IT CATCHES MY HEART IN ITS HANDS: NEW & SELECTED POEMS 1955-1963 - INSCRIBED TO HAROLD NORSE

Bukowski, Charles

Published by Loujon Press, New Orleans, 1963

About this Item

One of 777 copies. Small quarto (25.5cm); multi-colored letterpressed sheets, gathered, stapled, and bound into thick white card covers, with titling and decorations stamped in dark orange on front cover; simulated parchment wrapper and wrap-around dustjacket, with partial photo of the author printed on right flap, and front cover title and skeleton design letterpress printed in dark red on cork; 102,[2]pp; illus. Inscribed on the front endpaper in silver paint pen to Beat poet Harold Norse: "To Harold Norse / Hope this book catches you somewhere between Athens and 9 Git-Le-Coeur / Charles Bukowski / 8-2-63." Some pinpoint rubbing to points, a bit of trivial wear along the right folds, but very Near Fine, housed in a custom velvet-lined clamshell case. An attractive copy of Bukowski's first full-length collection of poems, and the first book produced by Jon and Louise Webb's New Orleans-based Loujon Press. A distinguished copy, marking Bukowski's lifelong, contentious relationship with author, collaborator, and Beat Generation personality Harold Norse (1916-2009). Their voluminous correspondence dates back to the early 1960s, when Norse, like Bukowski, was a literary maverick and underground legend. It's nearly impossible to pick up a little magazine from the 1960s or 70s and not find Bukowski and Norse's poetry in the same issue: The Outsider, Olé, Amphora, Bastard Angel, Entrails, Laugh Literary, and The Willie, to name just a few. The most significant of their early appearances came in the 1969 publication Penguin Modern Poets 13 a high-profile appearance, which gave Bukowski broader exposure both in Europe and in the U.S. A warm, contemporary association of real merit, in a significant early collection. Dorbin A5; Krumhansl 12.

Seller Inventory # 7197

Bibliographic Details

• Title: IT CATCHES MY HEART IN ITS HANDS: NEW & SELECTED POEMS 1955-1963 - INSCRIBED TO HAROLD NORSE
• Publisher: Loujon Press, New Orleans
• Publication Date: 1963
• Edition: First Edition.
• Signed: Signed by Author(s)
• Seller catalogs:
  • Charles Bukowski
  • Association Copies