Identity area
Type of entity
Corporate body
Authorized form of name
Black Sparrow Press
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Description area
Dates of existence
1966-2003
History
"Black Sparrow Books, formerly known as Black Sparrow Press, is a book publisher originally founded in 1966 by John Martin of Santa Rosa, California. He founded this company in order to publish the works of Charles Bukowski and other avant-garde authors. He initially financed this company by selling his large collection of rare first editions. Typography and printing were the work of Graham Mackintosh of San Francisco, Noel Young and Edwards Brothers, Inc. Barbara Martin oversaw all of the title page and cover designs, which are still unique today.
Black Sparrow Press most prominently published the work of authors Charles Bukowski, John Fante, and Paul Bowles. A more complete list is shown below. These artists, now considered part of a contemporary 'alternative tradition,' were first established and nurtured under the auspices of Black Sparrow Press. Many of its titles are now highly collectible.
Black Sparrow Press sold the rights to publish Bukowski, Bowles and Fante to HarperCollins Publishers in 2002. At this point, John Martin retired. Martin then sold the remainder of his inventory for $1.00 to David R. Godine, Publisher who adopted the name Black Sparrow Books. Godine is now the exclusive licensed distributor of Black Sparrow Books while HarperCollins continues to print and reprint the books by Bukowski, Fante and Bowles, replicating the original designs. In 2010, Black Sparrow published Door to the River, a collection of essays by Aram Saroyan; Well Then There Now, a collection of poems by Juliana Spahr; and Cheyenne Madonna, a collection of linked short stories by Eddie Chuculate. Copies of all editions of Charles Bukowski's works published by the Black Sparrow Press are held at Western Michigan University, which purchased the archive of the publishing house after its closure in 2003."
-from Wikipedia entry available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Sparrow_Books .
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Final
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Record created by Anna St.Onge 2 September 2014.
Language(s)
- English
Script(s)
- Latin