Bukowski, Charles

A Black Sparrow Bukowski Bundle: 'The Bluebird' Broadside with: Two Poetry Contest Posters

Santa Rosa, CA: Black Sparrow Press, 1998-1999. First Printings. Single Sheets. “there’s a bluebird in my heart / that wants to get out / but I’m too tough for him, / I say, stay in there, I’m not going / to let anybody see / you. / there’s a bluebird in my heart that / wants to get out / but I pour whiskey on him and inhale / cigarette smoke / and the whores and the bartenders / and the grocery clerks / never know that / he’s / in there. / there’s a bluebird in my heart that / wants to get out / but I’m too tough for him, / I say, / stay down, do you want to mess / me up? / you want to screw up the / works? / you want to blow my book sales in / Europe?” (from “the bluebird”). Offered here are four Charles Bukowski (1920-1994) broadsides, including the Bukowski fan-favorite, “the bluebird,” which the poet himself notably recites in the excellent John Dullaghan-produced documentary “Bukowski: Born Into This.” The broadside containing “the bluebird” is also unique among the lot in that it is the only one that’s exclusively a Black Sparrow Press production. The three other broadsides [or, technically two, as one is a duplicate] are co-produced by The Sonoma County Independent for a “Charles Bukowski Poetry Contest," with the 1998 contest done in partnership with Barnes & Noble (yes, they used to be cool) and the 1999 contest with Copperfield’s Books and Music in Petaluma, CA. The poem adorning the promotional broadside for the 1998 contest, “if we take,” is classic Bukowski; a luminous narrative poem glistening with philosophical import. The poem for the 1999 contest, “wide and moving,” evokes work collected in Bukowski’s period-specific Selected Works, “Burning in Water, Drowning in Flame.” As alluded to above, this lot contains two copies of the 1999 contest poster: one for you and one for a friend, perhaps (we near the Holiday Season as of this writing, after all). Broadside sizes are as follows: "the bluebird" (9" x 13"); the Poetry Contest broadsides, (9 3/8" x 12 3/8"). All broadsides in Fine-Very Fine condition, with minute-to-moderate shelf-wear, light bumping to fine-edges & corners at select locales, otherwise pristine; the one thing we will additionally take pains to note is a moderate horizontal crease running through the length of “the bluebird” near topmost fine-edge — something that could very easily be taken care of and cleanly flattened through a well-executed framing of the broadside. Fine-Very Fine. [Item #5870]

Price: $125.00