by Eric C. Shoaf

I have collected works by and about William Burroughs for over 25 years. The items listed here are Burroughs’ primary publications, the so-called ‘A-items,’ and these are arranged in chronological order based on the first publication of the title. Later printings are noted only if they vary from the first printings with textual additions or new cover artwork. Info from Maynard & Miles is noted for the pre-1974 publications, and items not noted by M&M in their 1978 bibliography are so designated here. Pirate editions are also listed, following a trend begun with M&M and the Mayfair Academy Series. Given their nature, there are surely some pirated editions not yet seen or included here. In addition, some Uncorrected Galley Proof and Advanced Reader Copy examples are listed as these pre-publication copies may include variant text and are of interest to collectors. Only the ones examined personally by me are included. There are certainly others not included here. The bibliography includes books and broadside sheets. Materials published after Burroughs’ death in 1997 are included as well.

The items here are only primary publications published in the US or UK. Foreign language publications are outside the scope of this work, but may be included in later addendums. Similarly, contributions to other publications, the B- and C-items, are not included here. This is not a descriptive bibliography in that complete collation and careful description of each item is not included. Such would lengthen this work by hundreds of pages to the detriment of easy readability. Neither is it a critical bibliography, although some background, opinion, conjecture, and information from communication with publishers is included where useful. I was fortunate to visit Robert Jackson in Cleveland and view the complete “word horde” in 1999 long before its recent sale to the New York public library. Several items I viewed have only been documented in the Descriptive Catalogue of the William Burroughs Archive in less than complete format. Examining these helped inform preparation of this work.

A bibliography is by its very nature incomplete unless the bibliographer has examined each item listed. I can vouch for over 95% of the items here, as I have examined them in hand. But some I have never seen, and there may be variant editions or printings that I have missed. For those items, the bibliographer relies on other experts in the field, and some are regular visitors and contributors to this site such as Jed Birmingham who has been gracious in sharing of his own bibliographic sleuthing. As this sort of work is an on-going process, input from others is appreciated. Corrections are welcomed via email.

Continue on to Books and Broadside Prints by William S. Burroughs.