Not Quite Bernadette

[Compton]: Greybeard Press, 1990. Limited Edition. Large Folio (21 ¼" x 19" x 1 5/8"). Limited to 75 copies. The present copy is an A/P (Artist Proof) signed by Charles Bukowski and James W. Johnson). A book-in-a-box structure with a rounded spine containing 10 mezzotints with 2 additional mezzotint etchings accented with a splash of red done by hand, and all of the plates are somewhat erotic in nature, but the two hidden within the compartment in the rear of the box can be considered pornographic in nature, each signed, numbered and titled by the artist. A rare and spectacular production of this short story by Bukowki, virtually unobtainable in any of the three original formats. Text on leaves cut in various abstract shapes. The etchings are carefully hinged to their pages with gummed library tape and are hinged individually on plastic rods which in turn are sewn together to form a unique flexible binding. Binding was designed and produced for Greybeard Press by noted book artist Joe D'Ambrosio and signed by him on the final blank. Prospectus included. Certainly, one of the rarest Bukowski books. Housed within a acid-washed blue denim clamshell box with a hidden compartment for the two extra plates. [D'Amrosio's A Memoir of Book Design 1969-2000 p. 127-129; Krumhansl 115C].