Contact Us
comments or suggestions
36. Miller, Henry. Group of 5 A.L.s. of varying lengths from Miller (on personal stationery) to Harry Dick Ross. Pacific Palisades: 1967-68. Letters are chatty & friendly, mostly mentioning family business & friends in common, Miller's declining health, etc. Fine condition, in original envelopes. (200/300).
37. Miller, Henry. Group of 5 miscellaneous writing pieces of varying lengths, some holographed, some typed, & some carbons. Various places: [1970's]. A fine group - should be seen. (300/500).
38. Miller, Henry. Group of 7 miscellaneous writing pieces for jacket blurbs, introductions, essays, etc., some in multi-draft form. Various places: [1970's]. These are each multi-page works, some completeley holograhed, some carbon typescripts, some original typescripts with holograph correction and notes. They cover a multitude of subjects, incl. astrology, painting, "My Life and Times" interview, etc. A fine & interesting group. (300/500).
44-PAGE HOLOGRAPH MEMOIR
39. Miller, Henry. Joe Gray. 44-page holograph manuscript for a chapter in Miller's Book of Friends. Accompanied by two 33-page typed photocopies. N.p.: n.d.. Lengthy memoir of Miller's longtime friend, Joe Gray, whom Miller met in Los Angeles after he had returned from Europe. Full of sex, mischief, boxing, and adventures, Miller describes with zeal his friend's life, and of course his own in the process: "...For a man who had had no great eduation it was amazing how keen his judgement of authors was. His great favorite was Byron, followed closely by Keats and Shelley. He even named his dog Byron. For a man who could so easily ingratiate himself with women, it was amazing to observe the affection he bestowed on Byron. Byron came first in everything. Of course this lavish affection for a dog came about through some heart- breaking setbacks with women. He had been betrayed three or four times, with the result that he was absolutely adamant as regards showing any further affection toward the other sex. All his attention now centered on Byron, his dog, and me. He couldn't avoid fucking the women occasionally but he could never fall in love again..." Miller discusses many aspects of Gray's short life (he died in his late forties) and his love for him. Fine condition. (400/700).
40. Miller, Henry. Love Between the Sexes. 4-page holograph manuscript, signed, on the subject of love between the sexes. N.p.: n.d.. Miller advocates against marriage and for astrology in saving one's relationship. One obstacle, Miller writes, is California itself: "In the State of California the woman is distinctly at a disadvantage. According to statistics there are three or four women to every man in Los Angeles. The simplest solution to this situation would be to Mormonize, but that the American woman today finds it hard to do. The men are also incapable of it - they are too weak, too self-indulgent. There is nothing of the patriach in them and even their machoism is lacking in character. They grow up as playboys. They are on the lookout for cunt, not women...At the root of all evil, it seems to me, is the inate Puritanism of the Americans. Though they boast of sexual freedom, they are not mature as are other peoples - the French, the Danes, the Swedes, for example. They don't make great lovers; they make sexpots...It sounds corny, but what is lacking is Love. I mean Love with a capital `L'. That is something no school can teach. Oftimes we find greater examples of it among animals and among primitive peoples. What happens, when civilization comes along, is that all values are reversed. What was once noble becomes base, what was virtue becomes ridiculous. What was beautiful becomes ugly. Love degenerates into pornography. Sex rules the roost...." Fine. (200/300).
41. Miller, Henry. Memory and Forgettery. 5-page holograph manuscript. Accompanied by two 3-page typed photocopies. N.p.: n.d.. Written as an article for an unnamed magazine. Miller exposes his feelings on what in life is important to remember, and what is okay to forget: "...One should never forget the man who renders you a wonderful service. You can forget Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, but not the guy who got you out of a scrape or saved your life with a little chicken feed. In my own case, as I have stated several times already, I never forget my boyish idols during the years from five to ten. Johnny Paul, who delivered coal and wood, stands out like a saint. Lester Reardon, whom I never dared approach or speak to, like Ulysses, Eddie Carney, like a hero, and so on. On the other hand, the minister with the horse whip in hand, is engraved in my mind as the devil incarnate. Nor do I ever want to forget this son of a bitch. A woman like Emma Goldman remains forever in my mind as the great Teacher, Exemplar..." Rusty paperclips, else very good. (150/250).
