Reports from the Bibliographic Bunker Jed Birmingham on William S. Burroughs Collecting Recently, I received an email attaching an article on megalisters from the Sunday New York Times. For those who do not know, megalisters are database managers masquerading as booksellers. They post thousands of books on internet sites like Amazon and Abebooks selling books…
Tag: Rare Book Market
The Burroughs Market in a Down Economy
Reports from the Bibliographic Bunker Jed Birmingham on William S. Burroughs Collecting A handwritten Burroughs letter turned up on eBay a few weeks ago. If I remember correctly the letter was from the mid-1990s and in it, Burroughs expresses his thanks for a $5000 loan. I traded a few emails with Burroughs fans who were…
Brian Cassidy on Early Photos and Collages by Burroughs
Reports from the Bibliographic Bunker Jed Birmingham on William S. Burroughs Collecting To be blunt, the New York Antiquarian Book Fair is the shit. Prior to the fair, I went to the Morgan Library to see their Gutenberg Bible and soak in the atmosphere of J.P. Morgan’s study. The display at the New York show…
Beats at Auction, April 2008
Reports from the Bibliographic Bunker Jed Birmingham on William S. Burroughs Collecting Looking over eBay results in the last few weeks and reviewing the prices realized for the latest PBA Galleries Beat sale, I thought of two important little mags from the post-WWII era: Judson Crews’ Suck Egg Mule and Ian Hamilton Finlay’s Poor.Old.Tired.Horse. Yes…
Washington DC Book Fair 2008
Reports from the Bibliographic Bunker Jed Birmingham on William S. Burroughs Collecting Signs, signs, everywhere there are signs. On Friday March 7th, I saw a robin on the way to the train. The Orioles had a game against the Red Sox in Fort Lauderdale later that day. I can feel it coming in the air…
Beat Books Catalogue 48
Reports from the Bibliographic Bunker Jed Birmingham on William S. Burroughs Collecting The network re-broadcast of Forrest Gump coincided with the arrival of the latest BeatBooks catalog. Gump hit the nail on the head when he said, “Rare book catalogues are like a box of chocolates; you never know what you’re gonna get.” Or something…
The Laws of Internet Collecting
Reports from the Bibliographic Bunker Jed Birmingham on William S. Burroughs Collecting The publication of Everything Lost and Oliver Harris’ essay on this notebook highlight the importance of journals, notebooks, diaries, letters and scrapbooks for Burroughs. I dimly recall hearing work of this kind described as writing with your left hand, implying that it is…
Interview with Book Dealer Dan Gregory (Part 2)
Reports from the Bibliographic Bunker Jed Birmingham on William S. Burroughs Collecting Be sure to read part 1 of Jed Birmingham’s interview with Dan Gregory of Between the Covers. You say there is a dearth of originality and inspiration in the rare book trade. Who are the dealers and web sites whose work you admire…
The David Oakey Collection of Gary Snyder
Reports from the Bibliographic Bunker Jed Birmingham on William S. Burroughs Collecting Whenever I see a notice for an auction of an individual’s collection, my first thoughts are not so much about the books in the collection, but about the motivation for the sale. Why is he/she selling their books? I must admit the scenarios…
Interview with Book Dealer Dan Gregory
Reports from the Bibliographic Bunker Jed Birmingham on William S. Burroughs Collecting In my recent piece on the Baltimore Bookfair and elsewhere, I sang the praises of the Between the Covers web site. It is one of the most innovative on the Web. With his presence at all the major book fairs, in several bookseller…
The Baltimore Antique Show
Reports from the Bibliographic Bunker Jed Birmingham on William S. Burroughs Collecting Labor Day Weekend in Baltimore. For those who decide to stay in town, and there are not many, this weekend is a time for sitting on a rooftop deck (the yuppie version of the good old stoop) and cracking Natty Bohs while deciding…
Simon Finch and a High-Priced Naked Lunch
Reports from the Bibliographic Bunker Jed Birmingham on William S. Burroughs Collecting A few weeks ago, I wrote about Brian Cassidy, a bookseller just beginning his journey in the book world, and about his offering of a high-end Burroughs letter. At the other end of the spectrum is British bookseller Simon Finch who stands at…
The Groff Auction of Bukowski and the Ronan Sale of Beat Literature
Reports from the Bibliographic Bunker Jed Birmingham on William S. Burroughs Collecting This piece may be old news as the Groff Auction of Bukowski and the Ronan Sale of Beat Literature took place roughly a month ago, but a look at the financial pages highlights that auctions and collectibles are very much a breaking story….
Brian Cassidy Bookseller and a Rare Burroughs Letter
You know it is a good day when you get your mail and there are no bills or letters from the IRS, but there is a rare book catalog to leaf through that night. Brian Cassidy, a rare bookseller based in Monterey, issued his first catalog this month. Monterey and the Big Sur area have…
New York Book Fair (2007)
Reports from the Bibliographic Bunker Jed Birmingham on William S. Burroughs Collecting The April / May issue of Rare Book Review features an article assessing the role of the internet in rare book dealing. Rare Book Review along with Fine Books and Collections is a fantastic resource for bibliophiles and a fun read. Five years…