It Catches My Heart in Its Hands
The first Loujon book, hand-printed by the same couple two years earlier.
Read our take
Crucifix in a Deathhand
The second Loujon Press book: 3,100 signed copies, hand-made in New Orleans, with artwork by the painter Noel Rockmore.
- 1965
- Elegiac
- Atmospheric
- Melancholy
- lyrical
- autobiographical
- voice-driven
- dark
About Charles Bukowski
The story, briefly
Spoiler-freeCrucifix in a Deathhand, published in 1965, was the second of the two Charles Bukowski books hand-made by Jon and Louise Webb's Loujon Press in New Orleans, following It Catches My Heart in Its Hands. It collects new poems from 1963 to 1965 — some of them written in New Orleans itself, during Bukowski's stays with the Webbs while the book was being made. The edition ran to 3,100 signed copies, elaborately produced on varied paper stocks with artwork by the New Orleans painter Noel Rockmore, and was distributed under the imprint of the New York publisher Lyle Stuart. Like its Loujon predecessor it has never been reprinted on its own; its poems are read today through the selected volume Burning in Water, Drowning in Flame.
The story, in more detail
The two Loujon books mark the only period when Bukowski watched his own books being made. He traveled from Los Angeles to New Orleans and sat in the Webbs' apartment among the drying pages, writing while they printed. The poems of this volume are city poems in a darker register — Los Angeles landscapes, rented rooms, and the dead — and the book's production made it a hybrid object: a signed press book of 3,100 copies carrying a major New York distributor's imprint, which put a hand-made small-press poet into ordinary bookstores.
Themes and analysis
Beans over the flame
“Beans with Garlic” begins by putting the recording of feeling above everyday chores, only to discover its language in those chores. Stirring food becomes an image for remembering lost loves, and the flame gives sadness a physical intensity. The clock comparison introduces a limit that writing cannot repair: some movement, once stopped, will not begin again. The poem answers that limit with a task available in the present, getting experience onto the page. Cooking is therefore more than background scenery. It supplies the very movement through which the speaker makes his case for writing.
Wrens at the grandstand
In “No. 6,” the speaker chooses a horse, but the poem holds back from the race itself. Rain softens distinctions while the wrens draw attention toward an activity outside the contest. The repeated willingness to settle for something links the horse with the cup of coffee: modest choices sustain this interval of watching. When the horses carry their riders away, the animals become active figures and the people look small. The closing imagery joins a funeral procession to opening flowers, allowing mortality and pleasure to inhabit the same moment. No race result resolves that mixture.
Why we recommend it
The second Loujon book
The other half of the legendary New Orleans printing story — bigger, darker, and signed across the whole edition.
The bridge collection
New poems only, written between the post-office years and the Black Sparrow partnership that began three years later.
Poetry alongside Noel Rockmore’s art
The illustrations give the handmade edition a visual contribution distinct from Bukowski’s poems.
What this book explores
Timeline
1963–1965
The poems are written in Los Angeles and New Orleans, several during stays with the Webbs.
1965
Loujon Press publishes 3,100 signed copies, distributed under the Lyle Stuart imprint.
1974
A selection of the poems returns to print in Burning in Water, Drowning in Flame.
Book editions
Paperback
- Paperback
- Loujon Press
- 1965
Reader reviews
Readers may also like
Burning in Water, Drowning in Flame
The in-print selected volume that reprints poems from this collection.
Read our take
At Terror Street and Agony Way
The next collection — the first from Black Sparrow Press, the publisher who kept him for life.
Read our takeCrucifix in a Deathhand: frequently asked questions
What is Crucifix in a Deathhand?
A collection of new Charles Bukowski poems from 1963 to 1965, published in 1965 by Loujon Press of New Orleans — the second and last of the hand-made Loujon Bukowski books.
How many copies were printed, and why are they signed?
3,100 copies, and Bukowski signed every one. The signed edition was part of the Loujon design: a hand-made press book issued at commercial scale through the New York publisher Lyle Stuart.
Who was Noel Rockmore?
A New Orleans painter, known for his portraits of the city's musicians, who provided the artwork for the edition.
Did Bukowski write the poems in New Orleans?
Some of them. He stayed with Jon and Louise Webb while they printed the book and wrote alongside the press — several poems date from those visits.
Can I read the poems without buying the rare edition?
Yes. Burning in Water, Drowning in Flame, the selected volume covering 1955 to 1973, includes a section drawn from this collection and remains in print.
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References
References
The sources below include the primary text, editions, scholarship, archival materials, and other records that informed this page. They document Crucifix in a Deathhand, its publication, and its place in literary history.
1Crucifix in a Deathhand
PoetryCharles Bukowski, 1965Used forThe primary text represented by this page, used for descriptions of the work’s contents and for any quoted passages shown here.
2Charles Bukowski timeline (bukowski.net)
WebsiteUsed forPublication year, edition size, the Lyle Stuart imprint, and the Rockmore artwork.
3Charles Bukowski: books and chapbooks (Verdant Press checklist)
WebsiteUsed forBibliographic details of the Loujon edition checked against the checklist.
4Charles Bukowski
BiographyReaktion Books, 2012Used forThe New Orleans stays with the Webbs and the book's place in the career.
5Charles Bukowski (Poetry Foundation)
WebsiteUsed forCareer arc across the little-magazine and small-press years.
6Beans with Garlic and No. 6 — later collected poem transcriptions
WebsiteZanotowane.pl (third-party Literature Online transcription)Used forComplete poems in a later collected-text transcription identifying the 1997 Black Sparrow edition of Burning in Water Drowning in Flame. Not a 1965 facsimile.
7Crucifix in a Deathhand — collection contents
WebsiteCharles Bukowski Poem and Story DatabaseUsed forIndependent collection membership for Beans with Garlic, page 38, and No. 6, page 57.
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Why these sources are here
The primary text is the baseline reference for every book page. Additional references document publication history, interpretation, and historical context where that evidence is available.
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