CERTIFICATE SIGNED BY MALCOLM COWLEY & LOUISE BOGAN
42. Miller, Henry. Miller's 9x11-1/4 membership certificate to the National Institute of Arts and Letters, signed by Malcolm Cowley and Louise Bogan. New York: 1957. Crease from folding, else near fine, with bright gold seal and bold signatures of Cowley and Bogan. (300/500).
MILLER'S JAPANESE NOTEBOOK
43. Miller, Henry. Miller's Japanese notebook. String-bound Japanese wrappers about 1/5 full of Miller's notes, mostly translations of mushy sayings for use on women. N.p.: n.d.. Phrases Miller has translated include "sweet death," "you look lovely," "rotation copulation," "Balls," "concubine," "I can't give you anything but love," "everything I have is yours," "I love you," "I have no money," "I am an American," "one and only," "the one I long for," "darling," "I will write you a big letter in Japanese soon," and "This is my foolish wife!" Fine condition, with many loose notes laid-in - an engaging and humorous look at Miller's attempt to seduce the women of Japan. (300/500).
11-PAGE MANUSCRIPT ABOUT MILLER'S BICYCLE
44. Miller, Henry. My Best Friend. 11-page holograph manuscript. Accompanied by 7-page typescript & a few photocopies. N.p.: n.d.. A description of Miller's love for his bicycle, incorporating many memories of his youth at the same time. The main subject of the memoir is how, as a teenager, he used his bike to ride all around New York while dreaming of his unconsummated love for Una Gifford. However, he does move the reader to Paris, where he rode again: "Years later in Paris, I got myself another bike, but this one was an everyday sort, with brakes. To slow up demanded an effort on the part of one's legs. I could have had hand brakes put on my handle bars but that would have made me feel like a sissy. It was dangerous and thrilling to ride through the city streets at top speed. Fortunately the automobile was not then much in evidence. What one really had to watch out for were youngsters playing in the middle of the street..." Fine condition. (200/300).
45. Miller, Henry. On Seeing Jack Nicholson for the First Time. 11-page holograph manuscript & notes, signed (initials). Accompanied by 4-page original typescript with holograph corrections & photocopies of same. Together with publicity material, photo stills, etc. for 1970's Nicholson films, incl. "Five Easy Pieces." N.p.: n.d.. A review of "Five Easy Pieces" as seen by Henry Miller. Fine but for paperclip marks. (150/250).
46. Miller, Henry. Order and Chaos chez Hans Reichel. Original multi-page typescript & carbon typescript with numerous holograph corrections & revisions. Accompanied by prospectus and award notification from the publisher. N.p.: 1966. Rusty paperclip marks, else very good, with a few photocopies of old letters from Reichel to Miller that he used in his book laid-in to the file. (400/700).
PHILOSOPHICAL LETTER FROM MILLER
47. Miller, Henry. 11-page holograph letter, signed, from Miller to "Irving" (Stettner, editor of Stroker Magazine), accompanied by 3 photocopies. Pacific Palisades: Dec. 31, 1978. Miller begins his letter rather pessimistically, stating, "...It's also ironic that someone like myself cannot find an outlet in an American magazine of any repute. To be sure, our one time good mags have all disappeared. Everything of value is disappearing today in `the greatest country in the world.' (Oswald Spengler would have framed it differently.) So would Céline and Cendrars." He goes on to philosophize about poetry & to discuss Mohammed Mrabet, Hermann Hesse, and Isaac Bashevis Singer (who had recently won the Nobel Prize). About Hesse, he writes, "...In my latter years I have gone over the same ground in my mind. Who the hell do I think I am? But, Irv, no matter how I argue, I am what I am and no one can take that away from me; moreover, I know who I am, which is another way of saying `Fuck you, Jack, I'm not joining your band-wagon. Not even if you are a Zen Buddhist.' Hesse gave me Siddhartha, for which I am eternally grateful. And because of that wonderful book, I not only killed in me the Jesus, the Buddha, the Mahomet, but the guy I once thought I was and who was just another horse's ass. In short, I became myself." His letter ends in typical Miller style: "This letter was not dictated by any fucking Xmas or Hannukkah spirit but just by a strong feeling of friendship. Ever yours, Henry." Fine. (300/500).
48. Miller, Henry. Original photograph (printed later) of a young Henry Miller (about 13 years old) with his father & mother, along with Tony and Joey and their family, all in front of a large house in Bensonhurst resided in by Joey and Tony's aunt & uncle's family. Accompanied by three A.L.s. from Miller's boyhood friend Joey (of Miller's chapter in Book of Friends entitled "Tony and Joey"), one of which explains who each person in the photograph is. Bensonhurst: [c.1911]. The letters from Miller's long lost friend Joe Insley (misnamed Imhof in Miller's Book of Friends), written in 1978 when Joey was 89, detail where his and his brother Tony's lives have taken them. Fine. (80/120).
49. Miller, Henry. Paint as You Like and Die Happy. Original 15-page typescript with a few small holograph corrections, plus 2 photocopies. N.p.: n.d.. Miller's essay on his painted works. One photocopy with holograph note from Noel Young of Black Sparrow Press ("Sandi - has this ever been published? Where?"). Light staining to title page, else very good. (80/120).
MILLER'S PARIS NOTEBOOK WITH TWO ORIGINAL WATERCOLORS
50. Miller, Henry. Paris Notebook. Large notebook with 19 or so leaves filled-out by Miller, incl. 2 original watercolors. The most important information & watercolors by Miller date from 1937-39, though at least one later page is dated 1950, and there are several child's drawings by Miller's daughter, Val, on later leaves (dated by Miller 1951). 15-1/2x10-3/4, original wrappers, detached. [Paris: 1937-39 & 1950-51]. Miller's "Paris Notebook" contains two lovely watercolors by him, and some fascinating information: lists of where he sent manuscripts, lists of things to do, people to see (incl. some well-known names) and pieces to write, with things accomplished crossed out in pencil (still legible): "...Brassai - give me 6 copies of woman on the pot!...Kahane: Give me blank books for A[naïs]'s diary & water-colors...Go thru folders of MSS. Anais returned for possible good timber! Get circular letter printed for 100 names, demanding money for publishing venture. Buy Pen Knife! Dedicate French version of `Aller Retour NY' to Blaise Cendrars - `the first Frenchman to make me a royal gesture!'...Print `Land of Fuck' from `Capricorn' privately at 100 frs. a copy - for sale discreetly. Then, with proceeds, print other things!...." In 1938, Miller lapses into a page of daily doings that is a wonderful window into his world: "Feb. 10th. Do 5 pages a day of Capricorn regularly - Day passed going to movies with the Durrells! Begin tomorrow!! 2/18/38 - not yet begun!...Feb. 1939 - Do water-colors for Gotham Book Mart!! Begin 2nd Volume of Capricorn! Do regularly first thing every day. Lawrence and other work on the side! Get symbolic Geographic maps on Quai - near Point Royal. Look for cheap French edition of Claude Saint- Martin's `Le Crocodile' et `L'Homme de Désir.' (Chacomac?) Get gouache tubes, good paper, square brush & oil brushes. Also heavy paper for oils...." Miller also lists plans for better hygiene and quality of life: "Hygiene: Resume morning walks - around exterior Boulevards. Hot baths frequently. Evian mineral water. Pain Hovis & yogurt daily. Good Wines with Meals! Less salt & pepper - less coffee. * Horlich's malted milk shakes! (Montparnasse). Take Enemas now & then. Reserve Sundays for painting - no work! * Stay in bed whole day before tackling different work! (Meditate, contemplate - saturate). Grapefruit more often!" Heavy extremity chipping & browning to fragile pages, many pages detached, but none appear to be lacking, still an excellent early workbook, with most pages dated and two exquisite watercolors. (7000/10,000).
