Devotees of the late poet, novelist, and heroic drinker Charles Bukowski tend to be a bit fanatical in their adoration (Bukowski titles are among the most frequently shoplifted according to booksellers). So it’s not hard to imagine a Grateful Dead“like procession making its way to Southern California’s San Gabriel Valley for an exhibition of Bukowski’s papers and draft manuscripts next year. The Huntington Library, a research library that specializes in rare books (it even houses a Gutenberg Bible), is the depository of Bukowski’s collected writings. According to the LA Times book blog, Jacket Copy, selected items from the collection will go on display beginning in October:

Organized in cooperation with widow Linda Lee Bukowski, the exhibit “Charles Bukowski: Poet on the Edge,” will run from Oct. 9 to Feb. 14, 2011. Linda Lee Bukowski has loaned the library personal items to display, to complement the literary collection she donated to the library. The Huntington owns more than 2,700 Bukowski items, including more than 500 books, drafts of poems, a draft of the 1982 novel Ham on Rye, and a script from the mostly autobiographical film Barfly. Fewer than 100 of those items will be on display in the exhibit, but they have all been available to scholars since last summer.

A mass descent upon the Huntington by eager Bukowski fans would be something to observe. The after party, one assumes, would look something like this: