Like many people, I’ve been intrigued by Black Sparrow Press since I read my first Bukowski book. But I very much enjoy viewing all the non-Bukowski Black Sparrow books as well.
Barbar Martin’s designs are extraordinary and certainly works of art themselves. It’s interesting to watch her designs evolve over the years, while always maintaining a classic feel and the brand of Black Sparrow Press.
While personally it’s difficult for me to respect John Martin the way I did before the revelations of editing Bukowski’s work formally came to light. But his dedication to the press and its mission in its early days cannot be denied. Nor can the successful business model he developed to publish unknown writers… Just don’t try to convince me he somehow “discovered” Bukowski or was responsible for Bukowski’s ability to leave the Post Office, because it’s factually incorrect.
A self-recognition for Black Sparrow and its important work, this is a much bigger, more beautiful, and more heaving book that I had in mind when I first purchased it. Nor was I expecting 50 pages of photographs visually documenting over 100 works. Of course, it would have been nice if the photographs had been in color, but that would have cost a fortune back then and the results would not have been the same quality as black and white.
In total, the book catalogs 212 works, ending in the Novel Women by Bukowski.
This is a deluxe version of the book, hand-numbered #37 out of 326 copies.
It is signed on a bookplate on the inside the front cover by Bradford Morrow, Seamus Conney, Cooney, & Robert Kelly for their work on the book. Both Kelly and Cooney had been with the press from the beginning, both editing A Checklist of the First One Hundred Publications of the Black Sparrow Press back in 1971.
Unless one exists, I’m very surprised a final edition wasn’t put out when John Martin sold Black Sparrow Press to HarperCollins in 2002.
This copy is in Near Fine condition with a noticeable bump on the upper and lower corners of the front cover.