MILLER WRITES ABOUT HIS FIRST MISTRESS, "PAULINE"
51. Miller, Henry. Pauline. 19-page holograph manuscript, signed. Accompanied by 15-page typescript with a couple holograph corrections, & a few photocopies, one stamped "Reece Halsey Agency." N.p.: n.d.. Miller's intense memoir of his first mistress, the friend of a mother of one of Miller's piano students in Brooklyn, "Pauline." In one passage, Miller describes his first sexual experience with her: "As I said before, she had not fallen for me at first blush. I believe she sensed what she was letting herself in for. She must have known from the beginning that it would end tragically for her. I, on the other hand, acted as if I were blind, deaf and dumb. I questioned nothing. I never looked ahead a millemetre. Of couse it was my initiation into the world of sex. And it was a most beautiful one. As for Pauline, I am certain she had been deprived of a sex life for a number of years. She had never remarried and, so far as I knew, had had no lovers We were both hungry for it. We fucked our heads off..." Later, a shocking revelation, a description of Pauline's late-term abortion of Miller's baby: "...I rushed to the bureau, opened the second drawer and there I saw the body of a child wrapped in a towel. I spread the towel and beheld a perfectly formed little boy, red as an Indian. It was my son. I choked on the realization of that fact. And from that to tears at the thought of what she must have suffered. It seems to be the lot of women to suffer. For the pleasures of the flesh they offer us men; we give them in return only pain. If the abortion itself was a horror the aftermath was even worse. The question was how and where to get rid of the body. The doctor, whoever he was - I never saw him - decided to chop the body into pieces and throw the pieces down the toilet. Naturally the toilet got clogged - and the landlady discovered all. She was not only irate but shocked and threatened to notify the police. How Pauline talked her out of doing this I don't know, but the result was that we were obliged to move on short notice..." Miller ended up leaving Pauline, twice as it turned out, and feeling so guilty about it that he never called or wrote her. However, an interesting memoir of Miller's first "relationship." (400/700).
MILLER ON MISHIMA'S DEATH
52. Miller, Henry. Reflections on the Death of Mishima. 33-page typescript with holograph corrections, with a 2nd draft also with corrections, and numerous loose notes on Mishima, incl. a letter from a Japanese friend enclosing 3 original candid snapshots of Mishima (2 with his son & dog, 1 alone), several T.L.s. from Robert MacGregor at New Directions about Mishima's death (MacGregor was a friend of Mishima's), numerous newspaper & magazine articles regarding his death, xerox of a holograph letter from Mishima to MacGregor, etc. Various places: various dates. An interesting group celebrating the life and death of Japan's greatest writer, including Miller's moving portrait of the author. (300/500).
53. Miller, Henry. Several legal documents belonging to Miller, including: his passport, signed & with photo (stamped London & Hong Kong), 1966; International Driving Permit, with signed photo, 1960; 3 International Certificates of Vaccination, signed, 1957, 1962 & 1970; signed holograph letter from Miller to the U.S. Passport office requesting a new passport, and a few official forms. Various places: various dates. Very good condition. (200/300).
54. Miller, Henry. Signed contract & correspondence regarding the film rights to A Smile at the Foot of the Ladder, to be made by Patricia Hardesty, including letters from Hardesty to Miller. Various places: 1963. Very good to fine. (80/120).
VALUABLE SKETCHBOOK WITH 17 ORIGINAL WORKS
55. Miller, Henry. Sketch book containing 17 original drawings, pastels & watercolors by Miller, incl. a self-portrait, some occasionally pornographic works, a few titled in his hand. 11x8-3/4, spiral bound flexible boards. N.p.: n.d.. While none are signed by Miller, a few have titles or words written in his hand, and many are typical of his style. Stain to front cover (adding character!), lower half of front cover coming detached, else very good; internal drawings fine - a rare compilation. (3000/5000).
56. Miller, Henry. The Bicentennial. 28-page holograph manuscript railing against America. Accompanied by several typed drafts, with numerous holograph corrections & additions, & T.L.s. from Noel Young at Black Saprrow Press extolling the piece's virtues. N.p.: [1975-76]. Subtitled A Nation of Lunatics, Miller's piece begins, "In two short centuries we are practically going down the drain." He discusses America's record on Indians, slaves, war (all of them), pardoning Nixon, labor rights, Jews, schools, prisons, police brutality, etc. A negative but valid essay in numerous draft forms, apparently published by Black Sparrow Press. (300/500).
