Introduction

Reports from the Bibliographic Bunker

Jed Birmingham on William S. Burroughs Collecting

Possibly, visitors to RealityStudio stopped by my site when it was actively updated from 1999-2001. Probably not. Unfortunately, I ran out of time and space, but not interest. In the past five years, my collection of and fascination with William Burroughs has grown. My ideas about what and how to collect have changed as well. For example, I have branched out into spoken word vinyl by the Beats and the counterculture, because owning Call Me Burroughs by the Paris Bookshop and ESP was not enough.

I am excited about the opportunity to write for RealityStudio in an effort to share my Burroughs collection and my interests in collecting, but also to gather more information on topics I know little or nothing about. Like spoken word vinyl and how to take care of it. In the future, I will provide images of and commentary on Burroughs and counterculture rarities, like the Digit Junkie, the British Journal of Addiction, or Andy Warhol’s cover to the Mad Motherfucker Issue of Fuck You Magazine; examine items up for sale at auction or in booksellers‚ catalogs; and generally talk about whatever topics come up in collecting with an eye on Burroughs. Hopefully, readers will provide corrections, opinions, images, and additional information, thereby creating a valuable resource for anybody interested in Burroughs, the Beats, the Counterculture generally, and book collecting.