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SECTION I - HENRY MILLER
1. Black Sparrow Press. File of correspondence from John Martin at the Black Sparrow Press to Henry Miller, including numerous original, typed letters, signed, and a contract signed by Miller & Martin for the Bibliography of Henry Miller by Lawrence Shifreen. Santa Barbara: 1977-79. Several of the letters are chatty and interesting, referring to other prominent literary figures such as Lawrence Durrell, Paul Bowles & Mohammed Mrabet. From one: "Yes, Paul Bowles has been Mrabet's mentor for about 15 years now. Paul first met Mrabet when he was a wild teen-ager running in the streets of Tangier (he'd run away from home to escape his father's discipline). At that point Mrabet had never read a book nor did he have any sense of what `literature' was, but with Paul's help he quickly developed into the wonderful storyteller that he is...." A fine group. (200/300).
2. Downs, Hugh. File of T.L.s. from Hugh Downs to Henry Miller, regarding Miller's appearance on Downs' PBS show, Over Easy. San Francisco: 1978. Includes a number of signed letters from Downs to Miller, a press release, xeroxed contract, etc. Fine. (100/150).
SEVERAL DURRELL LETTERS
3. Durrell, Lawrence. 2-page typed letter (signed in type) with holograph postscript to Henry Miller, discussing current events in his life. Cairo: July 4, 1942. Durrell describes his early impressions of Cairo, a city whose descriptions would figure very large in his writing career: "...I told what Cairo is; hotter than Dante and crammed with troops. Provincial. Intelectually lower than the hind legs of a fly. Glutted with money, and humming with Syrian jews and disease and dirt. I live an entirely artificial life doing work I cannot talk about which requires a little low cunning but no creative thought - what does these days? The old free world has broken up except in England. I sit here thinking nothing, writing nothing of quality, and suffering hack journalists to criticise my grammar, writing articles, sleeping, drinking...So you see all the bouce has gone out of me, and much of my talent. I feel terribly old. The climate is foul. Nancy has been ill and run down...And now at this moment a critical battle is going on for the Canal; I don't know whether you will get this. Anyway I've sent Nancy and Ping-Ku across into Palestine and have my mind relieved on that score. It will be a holiday for them among the olive trees and away from the dead sterile town of concrete in a flat sterile hot windy desert. I wonder what Rimbaud did here...Love to Anais, the dear monster whose W.O.A. I see advertised everywhere How dim and far and remote and beyond it all seems - us with the wine before us and the miracle almost metaphysically conceived. In Paris I mean...." Near fine - a great, early letter from Durrell to Miller. (400/700).
4. Durrell, Lawrence. 1-page T.L.s. from Durrell to Henry Miller, regarding women, writing, and spring in Provence. Sommieres: 1979. The letter details Durrell's recent sexual activities and writing non-activites: "No I haven't any fixed mate at the moment. I have had two free and gratis affairs with young girls full of feathers and curiosity (I am 66). It isn't really my line but they came about spontaneously so I accepted gratefully. My little pianist from Angers is simmering away now and I shall go up to meet her anew next week. Its curious how much has to be learned - some of these children don't know how to come off and have to be shown. I am rather old to be giving these sort of lessons. Anyway Buttons who is now thirty five and very pretty is coming tomorrow for a week and she needs no tuition...I haven't started my crucial novel Constance yet - period of hovering uncertainty I always get before starting a book. Shadow boxing like...." Fine, in original hand-addressed envelope to Miller. (200/300).
5. Durrell, Lawrence. 1-page T.L.s. from Durrell to Henry Miller, regarding women, mutual friends, and the Nobel Prize. In original hand-addressed envelope. Sommieres: Nov. 5, 1978. In this letter, Durrell lauds Miller and avows his faith in Miller winning the Nobel Prize "ANYTIME now." He also makes mention of mutual friends Joseph Deltiel, Alfred Perlès ("Joey") and Brassaï, who had just completed a book on Miller and "...he is terrified of your reactions and has taken every precaution to verify and check. He is sad at the breach between you..." Naturally, Durrell also informs Miller of his latest torrential affair: "Winter has started after a wonderful autumn; I have been having an extraordinary adventure with a 19 year old Christian Canadian Arab; I fear I have run into another version of Zelda Fitzgerald. But an angel of light and love, with the kind of grasp of things which is given only to schizos! I shall be running for my life by the end of the week." Fine, with Miller's small holograph note to front of envelope. (150/250).
6. Durrell, Lawrence. 1-page T.L.s. to Henry Miller on the death of Anaïs Nin. In original hand-addressed envelope. Sommières: April 28, 1977. The letter discusses Durrell's ambiguous feelings towards Nin, as well as his feelings on the death of several other old friends the same year: "...As for Anais, I suppose the furr [sic] will start flying now as they search for the real girl among the four or five masks she left lying about with false clues attached to them. I have already had a word from her `official biographer' while the egregious M Martin is still in the field with wild and probably true stories. Its rather humiliating to have been her friend and yet not to be able to referee the battle - in truth she was so secretive and pudique that I know nothing about her and could not answer the smallest biographical question. In a sense though it is better that way than my having to sit upon uncomfortable secrets and tell half-truths to prevent Hugo being fussed. As things are the official statue of Anais will be carved by the two men who knew her best, Rupert and Hugo - and this is quite as it should be...." Fine, with a few holograph corrections & Miller's holograph note to front of envelope. (200/300).
7. Durrell, Lawrence. 1-page T.L.s. to Henry Miller regarding various writing projects and Anaïs Nin's latest published journal. Sommières: June, 1977. An interesting letter in which Durrell discusses Anaïs Nin's novel, his own work, and of course his latest love affairs: "I am now closing up shop and going to concentrate on turning my Quincunx of novels into a masterpiece if I can - what insolence! I am currently reading the latest Anais journal with relish as it recounts her visit to Sommieres which was wonderful and rather strange. She found me wounded and withdrawn, the old romantic. I was actually exhausted after working so fast on the quartet and was likely to fall asleep at [the] table! There are good things about Paris in this issue which brought back old memories. It seems centuries ago now, and Paris is horrible, full of deisel fumes and frenzy. They come down here the Parisians like convalescents panting for air. London is much less strain, less polluted and noisy. I have found a tiny flat by the sea for a month in order to sort out my Livia notes...I am making do with a rather fine blonde woman who looks like Marlene Dietrich did in The Blue Angel. But she is not so young alas. A handsome matrona. What the hell. I think end of this year my yoga is going to quietly become pre eminent and probably I shall become indifferent to love affairs, which would be a suitable sentiment for an old buffer like me...." A fine letter, with a few small holograph corrections. (150/250).
8. Durrell, Lawrence. 1-page T.L.s. to Henry Miller, regarding the Nobel Prize, Durrell's own work, and, amazingly, the joys of life without women. In original hand-addressed envelope. Sommieres: Oct. 16, 1978. Durrell discusses his own work and process of living alone at length in this letter: "Yes, I am living alone. IT'S WONDERFUL. I have to answer to nobody; sometimes a nymph strays into my net - I keep all the twigs limed, mind you, and then I break stride for a moment. But I have at last got on top of that terrible hippograff - `unable to be alone'; in the course of this whole evolution I have learned to cook for myself and clean for myself. No sailor can match me now, and with an hour of yoga at dawn I feel in good physical shape as well. LIVIA has had a good press and I am shortly going to move into the centre-pin novel of the group - Constance in Love. Its like trying to sew the fleece round the infant Heracles - on the belly of a whale; pray for me, but to the God of abstract entities, that they should take on flesh and coherence...." A fine letter, with a few holograph corrections & small Miller holograph note to front of envelope. (150/250).
9. (Ephemera - Miller) Numerous ephemeral pamphlets, booklets, fliers, etc. for shows, books, films & readings by Henry Miller. Various places: [c.1950's-1970's]. Items include "Henry Miller Asleep and Awake" film prospectus & postcard; "Titles Available and Unavailable" list of Miller books for sale by him, 1957; "Henry Miller Recalls and Reflects" audio record prospectus, 1956; "The Henry Miller Literary Society Newsletter" 1961; various offprints of newspaper articles on censorship of Tropic of Cancer and other Miller-related news; postcards printed by Miller advertising his various books; folder of xerox copies of Miller's pen & ink drawings; "The Henry Miller Odyssey" flier; "Henry Miller 80" folder of materials on Miller in French & English, pub. by Centre Culturel Américain; Israeli gallery exhibit brochure of Miller's works, in Hebrew; 18-page prospectus for
Catalogue Raisonné of Henry Miller's Prints, 1948-1973 in English & Japanese; etc. Fine condition. (150/250).
10. Ferlinghetti, Lawrence. 2-page A.L.s. to Henry Miller on City Lights stationery, asking Miller for permission to reprint Max and the White Phagocytes. San Francisco: March 29, 1977. In the letter, Ferlinghetti shows a bit of ire at having been passed over for years by Miller for the Capra Press, and asks in "one last try" for permission to reprint one of his books, this time to do a fascimile of the original edition of
Max and the White Phagocytes, for an 8% royalty. Henry & Tony Miller's notes to top. Fine. (100/150).
11. Fonda, Jane. 2 A.L.s. to Henry Miller, plus printed invitation to the premiere of Julia. Los Angeles: [1978]. One letter asks Miller to donate a manuscript to a celebrity auction to support a solar energy project in California (how 1978 can you get?), and the other letter thanks him for his donation of prints, which she herself bid on and won. Fine, all on personal stationery, 1 in original envelope with Miller's small note to front. (100/150).
12. (Gotham Book Mart) File of signed correspondence between Henry Miller & various people at Gotham Book Mart in New York City, including the incomparable founder of the bookstore, Frances Steloff. New York & Pacific Palisades: 1970's. A fine group, most regarding books Miller was interested in ordering, but also with some correspondence regarding Miller's contribution to a compilation in honor of Marianne Moore's 77th birthday. (80/120).
CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN MILLER & THE GROVE PRESS
13. (Grove Press) File of correspondence between Henry Miller and his major publisher, Grove Press, incl. contracts and royalty statements. Various places: various dates. The file includes a 2-page signed holograph letter from Miller to Barney Rosset at Grove Press trying to get his paperbacks back on supermarket shelves, photocopies of contracts for various books, incl. Norman Mailer's
Mailer on Miller, Sexus, Plexus, The World of Sex and Quiet Days in Clichy, motion picture agreements, etc. (200/300).
14. (Henry Miller Odyssey) File of correspondence from Henry Miller, Robert Snyder, and others regarding Snyder's film project, The Henry Miller Odyssey, a documentary about Miller's life. Various places: 1967-68. Much of the correspondence looks for backers of the project (including John Lennon's Apple Corp.) and public television venues around the world on which to broadcast the film. A fine & interesting archive, with many typed & holograph notes & letters from Miller, Snyder, & others. (100/150).
THREE LETTERS FROM JONG
15. Jong, Erica. 3 A.L.s. (2 in original envelopes) & 1 photographic card announcing the birth of her daughter, all to Henry Miller. New York: 1974-1980. In one letter (4 pp., Oct. 24, 1974), Jong writes of wanting to return to California, and says, "I enjoyed meeting you more than I can say - & I love the signed print you gave me...I loved the whole Miller ménage: Twinka, Val, Connie, Tony...Dinner at the Imperial Gardens was a delight. Hoki later gave me a tape of her songs (I nearly wrote `poems') & I was enchanted by it. It makes the whole `Insomnia' story become realer somehow...I asked my paperback publisher - NAL - to send you 25 copies of Fear of Flying...Meanwhile, the TV networks (NBC, CBS, ABC) refuse to carry ads for Fear of Flying - & won't give any explanation. Since I returned to NY, I've been talking to lawyers about censorship. Apparently, it's thought to be a dirty book. How boring! (I thought those battles had been won years ago.)..." The 1978 letter is 5 holograph pages & encloses xeroxes of numerous typed poems by Jong. She begins, "Of course I'll try to think of something persuasive to write the Nobel Committee. Who deserves it more than you? I fear, though, that because they recently gave it to an American (Saul Bellow), they won't want another American so soon. Probably they are looking for some Latvian goatherd who writes obscure poems in a dialect spoken by only 3 (very elderly) people. Some of their selections are truly idiotic - & most of the greatest writers of all time have been neglected in favor of hacks...." Jong goes on to write about her newborn baby & future work. The last letter is really just a brief one, again regarding the Nobel Prize. A nice group from an important association late in Miller's life. (200/300).
16. Laughlin, James. T.L.s. to Henry Miller regarding Kenneth Patchen's " Collected Poems." New York: June 14, 1968. The letter reads, in part: "Dear Henry: I hope this finds you all well out there, though I imagine no one can be very cheery these days, what with the assassination and so many other horrors. I guess all we can do is pray that McCarthy will keep going and that some of his reason may prevail, even if he can't get elected. We have just published a big fat volume of Kenneth Patchen's `Collected Poems' the work of his lifetime, and I'm sending a copy out to you. I remember so well how you championed him in the early days, one of his first and most effective supporters, and I'm most hopeful that you will want to send me a few lines now about him, about his importance and his contribution, which we can use in the promotion for this book...Poor Patchen, I am afraid he is just as badly off as ever, in great pain a lot of the time, since the doctors seem unable to do anything about his back condition, and related ailments. He has really had a grim life...." A fine letter, on New Directions stationery. (200/300).
17. Bickel, Max. 1-page A.L.s. from Max Bickel to Henry Miller while they were both in Paris, with Miller's contemporary holograph note, "Some poor Jew bastard I picked up on the Boulevard." Paris: 1934. The letter reads, in part, "Dear Miller. How are you? Fine I hope. I am enclosing the design which I promised you the other day. I am sure it will make you great fun, especially in Ladies Company...." Tears along creases, else very good, in original envelope. (60/90).
IMPORTANT MAILER TO MILLER LETTERS
18. Mailer, Norman. 3-page T.L.s. to Henry Miller, discussing an excerpt of his book about Miller that appeared in the L.A. Times. N.p.: April 13, 1976. Mailer was upset by the fact that the newspaper left out what he considered to be key paragraphs, which he describes to Miller: "I had a couple of sustained metaphors, virtually paragraphs, which got into obscene notions that I thought were fun. For instance, the way various authors would react if they walked in a room, took off their hat, and there was a pile of crap on their head. Henry James was naturally wiped out. Hemingway suffered more than he was willing to admit. Stendahl, I said, wouldn't have been bothered much, and you would have danced at the possibilities this opened. A lot of the excerpt they printed depended on that image and would have made more sense without the deletion...Anyway, the main thing for me is that you liked it. I've always had a secret vanity about myself as a critic. In fact, when I get down on myself as a novelist I sometimes suspect ruefully that my last career may prove unhappily to be as a critic, but I have to admit that I never came across anyone as hard to write about as yourself. The mercury in your talent, which gives so much pleasure on reading you, is difficult as hell for the critical mind...I did want to say, however, that while I was considerably harder on The Rosy Crucifixion than Tropic of Cancer and admit to you that I don't think it's nearly so successful a novel. I agree with you entirely that the experience in it is more painful than the stuff in Tropic of Cancer, and I know out of my own difficulties, or I say guess from my own difficulties in taking on certain kinds of themes, that Sexus, Plexus and Nexus had to be immesurably more difficult to write than Tropic...." A terrific letter. Rusty paperclip marks, else near fine - signed in full. (200/300).
19. Mailer, Norman. 4-page T.L.s. to Henry Miller, responding to Miller's criticism of The Air-Conditioned Nightmare, defending literary criticism in general, and his specific criticisms specifically. N.p.: May 25, 1976. Mailer addresses Miller in a friendly and professional manner, and quickly states his point: "...Since there's a part of me which is famously corruptible, I suppose I simply do not have the imagination to conceive of another writer, even if greater than myself, who would not have some small part of him corruptible. Now I did not by that faint suggestion in writing about Greece mean to do damage to your reputation, rather it was the one spot of green in the painting, if you will, to bring out the red because if anyone is the Grand Incorruptible of our days it is you. And I suppose if I am guilty of error it is because I was reaching to make a portrait of you which would be incomprehensible to myself...And I confess to you that I think it [Mailer's critical thesis of Miller] is a thesis which does not smirch your reputation but rather dignifies it, because to me there's always something vastly more moving about a protagonist who is tempted by corruption at some point in his life and overcomes it than by a man who is never tempted at all. Moreover, many of your supporters and champions will attack me, and quite rightly, for putting much of myself into you. It is the technique by which I work and I've never pretended to hide it. When I wrote about Marilyn Monroe I tried to understand her with that part of her I felt was similar to myself. I've made the same attempt with you...If I dare to presume, it was because of such family matters as both of us growing up in Brooklyn, the similarity of our names, my love for your style, the influence your writing had on me - these are all peripheral to any true comprehension of character, and yet you know how it is when we write. We follow our instincts...." An excellent letter in near fine condition (small smudge to page [1]). (200/300).
20. Miller, Henry & Lawrence Durrell. 5-page contract between E.P. Dutton, Henry Miller & Lawrence Durrell for publishing their "Correspondence" (edited by George Wickes. New York: March 15, 1962. Signed by Miller, Durrell, & Elliott Macrae, President of E.P. Dutton, at the ends, and initialed by them at many points throughout. Mild staining & soiling, else very good. (150/250).
21. (Miller, Henry - Exhibitions) Group of 17 file folders containing miscellaneous correspondence, flyers, invitations to gallery openings, announcements, etc. regarding Miller's watercolor & painting exhibitions around the world. Various places: [c.1950's-1970's]. An interesting group with holograph notes & letters between Henry Miller & various gallery owners, numerous contracts, lists of watercolor owners, news clippings, gallery announcements, etc. - should be seen. (300/500).
