed wrappers, 6″ x 9.25″, 160 pages, 1243 copies, letterpress printed by Noel Young.
(Krumhansl 32a)

b. First edition, hardcover, numbered and signed issue:
Los Angeles: Black Sparrow Press, 1969
Hardcover in printed paper-bound boards and cloth backstrip with paper label in acetate dust jacket, 6.5″ x 9.75″, 160 pages, 250 numbered and signed copies, letterpress printed by Noel Young.
(Krumhansl 32b)

c. First edition, hardcover, numbered, signed and illustrated issue:
Los Angeles: Black Sparrow Press, 1969
Hardcover in printed paper-bound boards and patterned cloth backstrip with paper label in acetate dust jacket, 6.5″ x 9.75″, 160 pages, 63 numbered and signed copies with original artwork tipped in, letterpress printed by Noel Young.
(Krumhansl 32c)

From the colophon: “Printed December 1969 in Santa Barbara by Noel Young for the Black Sparrow Press. Design by Barbara Martin. This edition is limited to 1250 copies in paper wrappers; 250 hardcover copies numbered & signed by the poet; & 50 numbered copies handbound in boards by Earle Gray, signed & with an original illustration by the poet.”

d. prospectus
Los Angeles: Black Sparrow Press, 1969
Broadside printed on both sides, 6″ x 9″, letterpress printed.

Note: from the verso: “The poetry of Charles Bukowski is by turns savage, tender, humorous. The individual poems are memorable, with a blood-freezing immediacy. The prey in Bukowski’s poems are life’s victims in precisely the same sense that we are all victims…”

—

Charles Bukowski

buk

Section A: Books and Chapbooks
Section B: Broadsides
Section C: Contributions to Books and Anthologies
Section D: Contributions to Periodicals
Section E: Miscellaneous Prose

Henry Charles Bukowski (August 16, 1920 – March 9, 1994) was a German-born American poet, novelist, and short story writer.

His writing was influenced by the social, cultural, and economic ambiance of his home city of Los Angeles. His work addresses the ordinary lives of poor Americans, the act of writing, alcohol, relationships with women, and the drudgery of work. Bukowski wrote thousands of poems, hundreds of short stories and six novels, eventually publishing over sixty books. The FBI kept a file on him as a result of his column, Notes of a Dirty Old Man, in the LA underground newspaper Open City. Bukowski published extensively in small literary magazines and with small presses beginning in the early 1940s and continuing on through the early 1990s.

Regarding Bukowski’s enduring popular appeal, Adam Kirsch of The New Yorker wrote, “the secret of Bukowski’s appeal. . . [is that] he combines the confessional poet’s promise of intimacy with the larger-than-life aplomb of a pulp-fiction hero.”

When Bukowski was 24, his short story “Aftermath of a Lengthy Rejection Slip” was published in Story magazine. Two years later, another short story, “20 Tanks from Kasseldown”, was published by the Black Sun Press in Issue III of Portfolio: An Intercontinental Quarterly, a limited-run, loose-leaf broadside collection printed in 1946 and edited by Caresse Crosby. Failing to break into the literary world, Bukowski grew disillusioned with the publication process and quit writing for almost a decade, a time that he referred to as a “ten-year drunk”. These “lost years” formed the basis for his later semi-autobiographical chronicles, although they are fictionalized versions of Bukowski’s life through his highly stylized alter-ego, Henry Chinaski.

During part of this period he continued living in Los Angeles, working at a pickle factory for a short time but also spending some time roaming about the United States, working sporadically and staying in cheap rooming houses. In the early 1950s, Bukowski took a job as a fill-in letter carrier with the U.S. Postal Service in Los Angeles but resigned just before he reached three years’ service.

By 1960, Bukowski had returned to the post office in Los Angeles where he began work as a letter filing clerk, a position he held for more than a decade.

Jon and Louise Webb, now recognized as giants of the post-war ‘small-press movement’, published The Outsider literary magazine and featured some of Bukowski’s poetry. Under the Loujon Press imprint, they published Bukowski’s It Catches My Heart in Its Hands in 1963 and Crucifix in a Deathhand in 1965.

Beginning in 1967, Bukowski wrote the column “Notes of a Dirty Old Man” for Los Angeles’ Open City, an underground newspaper. When Open City was shut down in 1969, the column was picked up by the Los Angeles Free Press as well as the hippie underground paper NOLA Express in New Orleans. In 1969 Bukowski and Neeli Cherkovski launched their own short-lived mimeographed literary magazine, Laugh Literary and Man the Humping Guns. They produced 3 issues over the next 2 years.

In 1969 Bukowski accepted an offer from Black Sparrow Press publisher John Martin and quit his post office job to dedicate himself to full-time writing. He was then 49 years old. As he explained in a letter at the time, “I have one of two choices – stay in the post office and go crazy … or stay out here and play at writer and starve. I have decided to starve.” Less than one month after leaving the postal service he finished his first novel, Post Office. As a measure of respect for Martin’s financial support and faith in a relatively unknown writer, Bukowski published almost all of his subsequent major works with Black Sparrow Press. An avid supporter of small independent presses, he continued to submit poems and short stories to innumerable small publications throughout his career.

Bukowski died of leukemia on March 9, 1994, in San Pedro, aged 73, shortly after completing his last novel, Pulp.

References consulted:

Debritto, Abel. “Cacoethes Scribendi: A Comprehensive Checklist of Charles Bukowski’s Earliest Publications, 1940-1969”, published in RESOURCES FOR AMERICAN LITERARY STUDY, Vol. 35, edited by Jackson R. Bryer and Richard Kopley
New York: AMS Press, September 2012

Dorbin, Sanford. A BIBLIOGRAPHY OF CHARLES BUKOWSKI
Los Angeles: Black Sparrow Press, 1969

Fogel, Al. CHARLES BUKOWSKI: A COMPREHENSIVE PRICE GUIDE & CHECKLIST — 1944-1999
Surfside: The Sole Proprietor Press, 1999

Krumhansl, Aaron. A DESCRIPTIVE BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE PRIMARY PUBLICATIONS OF CHARLES BUKOWSKI
Santa Rosa: Black Sparrow Press, 1999

Online resources:
Collecting Bukowski
Bukowski.net
Wormwood Review

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