Skip to Content

Ross Runfola collection on Charles Bukowski

 Collection
Identifier: PCMS-0053

Scope and Contents

The bulk of the collection, originally part of a larger private collection assembled by Ross Runfola, is comprised of typescript signed poems by Charles Bukowski; some are photocopies of typescripts or computer printed pages but are signed in ink. The collection also includes a painting by Charles Bukowski, a painting and screen print by Jack Micheline, two Black Sparrow Press broadsides of poems by Bukowski, posters advertising readings by Bukowski, a dubbed copy of documentary The Best Hotel on Skid Row, and a small file of correspondence from Bukowski to various recipients.

Dates

  • 1966-2004, undated
  • Majority of material found within 1966-1993

Creator

Language of Materials

English

Language of Materials

Collection material in English.

Terms of Access and Use

The Ross Runfola collection on Charles Bukowski, 1966-2004, undated (1966-1993 bulk) is open for research.

Copyright

Copyright of papers in the collection may be held by their authors, or the authors' heirs or assigns. Researchers must obtain the written permission of the holder(s) of copyright and the Poetry Collection before requesting photocopies and/or publishing quotations from materials in the collection. Once permission is obtained, most papers may be copied in accordance with the library's usual procedures unless otherwise specified.

Historical Note

Charles Bukowski was a prolific underground writer and, for many people, a cult hero. He used direct language and often violent and sexual imagery. While some critics found his style offensive, others claimed that he satirized the machismo attitude through his routine use of sex, alcohol abuse, and violence. Bukowski was born in Andernach, Germany, in 1920, the only child of an American soldier and a German mother. At the age of three, he came with his family to the United States and grew up in Los Angeles. He published his first story, "Aftermath of a Lengthy Rejection Slip," in Story Magazine in 1944, going on to publish more than forty books of poetry and prose. He died in 1994.

Ross Runfola earned his B.A., M.A., Ph.D., and J.D. degrees from the University at Buffalo. His poems have been published in Six-Pack (Bottle of Smoke Press), the Bukowski Review, and X-Ray Press. He is the author of several books of poetry and is a founding member of the Guerrilla Poetics Project. He is a practicing attorney as well as a professor of Applied and Social Sciences at Medaille College.

Extent

5 Linear Feet (2 manuscript box, 7 oversize boxes (framed visual materials), 2 items in map case)

7 VHS cassette

Abstract

The bulk of the collection is comprised of typescript signed poems by Charles Bukowski; some are photocopies of typescripts or computer-printed pages but are signed in ink. The collection also includes a painting by Charles Bukowski, a painting and screen print by Jack Micheline, two Black Sparrow Press broadsides of poems by Bukowski, posters advertising readings by Bukowski, a dubbed copy of documentary The Best Hotel on Skid Row, and a small file of correspondence from Bukowski to various recipients. The materials in this collection, part of a larger private collection assembled by Ross Runfola, were donated by Runfola and were originally part of an auction by PBA Galleries in 2011.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged in three series.

  1. Manuscripts, 1971-1996, undated
  2. Visual Material, 1966-2004
  3. Correspondence, 1966-1978, undated

Acquisition Information

The materials in this collection were donated by Ross Runfola. They were originally part of an auction, sale no. 455, "Charles Bukowski and His Circle: The Collection of Ross Runfola," by PBA Galleries (San Francisco) in 2011. More details about these items can be found in the auction catalog. See Associated Material for more information.

Accruals and Additions

No further accruals are expected for this collection.

Related Materials

See also the auction catalog, Charles Bukowski and His Circle: The Collection of Ross Runfola. http://catalog.lib.buffalo.edu/vufind/Record/003365020

Separated Materials

Several journals were removed and added to the Poetry Collection's periodical collection: Blow (issues 5, 6, and 8), Bottle (issues 3 and 4), Going Modern / Oro Madre No. 10, Epos (issue 5, aka "Poems and Drawings"), Olé (issues 3-8, plus 1967 Anthology), X-Ray magazine (issue 7), Story (vol. 24, no. 106 (March-April 1944)), Lummox Journal (vol. 6, no. 8), the Bukowski Review (issues 1-4), and Wormwood Review (issues 7-8, 11, 16, 24, 33, 38-40, 81-82, 94-95, 110-111, 122-123, 125, 127, 137, 145-146).

Many books were removed and added to the Poetry Collection's monograph collection: Search "Ross Runfola Charles Bukowski Collection" for a list of these items.

Processing Information

Collection processed by Marie Elia, Processing Archivist, 2014.

Source

Title
Finding aid for the Ross Runfola collection on Charles Bukowski, 1966-2004, undated (1966-1993 bulk) PCMS-0053
Status
Completed
Author
Finding aid prepared by Marie Elia.
Date
2014
Description rules
Finding Aid Prepared Using Local Best Practices
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Finding aid written in English.

Repository Details

Part of the The Poetry Collection Repository

Contact:
420 Capen Hall
Buffalo New York 14260-1674 US
716-645-2917
716-645-3714 (Fax)