Vagabond 11 -- First Appearance of The Shoelace (1971)

Published in 1971, Vagabond 11 featured the first appearance of the classic Charles Bukowski poem:

The Shoelace

The poem would later appear in Mockingbird Wish Me Luck (1972), Run With the Hunted (1993), The Pleasures of the Damned (2007), and Essential Bukowski: Poetry (2016).

It would also be included in the audio and video recordings Bukowski Reads His Poetry (1980), The Charles Bukowski Tapes (1987), Poems and Insults (2004), and Bukowski Reads His Poetry (2004).

Conceived in the fall of 1964 over a pitcher of beer in Washington D.C., Vagabond was an early proponent of Bukowski and published him regularly between 1966-1978. The publisher was John Bennett. A vagabond himself, Bennett published the first few issues in Munich, Germany, and then from locations all over the United States. He also published many other chapbooks for other poets. Bukowski would appear in 12 issues of Vagabond as well as its anthology.

This copy is in Very Good ++ condition with some darkening to the white covers and a small chip to the lower right corner.

Overall, a very nice copy of John Bennett’s long running poetry journal which consistently published Bukowski’s work.

Box 5