Bukowski, Charles

Spread Special Edition, June 2001 (Two Copies)

Seattle, WA: Spankstra Press, 2001. Two Folded Sheets in Envelope. “the dead dogs of nowhere bark / as you approach another / traffic accident. / 3 cars / one standing on its / grill / the other 2 laying / on their sides / wheels turning slowly. / 3 of them / at rest: / strange angles / in the dark / it has just / happened. / I can see the still / bodies / inside. / these cars / scattered like toys / against the freeway / center / divider. / like spacecraft / they have landed / there / as you / drive past. / there’s no / ambulance yet / no police / cars. / the rain began / 15 minutes / ago. / things occur” (from “harbor freeway south” by Charles Bukowski, the fold-out Bukowski poem in this pamphlet). Offered here is a unique Charles Bukowski (1920-1994) collectible with a Kerouac adjacency: a “Special Edition” of Spankstra Press’s “Spread” [Magazine], a fold-out pamphlet containing two black-&-white photographs and the poem “harbor freeway south” by Charles Bukowski. The Kerouac adjacency is as follows: the pamphlet was initially mailed or hand-delivered to “Mrs. F. Kerouac-Parker,” better known as Edie Kerouac-Parker, Jack’s first wife (who he claimed to have “fell in love with” after watching her eat six hot dogs). “Edie” as she was then known, married Jack on August 22nd, 1944 at the Manhattan Municipal Building; Kerouac was of course in jail at the time as part of his connection to Lucien Carr and the David Kammerer murder. The issue contains three black-&-white photographs in addition to the Bukowski poem. The first is of the inside of an auto store, and was taken by Matt Kurinij; the second is of what looks to be the outside of a prison, and was taken by the photographer, Chris Dusterhoff; the third by Karen Perry. This bundle contains both a first and second printing of this “Special Edition” of Spread, with the second printing identified by an additional whited-out rectangle near the bottom right-hand corner of pamphlet verso reading “Second Printing.” All in all, a unique post-mimeo pamphlet published by a true Bukowskian with a most Beat association: a unique and affordable gem. Both issues and envelope in very fine condition, virtually as issued with only slightest shelf-wear, light bumping to fine-edges & corners, else pristine. Very Fine. [Item #5878]

Price: $60.00