Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
Price: US$450.00 + shipping
Condition: Good
Description: A Loujon Press award book. Published in a limited first edition of 3,100 copies, illustrated with etchings by Noel Rockmore. This copy signed by Charles Bukowski opposite the limitation colophon, upside-down, dated 1965. Black and white wrap-over paperback, good to very good with light general edgewear, more severe at corners including bumping and closed tears to spine tips; small mark to front beneath outermost flap. Binding sound. Small grease mark to fore-edge of the first page in front matter to have the full width of the textblock; pages else clean, text unmarked.
Seller: The Book Bin, Salem, OR, U.S.A.
Bukowski, Charles. Crucifix in a Deathhand: new poems 1963-65. Lyle Stuart, Inc., New York, 1965.
Price: US$489.68 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: 4to. Stiff card wraps in integral jacket, lacking the uncommon obi-strip. #2 in the Gypsy Lou Series, letterpress printed on blue, ivory, yellow and green paper and handbound by Loujon Press editors Louise and Jon Webb, then delivered to publisher Lyle Stuart in NYC. Four etchings by Noel Rockmore printed on yellow paper with intact tissue guards. Signed by Buk himself opposite colophon page in crimson ink, dated 3-10-65. Tidy gift inscription (Christmas 1965) on blue endpaper. A bit toned along spine; light edgewear; otherwise very tight and crisp.
Seller: The Paper Hound Bookshop, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Price: US$575.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: First edition. Etchings by Noel Rockmore. Quarto. 101pp. Original illustrated stiff wrappers. Beautifully designed book on various sizes and colors of paper. Corners a bit bumped and rubbed, else very good or better. One of a stated 3100 copies in the edition signed and dated by Bukowski.
Seller: Between the Covers-Rare Books, Inc. ABAA, Gloucester City, NJ, U.S.A.
Charles Bukowski. Crucifix in a Deathhand. Lyle Stuart, 1965.
Price: US$650.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: BUKOWSKI, Charles. Crucifix in a Deathhand, New Poems 1963-1965. New York: Lyle Stuart, (1965). Small folio (8-1/2 by 12-1/2 inches), original beige paper boards, deckled edge pages of different sizes and colors. Just a piece of art in and of itself. . Limited first edition of Bukowski s second major collection of poems, one of only 3100 copies signed and dated by Charles Bukowski in red paint and beautifully printed on handmade paper by the Loujon Press. With gothic like etching from the brilliant Noel Rockmore! . Custom made clamshell case included with this item is a beautiful addition. Book in VG+ some small micro tears to the board extremities. Lacks original wraparound band. A beautiful copy. . #charlesbukowski #bukowski #buk #postoffice #streetpoetry #notesofadirtyoldman #bibliophile #poetry #poet #rarebook #rarebooks #smallpress #noelrockmore #bookstagram #bookish #bookworm #booklifestyle #bookcollection #bookcollector #bookstore #bookshop #bookworm #booksbooksbooks
Seller: Books 4 Ewe, York, SC, U.S.A.
Price: US$650.00 + shipping
Description: One of 3,100 copies. Quarto (31.5cm); original white card wrappers printed in black, glued to illustrated dustjacket, printed in black on white paper; four etchings by Noel Rockmore reproduced within the text, printed on variously colored paper with all tissue leaves present; original printed wraparound band; 102,[8]pp. Signed on the page facing the colophon: "Charles Bukowski, 3-15-65." Hint of sunning and some trivial wear to flap folds, tiny ink initials to one inner flap, else a fresh, very Near Fine copy. Wraparound band gently sunned on left side, with two small tears at the folds; Near Fine. Attractive copy of this early collection, the second of Bukowski's books printed by John and Louise Webbs Loujon Press. Many of the poems were written, variously, while Bukowski visited with the Webbs at their New Orleans home and at several bars in the French Quarter. Dorbin A6; Krumhansl 15.
Seller: Captain Ahab's Rare Books, ABAA, Stephenson, VA, U.S.A.
Bukowski, Charles. Crucifix in a Deathhand. Lyle Stuart/Loujon Press, New York/New Orleans, 1965.
Price: US$725.00 + shipping
Condition: Near Fine
Description: One of 3100 copies. Signed by Bukowski. Softcover, bound in wraps. Light edge-wear. lacks wraparound band.
Seller: Moroccobound Fine Books, IOBA, Lewis Center, OH, U.S.A.
BUKOWSKI, CHARLES. Crucifix in a Deathhand. Lyle Stuart/Loujon Press, New York/New Orleans, 1965.
Price: US$904.02 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Illustrated card covers with publisher's original wrap around band. Signed in pink by Bukowski with a drawing of a flower, dated 3-16-65. Light wear to the corners, otherwise about near fine. Edition of 3100. Etchings by Noel Rockmore. Nice copy.
Seller: Karol Krysik Books ABAC/ILAB, IOBA, PBFA, Toronto, ON, Canada
Price: US$975.00 + shipping
Condition: Fine
Description: First edition, first printing. One of an edition limited to 3100 copies. 8 ¼ in. x 12 1/8 in. Not paginated. Four etchings (with tissue guards) by Noel Rockmore. In an illustrated wrap-around with fold-ins. Signed by Bukowski in red ink on blank blue sheet toward the rear of the book. In fine condition.
Seller: Peter Keisogloff Rare Books, Inc., Brecksville, OH, U.S.A.
Bukowski, Charles. Crucifix in a Deathhand : New Poems. Lyle Stuart, Inc, 1965.
Price: US$1295.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Printed on hand-made paper, limited edition 1/3100 SIGNED by Bukowski, Etchings by Noel Rockmore, with original unbroken spine wrap
Seller: The Book House, Inc. - St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, U.S.A.
Price: US$1414.90 + shipping
Description: First edition, signed limited issue, one of 3,100, this copy signed by Bukowski in silver and dated "03/10/65". A "painstakingly pruned selection" (front flap), Crucifix in a Deathhand "was the biggest book of Bukowoski's career to date, and the Webbs did another beautiful design job. Printed in a large format, and illustrated with nightmarish etchings by Noel Rockmore, it looked like an album of Gothic fairy tales" (Sounes). Louise "Gypsy Lou" Webb and her husband were publishers of The Outsider literary magazine, which often featured Bukowski's poetry. Under the Loujon Press imprint, which designed, edited, and printed this title, they "did not just print books, they hand-pressed literary art objects on massive old presses that took up their entire living space. Pages came in myriad colours, textures, and typesets" (Welch). This was their second Bukowski book, following on the heels of It Catches My Heart in Its Hands (1963). Howard Sounes, Charles Bukowski, Grove Press, 1998. Michael Patrick Webb, "Obituary: Louise Webb", Bayou Brief, 16 December 2020. Large octavo. Original printed wraparound wrappers, coloured handmade paper in various sizes, fore edges untrimmed. With the wraparound band laid-in. With covers and 4 etchings with tissue guards by Noel Rockmore. Head of spine a little bumped, with a touch of rubbing to extremities and one mark to front. A near-fine copy, contents clean and bright.
Seller: Peter Harrington. ABA/ ILAB., London, United Kingdom
Price: US$1500.00 + shipping
Description: First edition, first printing from a limited edition of 3,100. Signed by Charles Bukowski in white ink, dated 3-21-65. 101, [3] pp. Bound in publisher's self-wraps with fine wrap-around belly band. Fine. A beautiful copy of a key early Bukowski poetry collection.
Seller: Burnside Rare Books, ABAA, Portland, OR, U.S.A.
Price: US$1650.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: 101pp. illustrated in b&w + b&w covers. With 4 b&w etchings bound in. In a protective clear acetate dustwrapper. "Crucifix in a Deathhand" is the elaborately designed and bound 1965 collection of poetry by hard-living Angeleno Charles Bukowski fabricated by Louise "Gypsy Lou" and Jon Webb at their Loujon Press in New Orleans, and published with the imprint of Lyle Stuart. The author's sixth book, it was issued as a "Loujon Press Award Book" (Gypsy Lou Series #2). Printed by hand-letterpress on seven shades of heavy Spectra Linweave paper with deckle edges and elaborately bound by the Press, it includes four black and white etchings with tissue overlays by New Orleans-based artist Noel Rockmore. An internally bright, most handsome example of this tour de force (a deluxe-but-unnumbered, uncatalogued variant of entry sixteen in Aaron Krumhansel's "A Descriptive Bibliography of the Primary Publications of Charles Bukowski") limited to three thousand, one hundred unnumbered copies SIGNED AND DATED "Charles Bukowski / 3-16-65" in red acrylic paint at the time of publication beneath a striking ACRYLIC PAINTING in silver and red on the verso of a blank page at the rear. There is very light soiling and wear to the top and bottom edges of the textblock, and its Noel Rockmore-illustrated covers shows mild wear, creasing, fraying, and age-toning to the extremities. The publisher's printed wraparound band is complete and present, though it has a clean separation and is somewhat worn, torn, and age-toned. Additionally laid in is a vintage xerox of Ormonde Plater's nine-paragraph interview with Jon Webb about the book's publication captioned "Tough Poems" from the May 28th, 1965 issue of New Orleans' "Vieux Carre Courier". All in all, this is a most desirable example of an important early Bukowski title with an impressive painting that looks nicer in hand than it describes. PLEASE NOTE: Additional shipping costs are required for this item beyond our standard rates due to its weight and value - we will inform you of the applicable amount at time of purchase.
Seller: Arcana: Books on the Arts, Culver City, CA, U.S.A.
Price: US$2572.55 + shipping
Description: First edition, signed limited issue, one of 3,100 copies signed and dated by the author (in this instance in orange ink on 17/03/1965), this copy further inscribed on the title page to Karl Shapiro with a little ink sketch. The inscription reads, "For Karl Shapiro - Kid, it's a hell of a hard game - living, dying, reading, bleeding, singing - what the fuck - it's hang and hold - Hello, Charles Bukowski". Shapiro, seven years Bukowski's senior, was a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet while Bukowski was only just being entertained by established periodicals. One of Bukowski's first acceptances into a well-known journal was the publication of "Men's Crapper" by Evergreen Review in 1967. "Got Evergreen 50 today", he wrote to poet Harold Norse, "with my short poem in there, way in the back, the thing is shot with the famous, so there they are: Tenessee Williams, John Rechy, Leroi Jones, Karl Shapiro. I am probably writing all this shit about Evergreen because I have a bad conscience and fear that I am slipping as a good writer in order to get into their slick pages" (quoted pp. 139-140). Crucifix in a Deathhand was the biggest book of Bukowoski's career to date, designed by Louise "Gypsy Lou" Webb and her husband, the publishers of The Outsider literary magazine. Illustrated by Noel Rockmore's nightmarish etchings, "it looked like an album of Gothic fairy tales" (Sounes). Howard Sounes, Charles Bukowski, 1998. Michael Patrick Webb, "Obituary: Louise Webb", Bayou Brief, 16 December 2020. Large octavo. Original printed wraparound wrappers, coloured handmade paper in various sizes, fore edges untrimmed. With covers and 4 etchings with tissue guards by Noel Rockmore. Spine just toned, extremities rubbed, a little offsetting to first couple of leaves and a few stains to rear flap. A near-fine copy.
Seller: Peter Harrington. ABA/ ILAB., London, United Kingdom