22. Miller, Henry/Sydney Omarr. Two T.L.s. from Sydney Omarr to Henry Miller requesting he write an introduction to his autobiography, together with the typed First Draft, Third Draft, and 2 carbon First & Third Drafts each of Miller's introduction, with numerous holograph corrections by Miller to the first two, including the last two pages of the original Third Draft holographed completely by Miller. N.p.: 1973. A very personal assessment of Miller's friend and colleague, Sydney Omarr. Some typed on Miller's personal stationery. Fine. (200/300).
FASCINATING CORRESPONDENCE FROM FRAUDULENT LAMA
23. Miller, Henry. " Third Eye Correspondence." Envelope filled with Miller's 9-page typed essay on T. Lobsang Rampa's book, The Third Eye (with numerous holograph corrections by Miller) & ensuing correspondence from Rampa (Hoskins) to Miller and from Ken McCormick, editor in chief at Doubleday, to Miller. Various places: 1957-58. Fascinating correspondence regarding the famous literary hoax, in which Cyril Henry Hoskin, a plumber's son from Plympton, England who had never been to the Orient, masqueraded as Tibetan lama "T. Lobsang Rampa" and wrote
The Third Eye, an "autobiographical" account of the lama's life in Asia, clairvoyant doings, and occult beliefs that was questioned from the outset. In 1957, before the hoax was revealed, Henry Miller was on a "one- man crusade" to bring about awareness of the importance of Rampa's already controversial metaphysical book, and to get it published in the United States, and his essay gives many insights into Miller's own philosophies despite the hoax. Throughout the correspondence, the hoax is revealed and Hoskin comes up with a number of explanations, one being that he had ghosted the story for a Tibetan in hiding, another that he was a Tibetan spiritually inhabiting the body of an Englishman, and (my personal favorite) that he had stolen identity papers from a dead Englishman living in the East and masqueraded as him to move to Ireland, where he resided at the time of the hoax. There are several signed letters from him to Henry Miller, providing these explanations, and Miller's letters back to him are very supportive. Throughout their correspondence, Hoskin's language get more relaxed, making it quite clear that English is not his second language, and the two get down to writing about the best & worst literary agents, money, etc. As Hoskin had sworn Miller to utter secrecy regarding the revelation that he had stolen a British I.D. off a dead body, the outside of the envelope of correspondence reads, in Miller's hand, "Do not open until after my death - Henry Miller." Fine - a fascinating group of letters. (300/500).
MILLER TO MILLETT
24. Miller, Henry. 2-page biting holograph letter to feminist writer Kate Millett. N.p.: May 27, 1969. In his letter, Miller refuses to let Millett use certain quotes for an article she is writing, stating: "...I am not quite the egotist you seem to think I am. I can accept hostile criticism when it is well done. But in your criticism, which I admit is both friendly and hostile, there is so much which is based on misunderstanding, on false emphases, on distortions, exaggerations, and sometimes untruth that I rebel. Maybe it's simply a frightful lack of humor on your part which irritates me. And, this deadly analytical view which I suppose goes with all academic writing. Such writing may earn you another degree but I hardly feel it will enhance the reader's understanding of my work..." Accompanied by 1-page carbon typescript. Fine. (150/250).
MILLER'S LIFE CHRONOLOGY TO 1943
25. Miller, Henry. 5-page carbon typed letter (unsigned) to Bern Porter, containing a chronolgy of his life & correspondence by almost each year from his birth in 1891 to the time he wrote the letter, in 1943. Accompanied by 2 letters & 2 letter-messages from Bern Porter to Miller's son & secretary, Tony, signed. Various places: 1943 & 1977-78. Miller lists on the first page of his letter all of the important correspondants of his life, incl. his second wife, June, Anaïs Nin, Lawrence Durrell, Alfred Perlès, Michael Fraenkel, Dylan Thomas, Ezra Pound, T.S. Eliot, Abe Rattner, Wallace Fowlie, et al. The following pages give yearly accounts of the main events in Miller's life (with 1 holograph addition), including his childhood in Brooklyn ("1905 - Met ideal image of woman in person of Miriam Painter. 1907 - Met first love, Cora Seward, at Eastern District High School, Brooklyn..."), early manhood ("1923 - Wrote first book (Clipped Wings) during three weeks' vacation from Western Union duties. Began tremendous correspondence with Harolde O. Ross, musician, of Minnesota. Met June Edith Smith in Broadway Dance Palace...1927 - Open speak-easy in Greenwich Village with wife June. Trip to Florida in search of a waiter's job. Job in Park Dep't. (Queens) while June is in Europe. Compile notes for complete autobiographical cycle of novels in 24 hours."), to his pivotal Paris years: ("1930 - Was befriended by Richard G. Osborn and Alfred Perles. Made friends with Ossip Zadkine, John Nichols, Frank and Paula Mechau, Bertha Schrank, Brassai. 1931 - Began writing Tropic of Cancer while walking the streets and sleeping where I could: day by day existence. 1932 - Met Anais Nin in Louveciennes, France. 1933 - Took apartment with Alfred Perles in Clichy. `Black Spring' period: great fertility, great joy. Saw June for the last time. 1934 - Tropic of Cancer published in September. Decisive moment. Had rewritten it three times; original ms. twice as big as present book. Divorced from June in Mexico City, by proxy....") and up through his then current living situation in Big Sur. Rust from papermarks, else very good. Letters from Bern Porter are very sad as he was broke and starving when he wrote them in 1977. (250/400).
26. Miller, Henry. America, America. 6-page holograph manuscript, signed. Accompanied by 4-page typescript. N.p.: 1978. Miller's introduction to, or review of, a photographic book on America. He writes from a sociological viewpoint: "Despite all man's efforts to defile nature he still remains as puny and ineffective as a bed bug. He is a threat rather than a curse. It is he who has created the cities, most of them modern infernos. And yet, as one will observe in some of these photos - notably of the South Bronx, N.Y. - the Black people of the ghettoes can still laugh, a laugh which the white man has never learned. He can also music out his misery: it may not be `classical' music, but it is music. Perhaps soul music would be the appropriate definition...Speaking of the down-trodden I must put in a word for the hillbillies and other so-called backward peoples scattered throughout the land, often indeed occupying the most beautiful regions of this great country...." He continues in this vein throughout the essay, describing the various miseries of different areas of the United States. Fine. (100/150).
27. Miller, Henry. An Unplayable Play. 12-page holograph manuscript of a play about sex and censorship. N.p.: n.d.. Paperclips rusting, else near fine - a theme close to Miller's life, as usual. (150/250).
MEMOIR OF BLAISE CENDRARS
28. Miller, Henry. Blaise Cendrars. 4-page carbon typescript, signed, with holograph corrections. N.p.: n.d.. Signed by Miller at the end. An article of Mademoiselle Magazine, this is a brief memoir of Miller's close friend and man of letters, Blaise Cendrars. Fine. (150/250).
29. Miller, Henry. Carbon typed signed correspondence with Luther Nichols at Doubleday & Co. and the Westwood Art Association. Various places: 1967. All correspondence from Miller is signed, some with holograph postscripts. The letteres concern the publication of an album of Miller's watercolors. About fine. (100/150).
30. Miller, Henry. Correspondence regarding the making of the film Reds, starring Warren Beatty, incl. a 2- page A.L.s. from Miller to Jermemy Pikser, historical consultant. Various places: 1979. The producers of the film Reds and Warren Beatty set up an interview with Miller to discuss his experiences at the time the movie was covering (1915-20), "In particular, we will be asking you about the World War I years, Emma Goldman (whom, I understand, you met), the changing sexual mores of this period, the conflict between political and artistic sensibilities." Miller's letter in return describes some of his feelings and memories: "If you or Warren Beatty have read my work you must know that I dealt at length with these years. Emma Goldman, whom I met in San Diego, changed my whole life, made me elect to be a writer instead of a cowboy. I mention these things because the tone of your letter is so scholarly. I have always detested academicians [sic]. I can't talk about those years like a professor. I lived them. I was a young anarchist and now an old one...." Fine. (100/150).