57. Miller, Henry. The Cockroach and the Bedbug. 2-page holograph manuscript. Accompanied by 1-page holograph draft of a letter to Jack Smith at the L.A. Times, asking him to include his article in a column, & carbon typescript of the article. N.p.: 1976. A brief article on the symbiotic relationship between man and beast (well, insect). Fine. (80/120).
58. Miller, Henry. The Enormous Cunt. 5-page fragmented pornographic holograph manuscript & notes. N.p.: n.d.. A somewhat unconnected story with little plot and much unquotable prose. Fine condition - written as an article for an unnamed magazine. (150/250).
59. Miller, Henry. The Waters Reglitterized. 34-page typescript, with a few publisher's marks, intended for publication in wrappers by Capra Press. N.p.: n.d.. Soilng to first page, else very good; accompanied by dummy wrappers. (100/150).
IMPORTANT LETTER ON CENSORSHIP TO THE SUPREME COURT
60. Miller, Henry. To the U.S. Supreme Court. 3-page carbon T.L.s. with numerous holograph additions and corrections. Big Sur: Dec. 26, 1962. Miller's letter regards censorship, particularly of his Tropic of Cancer, of which he writes, "...From the time I left high school I must have had almost a hundred different jobs. I quit the last one - employment manager of the messenger department in the Western Union Telegraph Co. - resolved never to take another job but to live and die as a writer. That was in September 1924; Tropic of Cancer was published, in Paris, in September 1934. During this ten year period I had written three books and any number of short stories and articles. To the best of my knowledge only two or three of the latter were ever published in magazines. You can imagine my state of desperation when I made the decision to try my luck abroad. I had imagined on leaving America that I was going to Spain, but I never got farther than Paris. I arrived there in the Spring of 1930, knowing nothing of the French language. While writing Tropic of Cancer I lived by my wits; the difficulties which I had experienced from 1924 to 1930 in New York were magnified considerbaly on arriving in Paris. Yet I must confess, it was more pleasant and instructive starving in Paris than in my home town. Thanks to the aid and encouragement of the friends I made - largely expatriates like myself - I managed to survive and finish the book. By miracle I found there in Paris the one man in all the world who dared publish such a book: Jack Kahane of the Obelisk Press. Between the time he accepted the book and its publication I rewrote the book three times...the reading of it brought about a liberation, inspired by hope and courage, the courage to live one's own life come what may. It had this effect, I presume, because it was a naked, vivid account of one man's struggles with almost insuperable odds, because it was an honest and revelatory account of this man's life, sparing nothing. Many who wrote me confessed that it was the first time in all their reading experience that they had seen the whole man portrayed. They felt that I had restored to literature some new kind of integrity...In my youth my idols among American authors were such as Thoreau, Emerson, Walt Whitman; they still are, I should add. I regard them as revolutionary spirits, men who were against the trend of the times. Perhaps I was drawn to such writers because I myself am a born rebel. Today, my birthday, I am seventy-one years old - and still a rebel. If the great free spirits of the world had been obliged to write down to the level of the `normal community standard', would we have today the works which made them famous? Why should any thinker, in any field, be required to make his thoughts palatable and acceptable to the ordinary individual, I ask?...." A very strong and important letter, unsigned but with numerous holograph revisions in Miller's hand. Short tear to lower front page, browning to paper, else very good. (300/600).
61. Miller, Henry. Untitled. One-act play (numerous pages) in typescript form with numerous holograph corrections & several small pages of holograph notes. N.p.: [c.1970's]. Gathered in 5 paperclipped groups, this appears to be a rough draft of an untitled play Miller was working on about a stripper on trial. Rust from paperclips, else very good. (150/250).
62. Miller, Henry. Vincent Birge. Original 15-page holograph manuscript memoir, signed. Accompanied by 9- page original typescript with a few holograph corrections, & photocopies. Also with 2-page A.L.s. from Vincent Birge to Miller, with black & whiite photograph of the two of them. N.p.: 1977. Miller describes Birge as his friend, chauffeur, secretary and handyman, with whom he traveled through Europe in 1961 and discussed literature and other pursuits. (150/250).
