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This collection of Henry Miller materials was given to the Ransom Center by Alexander
B.
Miller, a private collector unrelated to Henry Miller, who purchased most of the materials
in 1998. The bulk of the collection is made up of correspondence from Miller to Renate
Gerhardt, a German publisher with whom he had a romantic relationship during the 1960s,
as
well as a few letters to Gerhardt from Gerald Robitaille, Miller's secretary. This
correspondence has not been publicly available since its creation. Also present in
the
collection are twenty letters to and from Count Antonini and others, one carbon copy
of a
letter from Gerhardt to Henry Miller, one letter from Gerhardt to Alexander Miller,
and a
small amount of business and personal materials related to Henry Miller. |
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The papers are arranged in two series: I. Correspondence, 1936-2000; and II. Miller-Related
and Other Materials, 1949-2007. Upon arrival, all of the correspondence was in rough
chronological order organized by author, and a small amount of further organization
was done
to complete this arrangement. |
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The correspondence in Series I. includes handwritten and typed letters, postcards,
telegrams, and a large number of envelopes that were separated from their corresponding
letters before arrival at the Ransom Center. The correspondence to Gerhardt reveals
a wide
variety of subject matter, from romantic conversation to discussions about their children,
financial matters, health difficulties, literary issues, contemporary writers and
other
notable persons, and travel plans. |
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The materials in Series II., Miller-Related and Other Materials, include a photograph
of
Miller with Brenda Venus, a book catalog of "Titles Available and Unavailable" for
works
available directly from Miller in Big Sur, two pamphlets and a press release put out
by
Miller, promotional materials related to Miller's watercolor paintings, a Henry Miller
Literary Society newsletter from 1960, publishing promotional materials, an essay
by Karl
Orend titled "Miller-Gerhardt Collection, An Introduction," and a thesis titled "The
Temple
Of the Living God." |
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The materials in Series III. Electronic Materials includes electronic versions of
the materials
in Series I and II. |