MOVING PORTRAIT OF MILLER'S CHILDHOOD IN BROOKLYN
31. Miller, Henry. Early Days in Williamsburg. First Draft, 6-page carbon typescript with holograph corrections & Second Draft, 6-page carbon typescript, uncorrected. Accompanied by printed version in the New York Times, Oct. 17, 1971. N.p.: 1971. A beautifully written memoir of Miller's boyhood in Brooklyn: "...The house I lived in was between North First and Metropolitan Avenue, then called North Second Street. Opposite us was Dr. Kinney, the veterinarian, and on the roof top next door to his place Mrs. Omelio kept her twenty to thirty cats. Diagonally opposite us was Fillmore Place, just one block long, which was my favorite street and which I can still see vividly if I close my eyes. At the Driggs Avenue end of this street was a saloon and at the other end a kindergraten. I remember the saloon because as a child I was often sent to get a pitcher of beer at the side entrance; we called this `rushing the growler.'...At the Bedford corner was the police station where I was dragged by the arm one afternoon by the young lady whom my mother had asked to take care of me. I must have been six or seven years old; the crime I had committed was to use dirty language in her presence. Florence Martin was her name, and her father, known as Professor Martin, made a good living exterminating rats in the big hotels in Manhattan. He used to carry two ferrets, which he used to catch the rats, in his overcoat pocket...Dividing North First Street from South First Street was Grand Street, a rather exciting street to us kids because [it was] full of stores of all kinds. The most outstanding of these was Reynolds Bakery, which even at that date, was already an institution. Mrs. Reynolds was undoubtedly the first woman I looked upon as a queen, or at least an aristocrat. She stood out above all the women I knew. The back of the bakery gave out on North First Street, where we often played cat, of shinny as we called it then, and the aroma of fresh baked bread, crullers and doughnuts, assailed our nostrils day in and day out. On the other side of Grand Street was Daly's Fish Market, which also stands out vividly in my memory, particularly the man Daly, who was very swarthy and hairy and, in my mind at least, seemed always to be opening oysters...." Miller goes on to remember the vaudeville houses, early cinemas, school, playmates, candy stores, etc. Of his fantasies of childhood, Miller adds, "But there were also what I call dream streets, that is, streets which I only imagine I knew, and the memory of which was so strong, so vivid, that years later when I was fully grown, I would return and try to find these streets which never existed except in my dreams...." Really a well written, almost Proustian memoir. Fine condition. (200/300).
32. Miller, Henry. Ephraim Doner. 19-page holograph memoir of the Jewish painter. Accompanied by 3 original photographs of Doner and a few photocopies of the typescript. N.p.: n.d.. "...It was in Big Sur that I first became acquainted with this phenomenal being. He lived in Carmel Highlands and each week we passed within a few yards of his home on our way to Monterey to shop for the week...He was like a man out of the early Middle Ages. He could discourse on most anything. But his favorite subject (presumably) was the Old Testament, the ancient prophets, the miracles, the very language, whether in Hebrew, Yiddish or English. What a treat to listen to him dwell on one of his favorite chapters...At table, which always opened with rapid prayer (in Hebrew) Ephraim would soon begin reminiscing about some book he had just read or was in the process of reading. This led to vivacious discussion about authors past and present - Cervantes, Hamsun, Proust, Joyce, O'Casey, and, not least of all, Isaac Bashevis Singer, whom we both adored...A completely different side of him came to the fore when it became time to tackle the canvas...." Fine condition - an engaging memoir. (200/300).
HOLOGRAPH LEDGER OF BOOK SALES
33. Miller, Henry. Fascinating informal holograph ledger book detailing sales of Into the Night Life (1947), Books in My Life, silkscreens, and other miscellaneous works, listing who bought which items and how & when, which debts Miller had to pay off, etc. N.p.: [1947-1954]. Purchasers of Into the Night Life included Otto Preminger, L.C. Powell, Billy Wilder, Mrs. Will Rogers, Jr., Pierre Matisse, various bookstores, and numerous other collectors. He lists "Debts to pay off," "Money expected." "Laughlin collecting for me from foreign pub.," "Future buyers of books," "Silk screen orders," etc. Last page lists the orders for Plexus in another hand. A fine book (Cloth-backed flexible boards, titled on front cover in Miller's hand) with a multitude of different inks. (400/600).
34. Miller, Henry. Fuck a Duck! 19-page holograph essay on the state of America in 1976, written at the behest of Sol Stein at Stein & Day Publishers (with T.L.s. from Stein & Day included). Accompanied by three 15-page carbon typescripts, 1 with holograph corrections. N.p.: 1975-76. Miller reflects on the America of the 1970's, noting, "It is difficult to say which are the worst evils that plague us. Some days I think it's Television, other days the police or politicians. And then there are other days, not frequent to be sure, when I wake up smiling to myself. I feel great, I want to shout, to sing and dance, and then it's hard for me to find anything wrong with the world...Do we want to continue having as our Representatives in Congress and in the White House men who are callously crooked, callously heedless of the needs of their fellow citizens, men who lead us into costly wars and revolutions, who flout the laws and literally get away with murder, or do we want strong, wise, capable men whom we can count on to keep us out of trouble and allow us to live in peace and harmony if not affluently?...And what do I think about 1976?...I have a strong hunch that if anything 1976 will be worse than 1975, 1974, 1973 and on down the line. I have never believed in what is called progress...." He continues to discuss America, Americans, and of course, himself. Rust paperclip marks, else near fine. (150/250).