63. (Miller, Henry & Vincent Birge) File of 5 A.L.s. from Vicent Birge to Henry Miller in 1978, and typed itinearies and expenses for their trip to Europe in 1961, with some of Miller's holograph notes about their expenses as well. Various places: 1961-1978. An interesting group detailing the trip to Europe that Miller and Birge took, discussed in the memoir of the previous lot. It includes some notes from Miller ("I'm still dubious as to whether I can call this a `business trip.'..."), and some kind and friendly letters from Birge in the late 1970's. (100/150).
64. (New Directions) Thick file of correspondence between Henry Miller and various editors at New Directions, principally Bob MacGregor & James Laughlin. Various places: 1968-70's. Correspondence includes carbon typed letters from Miller (all signed, & with occasional holograph notes), original letters to Miller and other foreign publishers from New Directions (Laughlin, MacGregor, et al.), many with Miller's holograph notes in the margins, royalty sheets, and even a xerox of a holograph letter from Yukio Mishima to New Directions. A fine and interesting group of important literary correspondence. (300/500).
SEVERAL LETTERS FROM ANAÏS NIN
65. Nin, Anaïs. Three A.L.s. (each 1 page in length) to Henry Miller. Various places: [c.1960's-70's]. In one letter, Nin writes, "...last night I had a dream. You were weeping and I was consoling you - and you were as before, tender and human - and I was concerned and wanted to know if all was well...." In the second letter, Nin discusses her anger with Lawrence Durrell: "I thought you knew better than that. I have never been angry about petty matters. You should believe I have good reasons for giving up Larry. He has persistently invented and distorted me. Still does. I never had much use for a love which invents you and then refuses to see the truth when you try to explain...." The last letter reads, in part: "I'm writing you because ominous rumors may reach you about my having a recurrence of the cancer I had in 1970 but it is not alarming, the cure will take 4 days - it is radium, not surgery and I hope to be home by January 31...I had all kinds of news to cheer me up, made a member of the American Institute of Arts and Letters, and voted by San Francisco Chronicle among the 10 sexiest women in America. I think I prefer the latter honor!" 2nd with short tears to extremities, else very good to fine, all with Miller's holograph note "File" in upper corners. (300/500).
66. Nin, Anaïs. 1-page T.L.s. from Nin to Henry Miller, about filmmaking. N.p.: Aug. 29, 1968. Signed "Love, Anaïs" in red ink, and with Miller's holograph notation, "Nin," below. Nin is trying to convince Miller in the letter to let a Dutch filmmaker make a movie of Quiet Days in Clichy, promising not to over-sexualize it, and she also asks Miller to introduce her to a filmmaker that he knows, because she wants to make a film of
Collages. Fine - on "LOVE" stationary. (100/150).
67. Nin, Anaïs. 1-page A.L.s. & large holograph postcard to Henry Miller, the 2nd on personal stationery. Los Angeles: 1972. Both missives are telling Miller to write to another writer named Monique Engel, and singing her praises. Fine. (100/150).
68. (Nin, Anaïs) Pole, Rupert. Two T.L.s. from Rupert Pole, Nin's husband, to Henry Miller, one reporting Nin's grave condition in 1965 and one after her death, in 1977, which includes a xerox copy of a T.L.s. from Lawrence Durrell to Pole, memorializing Nin. Los Angeles: 1965 & 1977. The first letter states that Nin is very ill, and asks Miller to not mention her diaries when speaking to her because a deal with Dartmouth University to house the archives (incl. Miller/Nin correspondence) had fallen through and she was quite upset about it. The second letter thanks Miller for his words on Nin for the National Acadmey, and chattily mentions his dislike of Alice Walker: "...I hated her piece in Ms. Anais had been so good to her, writing a piece for each of her books - and then after meeting her only supeficially at the Vonneguts, she accused Anais of `professional generosity.' I guess meeting her in that New York literary jungle, she couldn't believe Anais was real!..." A fine couple of letters, last in original envelope. (100/150).
