You Kissed Lilly by Bukowski, Charles - 1978

Santa Barbara: Black Sparrow Press, 1978. First edition. Fine/Near Fine. Signed limited edition, number 195 of 210 copies signed by Bukowski on the limitation page. A fine copy in near fine dust jacket. White jacket maintaining bright purple and red text, toning to spine. Bound in yellow paper boards with purple backstrip, paper label to spine, and orange fly leaves. This shockingly violent short story focuses on a middle aged couple, married for decades, and the aftermath of the husband's affair. In typical Bukowski style, the author exaggerates the narrative action for humorous effect: furious at the husband's betrayal five years prior the wife shoots her husband multiple times; when they police arrive they joke about domestic strife and all the while the other woman fantasizes about someone else. Krumhansl 61. Fine in Near Fine dust jacket.

BLACK SPARROW Book. Fine. Hardcover. Signed by Author(s). FIRST. A NEAR FINE FIRST EDITION IN DUST JACKET. NUMBER 60 OF 200 SIGNED AND NUMBERED.

Santa Barnara: Black Sparrow Press, 1978. First Edition. Octavo. Limited to 200 copies. Illustrated. The present copy is number 100 signed by the author. Bound in 1/4 purple fine ribbed corduroy cloth over yellow paper covered boards lettered in outline in red and purple, central line drawing executed by Bukowski within brown frame, red endpapers, deckled fore-edges, yellow paper spine label lettered in black, in white dust jacket printed in outline purple and red, separated with a brown rule. A fine copy. [Krumhansl 61a].

BLACK SPARROW Book. Fine. Hardcover. Signed by Author(s). FIRST. A FINE FIRST IN DJ. Front cover hand-colored and signed by Bukowski; also illustrated by the author inside. (8vo), patterned cloth-backed illustrated boards, paper spine label, orange printed dust jacket. No. 35 of 75 copies. First Edition. Signed by Bukowski at the colophon, as well as on the front cover with his original hand-colored artwork. Krumhansl 61.b..

Santa Barbara: Black Sparrow Press, 1978. First Edition. Octavo. Limited to only 75 copies. The present copy is number 41 signed by the author and with a hand-colored image by Bukowski of Theodore's kiss of Lilly that haunted Margie. Illustrated by the author. Hand bound in 1/4 purple and red floral designed cloth over yellow paper covered boards, lettered in outline in red and purple, central line drawing executed by Bukowski within a brown frame, and with an original ink drawing on upper board by Bukowski signed, red endpapers, deckled fore-edges, yellow paper spine label lettered in black, in yellow dust jacket lettered in an outline of purple and red with brown separating rule. A fine copy. [Krumhansl 61b].

Los Angeles & Santa Barbara: Black Sparrow Press, 1978. First Edition. Complete typescript for this humorous, violent short story of middle-aged marital discord, set in a small town in Illinois. The preliminary leaf and running head notably print Bukowski's original title for this story - The Split - which he has crossed out on p.1 and re-titled You Kissed Lilly. This draft, written five months before the book by Black Sparrow Press was published, shows significant interaction with the text. Large portions were omitted, significant sections re-written, and there are portions of dialogue Bukowski made no changes to that were ultimately (and noticeably) changed in the published version. In addition to the 1978 publication, it appears as the fifth story in his 1983 collection Hot Water Music, and was published again in the September, 1984 issue of High Times. Complete typescripts for any of Bukowski's books rarely appear in the marketplace. Most are held in institutions, and while we know the… Read More