4 Poets (#186/243) -- Drawings and Essay by Charles Bukowski

This is a beautiful little chapbook produced by the Synaesthesia Press in 1995.

It is hand numbered 186 out of an edition of 243.

The editor makes it a point to note that “all work used without anyone’s permission.”

Once Bukowski’s editor learned about this chapbook, he threatened legal action, so very few copies were actually sold -- so this a rare chapbook to come by these days.

The covers (bank and front) feature a drawing by Charles Bukowski and there are four more inside.

There is also an essay written by Bukowski in 1964 entitled "A Depressive State of Affairs for Kings, Witches, and Elevator Boys." In it, Bukowski expresses his feelings toward contemporary writers who are higher on the totem poll than him and his work.

The essay by the editor in the beginning of the chapbook discusses how the idea came about with his friend Steve Fisher. Although they managed to get a poem from Denis Johnson and Lawrence Ferlinghetti, the project stalled until after Fisher’s untimely death.

This is one worth having if you collect Bukowski.

This copy is in near fine condition with a small rust mark om yhe cover, probably from another book on a shelf.