69. (Nobel Prize) File folder containing Henry Miller's holograph & typed drafts of letters from Miller to various friends & professional acquaintances the world over requesting their written support for his nomination to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1978/79, with his holograph list of people to whom the letters were sent, and the replies. Various places: various dates. Signed replies from Miller's friends, editors & acquaintances include Kay Boyle, Elmer Gertz, Barney Rosset (Grove Press), Albert Maillet, Maurice Girodias (Olympia Press), Hans Reitzel, John Killinger (Dean, Vanderbilt University), J. Rives Childs (American Ambassador), Lawrence Shifreen, Raoul Bertrand, William S. Burroughs (xerox), William Targ, Noel Young (Capra Press), and many others. (200/300).
A FEW LETTERS FROM "JOEY"
70. Perlès, Alfred. 1-page T.L.s. with holograph postscript, to Henry Miller. Accompanied by original photograph of Perlès kissing a younger female lover, identified as Ceres (who died of a drug overdose the following year). Dorset: Dec. 4, 1978. Perlès addresses the subject of death, after having learned that their mutual friend Joseph Delteil had died: "...The news of his death came as a shock to me, though I knew all along that people do die eventually. And at our advanced age it shouldn't be a surprise that old friends keep dying right and left. I wonder who's next in line, but I don't think it will be you, Joey. You're too tough and too resilient to let a few physical infirmities gain the upper hand. And I remember your fortune teller (in Colossus of Maroussi) reassuring you that you'll never die. That's nonsense, of course, the man was either a clairvoyant idiot or simply illiterate. All living organisms are bound to die, else there could be no life...At any rate, I've no fear of death, nor even of dying. Can't be too bad. And it's useless to speculate on what comes after. Best attitude to take is to wait and see. Some happy days are still in store for you, Joey...." Fine, in original envelope. (120/180).
71. Perlès, Alfred. 1-page T.L.s. to Henry Miller. Wells: 8/12/79. A friendly and funny letter from Miller's longtime best friend, with whom he spent his early years in Paris. Miller wrote much about his love of "Joey" (which they both called each other) during his life. On having received from Miller a photograph of Miller and the young Brenda Venus, Perlès writes: "...But Venus is a beauty! Has she perchance a sister called Aphrodite and if so could she be shipped to me? Greek goddesses are in short supply here. My last one, Ceres (in charge of agriculture, cornflakes, etc.) died a few weeks ago at the age of 29. Overdose of some drug. Aphrodite would suit me fine. If she's as lovely as your Venus I might turn myself into a male Scheherezade and tell her a thousand and one stories which I'm afraid I could no longer enact. (I always liked metaphors and don't mind mixing them). Yes, the address sounds good, but you know Wells. It's a narrow-minded town (pop. 8,000) that only prides itself on a cathedral less than a thousand years old and already in need of being propped up every now and then. Like us, really...." Air letter is fragile, with top 1/3 nearly detached, and on lower -1/2 part of text from lower 1/3 is still attached to middle 1/3 at margin, else a good letter with interesting content. (100/150).
72. Perlès, Alfred. 1-page T.L.s. to Henry Miller, describing an anguished visit with his wife to his native Vienna, which he hadn't visited since 1947. Dorset: 7/6/79. Perlès gives a moving description of his sadness at seeing Vienna after so many years: "Anne and I went to Vienna last month, where we spent a week. It was my first visit to the place since 1947 when my home- town was still under the four-power occupation and the people were starving. Then I wept for the Viennese, but this time for Vienna. The place has changed almost beyond recognition from the days of Emperor Franz-Josef under whose reign I was born. Of course, much else has changed, too, in the last 81 years. Including myself. I wandered through the streets in a haze, they might as well have belonged to Philadelphia or Pittsburg [sic], Pennsylvania, where I've never been. I felt like an alien in my own hometown. But then I'm an alien no matter where I go...The city is very prosperous now, with a much harder currency than the English pound...I did take a day off and went all by myself to Htteldorf, where I'd spent the best years of my childhood and early adolescence. Great changes there, too. The garden of the house where we then lived and which, in memory, was the most beautiful garden in the world, more beautiful even than the Luxembourg, has been turned into a carpark! And the delicatessen shop across the street has given place to a supermarket. It was a pilgrimage-cum-swansong to the remote past to which I can never return. Walking through the old familiar streets I shed a few tears, just for good measure, and returned to town to meet my beloved spouse in an expensive Konditorei...." About fine. (150/250).
