Top-lot status was awarded to this self-portrait of author Jack Kerouac, done in pencil on the back of a Mexican theater advertisement in 1956, 8 by 6 inches in a 13¼-by-11¼-inch frame, which realized $34,375 ($15/25,000).

Review by Kiersten Busch

BERKELEY, CALIF. — PBA Galleries’ 848th auction, Fine Literature: with Mystery & Sci-fi – Beats, Bukowski & the Counterculture, was conducted on October 9. Featuring 534 lots, the sale totaled $241,938.

“The sale did very well, meeting my higher expectations,” shared cataloger Bill Taylor, Jr, who specializes in fine literature, counterculture and poetry, and who ran the sale. “There were a number of rare and unique Beat-related items in the sale that I hoped would do well, but with unique material, you often don’t have a sales history to look at, so you never know. All of these lots ended up performing quite well, making for one of the best literature/counterculture sales we’ve had in some time!”

The day was led by a 1956 self-portrait of Jack Kerouac from the collection of Joe Lee. “The Kerouac self-portrait was the highlight of the sale, as I hoped it would be,” said Taylor. “Again, as it was a unique item, there wasn’t a sales history to look to, so we went for a reasonable reserve and hoped there would be a lot of interest. It ended up selling for $34,375.” Done in pencil on the back of a Mexican theater advertisement, the self-portrait was completed the year before Kerouac’s novel On The Road was published; it was a gift to his then-girlfriend, Helen Weaver. In addition to the Lee collection, it had provenance to the Andrew Edlin Gallery (New York City), where it was previously framed and displayed.

This first edition copy of On The Road by Jack Kerouac was signed by many leaders of the Beat movement, including Lucien Carr, Allen Ginsberg and Carolyn Cassady; it flipped to $9,375 ($15/25,000).

Speaking of On The Road, three copies of Kerouac’s well-known novel were some of the selections in the more than 10 works by or including the author that found new homes. A first edition copy signed by Lucian Carr, Allen Ginsberg, Carolyn Cassady and seven others earned the highest price, $9,375, while a first edition in the first issue jacket made $1,750 and a first edition without a jacket realized $469.

The second-highest price of the sale was also a Kerouac novel from the Lee collection; this example a first edition of Visions of Cody, which was numbered “213” of 750 copies printed for New Directions by Igal Roodenko in December of 1959. Signed by Kerouac and 13 others, catalog notes explained it was “A truly unique artifact of the Beat movement, with the signatures of Kerouac, Ginsberg, Burroughs and Lucien Carr together in a single volume.”

Chinua Achebe’s “landmark of Twentieth Century African literature,” Things Fall Apart, was represented by one signed copy of the first American edition, housed in its original pictorial dust jacket. “Things Fall Apart was a nice surprise, as it went for $3,750, a fair amount more than signed copies we’d offered in the past,” said Taylor.

Despite its lack of a dust jacket, this first edition copy of Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs was published by A.C. McClurg & Company, Chicago, in 1914, and swung past its $500/800 estimate to make $3,438.

Additional well-known novels crossed the block, including a 1914 first edition of Tarzan of the Apes, the first novel of Edgar Rice Burroughs, which included a title page illustration by Fred J. Arting. “The Tarzan lots I expected to do well, as they were generally in excellent condition, and many in nice examples of the scarce jackets,” Taylor explained. “Lot 311, Tarzan of the Apes, went for $3,438, even without the jacket!”

A copy of John Steinbeck’s To a God Unknown published by Robert Ballou in 1933 also made waves, according to Taylor. “The first issue of Steinbeck’s To a God Unknown is always desirable when a nice example of the jacket is present, and our copy went for $2,813.”

Special signed first editions and sketches were not the only thing on offer, however. A Black Panthers poster published by Berkeley Graphic Arts Offset Printing in 1968 announcing the murder of Bobby Hutton earned a place in the highest prices of the day at $3,125. From the collection of Rick Synchef, the poster was signed by important figures such as Angela Davis, Kathleen Cleaver, Black Panther Party chief of staff Davis Hillard and Elaine Brown, the only female Party president. “The signed Black Panthers poster was another unique and historically significant piece, and we were able to sell it for over $3,000,” added Taylor.

PBA Galleries’ next sale, the PBA Platinum Sale, will take place on November 11 and features rare books, manuscripts and more. Prices quoted include buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. For information, 415-989-2665 or www.pbagalleries.com.