Notes of a Dirty Old Man -- Essex House – by Chrles Bukowski

The Essex House edition of Bukowski’s classic Notes of a Dirty Old Man was published in 1969, five years earlier than the City Lights version, making it the true first edition.

Essex House was short-lived (1968-1969) publishing imprint based in Los Angeles that specialized in highbrow erotica. A subsidiary of Milton Luros's Parliament News, it was one of the best of many new publishing houses that sprang up after the U.S. Supreme Court finally permitted open publishing of adult fiction. Edited by Brian Kirby, many Essex House novelists were young serious writers (several of them poets) who used scenarios drawn from science fiction and fantasy as the basis for their stories.

Although Essex House published mass market editions, whatever didn’t sell was destroyed to make room on the shelf for new books, leaving very few of Essex House Notes of a Dirty Old Man copies on the market today.

This copy is in Near Fine minus condition and is unread. The covers are very white and bright, but there is a faint ring on the back from a bottle or glass.

Box 35