GLIDING INTO THE EVERGLADES
35. Miller, Henry. Gliding Into the Everglades. 43-page original carbon typescript (only copy in exisistence) with occasional holograph corrections by Miller. [New York: c.1928]. Accompanied by 1-page holograph note by Miller stating that this was written immediately following a trip to Florida that Miller had taken with Joe O'Reagan & Ned Schnellock, and that "This old manuscript fell into my hands by chance - with the first page missing. One could begin reading at the bottom of page two, the last paragraph." A 1920's road trip with three rowdys, this is a fun and interesting memoir of their trip south: "...And then Fredricksburg! How can I ever describe our feelings on entering this peaceful, slumbering town in the dusk of a late Fall day? We three invaders from the North standing at the cross-roads, gaping curiously at every passing object. Big hulking Negros idling on the corner, looking at us askance...A dignified old Southern gentleman, with broad black felt hat, salutes us gravely, repeating the performance each time he passes us. And the fair Southern cameos, how they impressed us with their freshness and fragility..." When the trio arrived in Jacksonville, they decided to stay put and earn some money before continuing south: ...Then began the supreme struggle for work, for a crust of bread and a flop for the night, for a change of linen and a chance to wash one's face and shave. It is the struggle that is waged continually and relentlessly by countless thousands all over this great country, but to us who had led a more or less sheltered exisitence in the big city it assumed terrible proportions. To make matters worse we very soon discovered that there was a widespread and unconcealed antagonism to the Northerner, not only in a vague social way, but primarily because he represented an aggressive competitor, a carefree contender, a shifting, restless element...We would take a street and walk from one end of the business section to another, offering our services as clerk, porter, dishwasher, waiter, bellhop, typist, salesman, car washer, soda dispenser or what not. We tried department stores, commission merchants, steamship and car lines, express companies, automobile plants, real estate firms, newspapers and garages. We even applied for ditch digging, laying sewer pipes, anything. But, as usual, they wanted`only experienced men.' There was no circumventing Old Lady Experience. We were beaten at every turn. Consequently there were days when we didn't even think about work. If our panhandling sorties yielded only a meagre pittance we knew how to bum a handout from the Greek restaurant owners. We usually managed to beg, borrow or steal enough money to renew our accomodations at the Hotel Ship Floridian, moored at the foot of Main Street..." Describing a courtroom where a policeman had directed Miller and one of his companions to spend the night on a rainy Jacksonville evening when they had run out of money for a hotel, Miller writes, "We went down the hall to our haven of refuge. We opened a huge door and found ourselves in mephitic gloom. There were groans and coughs from Stygian shades. A prostrate form caused us to stumble. A thick volley of oaths assailed us. Out of the depths of the gloom a shade approached, carrying a quantity of newspapers. It begged for a cigarette. We fumbled for one, groped for his hand and placed it cautiously in a sweaty palm. We saw an ember float away, then sink to the floor. We could hear newspapers being shuffled about. With a little groping among these snoring cadavers, wrapped in wads of newspaper, we managed to find an empty bench for ourselves...But in a few minutes we were on our feet again. Neither of us could tolerate it. We didn't mind the bench, the huddled forms that reminded us of a morgue, nor the dank chill of the place - but the odor! My God, what a stench! It was frightful. Not a window was open to ventilate a room occupied by fifty sleeping men who hadn't had a bath in God knows when. Nearly every one removed his shoes. It was like lifting the lid from a garbage can on a hot August day in a blazing noon-day sun. So foul was it that we almost vomited. We stole out as quietly as we could. At least the rain was sweet and clean..." The story is filled with numerous entertaining accounts of Miller and his two companions bumming meals, jobs, and digs, sometimes brilliantly, sometimes flubbing everything. They encountered cops, clergymen, bakers, a friendly miner who showed them the ins and outs of Jacksonville's "red light" district, and many others. They took odd jobs as sign posters and newsboys, and when Miller finally received a hundred dollars from home, he immediately returned, never seeing the Everglades of south Florida. A wonderful, engaging early work, with Miller's typed name and address (1063 Decatur St., Brooklyn) at the end. Slight foxing to pages, pinholes to upper left corners, else very good - apparently the only original copy of this piece. (500/800).