Guide to the Charles Bukowski Manuscript MS.L.016
Processed by Andre Ambrus
Special Collections and Archives, University of California, Irvine Libraries
(cc) 2004
The UCI Libraries
P.O. Box 19557
University of California, Irvine
Irvine 92623-9557
spcoll@uci.edu
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections and Archives, University of California, Irvine Libraries
Title: Charles Bukowski manuscript
Creator:
Bukowski, Charles
Identifier/Call Number: MS.L.016
Physical Description:
0.1 Linear Feet
(1 oversize folder)
Date (inclusive): circa 1980-1994
Abstract: The collection comprises an unsigned, untitled, and undated handwritten manuscript of a prose piece composed by Charles Bukowski,
noted American poet. The 8-page text consists of a monologue about life, the arts, friends, and many other matters, written
in a free-form style--often without punctuation or page numbers--with the honesty and humor characteristic of Bukowski's other
works.
Language of Material:
English
.
Collection open for research.
Property rights reside with the University of California. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and
their heirs. For permissions to reproduce or to publish, please contact the Head of Special Collections and University Archives.
Charles Bukowski manuscript. MS-L016. Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California. Date
accessed.
For the benefit of current and future researchers, please cite any additional information about sources consulted in this
collection, including permanent URLs, item or folder descriptions, and box/folder locations.
Acquired, 1999.
Processed by Andre Ambrus, 2004.
Henry Charles Bukowski, renowned 20th century American poet, was born August 16, 1920 in Andernach, Germany. In 1923, his
family left Germany for the United States settling in Los Angeles in 1924. Following his graduation from high school in 1939,
Bukowski enrolled at Los Angeles City College but left Los Angeles after receiving failing grades and experiencing discouraging
changes in his family life. He worked in physically demanding jobs before he decided to leave California to travel and experience
life in other parts of the country. In 1946 he moved back to Los Angeles, where he found employment working for the postal
service, first as a mail carrier and later as a mail sorter.
Bukowski published his first book
Flower, Fist and Bestial Wail in 1960. He gained national recognition after the publication of
It Catches My Heart in Its Hands (1963) and
Crucifix in a Deathhand (1965). In 1965, he met John Martin, founder of Black Sparrow Press, who long admired his work and became his life-long primary
publisher. Bukowski published more than 45 books of poetry and prose including a number of novels and a screenplay. He died
in 1994, in San Pedro, California.
For further biographical information, see Howard Sounes,
Charles Bukowski: Locked in the Arms of a Crazy Life. New York: Grove Press, 1998.
Scope and Content of Collection
The collection comprises an unsigned, untitled, and undated handwritten manuscript of a prose piece composed by Charles Bukowski,
noted American poet. The 8-page text consists of a monologue about life, the arts, friends, and many other matters, written
in a free-form style--often without punctuation or page numbers--with the honesty and humor characteristic of Bukowski's other
works
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Holographs (autographs) -- 20th century.
Bukowski, Charles -- Archives
Online Archive of California
box FB-17, folder 10
" But I am most afraid that their basis of explanation, though strong, would be lacking an ingredient of mix because no man has ever been all things at the same time time...," circa 1980-circa 1994