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HENRY MILLER’S PARIS NOTEBOOKS, ASSEMBLED IN THE 1930s,
PRESENTING HIS THOUGHTS & REFLECTIONS AT A CRUCIAL TIME
95. miller, henry. Miller’s Paris Notebooks from 1932-1936, with manuscript and typed notes on ideas and
resources for his writings. 3 volumes, comprising approx. 413 leaves, typed and holograph manuscript,
each signed at the front (“Property of Henry V. Miller...”). 9½x6¼, half morocco & marbled boards,
spines lettered in gilt.
Paris: 1932-1936
Extraordinary and highly important notebooks written and assembled by Henry Miller during
his years in Paris in the 1930’s, providing source material for his three novels written in Paris,
Tropic of Cancer (1934, an account of his bohemian life in Paris), Black Spring (1936, an
examination of his early childhood, inspired by his relationship with Anais Nin), and Tropic of
Capricorn (1939, a fictionalized account of his struggle to become a writer before coming to
Paris). The literary significance of these notebooks can hardly be overstated - they capture the
thoughts and reflections of Miller during his period of greatest creativitiy, and provide the basis
for the works which were to make him famous. The notebooks contain an astounding array of
material, both typed and handwritten, and occasionally newsclippings and other material pasted
in. Included are notes on scenes and events in Paris; typed and handwritten excerpts from Lady
Chatterly’s Lover and Anais Nin’s diary; keys to the names of characters in his novels; lists of
debts he owes; letters from friends such as Alfred Perles, Emil Shnellock and Anais Nin; several
photographs including his father and Anais Nin; erotic cartoons, movie programs, a French
vocabulary, several drawings, a list of Miller’s residences in Paris from 1930-1932, numbering 23
places, “which doesn’t take account of the places where I’ve `flopped’ for a night,” and much
more. Among his reflections on life in Paris: “The women of Montemartre! One has to go
back to Virgil for comparisons - to the harpies!”; “At night screams, shouts, curses, animated
discussions on streets - all very course, loud, terrifying, thoroughly Latin. Altercations with
women absolutely unheard of in
America - treat women like dogs, no
chivalry, not even the slightest respect.
The commoner here is a very low,
crude specimen”; “Here June gets
angry because I loaned `Chadla,’ the
dancer, her book of Dostoievski.
Later she & Chadla become good
pals...”; plus Miller’s transcription
of Anais Nin’s notes on Tropic
of Cancer; notes from Nin’s diary
which, when she read them to him,
precipitated their sexual relationship;
and much more. In the third volume
are extensive handwritten notes on
Black Spring and Tropic of Capricorn.
There are manuscript indexes
inserted at the front of the first two
volumes. In sum, the three volumes
containing what is undoubtedly the
most important source material for
the study of Henry Miller, his mind,
his life, and his writings. Miller kept
these three volumes on his desk, and
they can be seen in many photographs
taken of him in his office. Provenance:
The Henry Miller Family, then the
Collection of Roger Wagner. Some
normal wear, but in quite nice
condition.
Lot 95
(100000/150000)
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