73. (Photographs) Large group of original photographs of Henry Miller's watercolors, drawings & wall paintings, several with him & others in them, most with his captions holographed to versos. Various sizes. Various places: [c.1970's]. A fine group. (100/150).
74. (Playboy Magazine Correspondence) File of signed correspondence between Henry Miller & Playboy Magazine, incl. carbon typescript, with holograph corrections, of A Chapter from Volume 2 of "Books in My Life" - never before published (27 pp.); 1971 Playboy Press prospectus; numerous T.L.s from various editors at Playboy, and from Miller to them, some quite interesting, discussing censorship, pornography, obscenity, etc.; uncorrected long galleys of Miller's article "The Firecracker vs. the Bomb"; and also with correspondence from various other magazines & publishers, incl. Grove Press, Harper, House & Garden, Atlantic Monthly Press, all regarding reprint rights for stories Playboy Press wanted to reprint in their magazine & Playboy Reader. Various places: 1970's. A fine group of correspondence between two birds of a feather. (150/250).
75. Powell, Lawrence Clark. Three brief signed holograph letters to Henry Miller on University of Arizona stationery. Univ. of AZ: 1975-76. The letters regard Powell trying to help sell Henry Miller's letters, all to no avail. In one he suggests trying to sell them to Andreas Brown of the Gotham Book Mart in New York. Fine. (100/150).
76. Powys, J.C. Group of 12 original black & white photographs of J.C. Powys, some with Phyllis, his neighbors, nephew, brother, dog, etc. Most 5-1/4x7-1/4, one is 9-3/4x7. N.p.: [c.1900-20]. Very good. (100/150).
77. (Publishers) Group of 13 file folders of correspondence from various publishers to Henry Miller, with some carbons of letters from Miller to them, regarding a number of publications, incl. royalty statements. Various places: various dates. Publishers include: Simon & Schuster (signed contract for a collection), Viking Press, Bill Webb, Grossman Publishers, Lost Pleiade Press, Loujon Press, New American Library, Quadrangle Books, R. Seaver Books, Southern Illinois Press, Bantam Books, Georgetown Press & Greenwich Books. A fine and interesting collection. (100/150).
78. Simenon, Georges. T.L.s. on personal stationery from Simenon to Robert Snyder declining to invest money in a Henry Miller flim project. Epalinges, Switz., May 2, 1968. Fine. (50/80).
SINGER RECOMMENDS MILLER FOR THE NOBEL PRIZE
79. Singer, Isaac Bashevis. 1-page. A.L.s. on personal stationery to Henry Miller agreeing to back his nomination for the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1978/79. New York: Sept. 7, 1978. In his letter, Singer writes that "I think that no writer alive has earned as much recognition, praise and high prizes as you both for your literary work and for your selfless fight for literary freedom. Of course I will write to the Academy. Just the same I feel that you are too great a man to ask for any prize. Whatever recognition you should get must come from the givers, not from you...Whatever the results, you will remain a pillar of literature and a most couragous fighter against any kind of censorship in literature. Yours with love and admiration, Isaac B. Singer." Ironically, Singer himself was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature that year. Fine, in original hand-addressed envelope with Miller's holograph note to front. (200/300).
MILLER'S EARLY BROOKLYN THEATRE PROGRAMS
80. Theatre Programs. File folder filled with old theatre & vaudeville programs from Brooklyn theaters that Miller attended in his youth and saved, as well as his clippings of theatrical announcments and bills. Brooklyn: 1898-1920's. A wonderful collection of original programs from shows Miller attended as a child and young man living in Brooklyn, including theatres such as the Alcazar, Amphion, American Music Hall, Casino, Folly, Gayety, Columbia, Payton's, Brooklyn Music Hall, Watson's Cosey Corner, Bronx, Park, & Grand Opera House. Some browning & extremity chipping, else good to very good - an important archive from a significant time in Miller's life, which he harked back to nostalgically in many of his autobiographical writings as some of the happiest and also most difficult memories of his life. (150/250).