Henry Miller - Autograph; Lot with 26 letters to Joseph Delteil and Caroline Delteil- 1935/1977
MILLER (Henry) . (1891-1980) . 23 handwritten signed letters and 3 signed letters, 1935-1977, to Joseph Delteil and/or Caroline Delteil; 41 pages that are mostly quarto, 10 with his Pacific Palisades header; in English and in French. Very beautiful and important literary and friendly correspondence. The private correspondence between Joseph Delteil and Henry Miller was published (Pierre Belfond, 1980) through the care of F.
-J. Temple, who comments: “What a strange meeting! On one side, the pure product of the streets of Brooklyn; on the other, the farmer from Pieusse. For Miller, the tremendous need to live; for Delteil, the meticulous precaution of living. For both of them, the unalterable language bulimia. ” Temple once more evokes “this dialogue between two men, two writers, growing old together, who honoured each other through their shared friendship, respect, admiration, so different and yet so close in their passionate love of life. ” Miller’s letters are missing here; the letters by Joseph Delteil are preserved in the Henry Miller Papers, UCLA Library, Los Angeles. Miller’s first 2 letters, from 1935, are in English and typed (and one other from 1960) . When their correspondence resumed in 1951, Miller generally wrote in French to Delteil, and in English to Caroline (sometimes in the same letter) . Here we will give a quick overview of this correspondence. New York 16 May 1935, sending Delteil the double of a long letter to his friend Alfred Perlès, informing him of what was going on in New York, as well as his article Glittering Pie; Miller is very interested in Delteil’s on-going work, to whom he often wishes to write, since Delteil interests him quite a bit as an artist: the little that he has read has given him the appetite to read it all; rather than success, with nauseating resonances, he wishes him “joie de vivre”. . . 18 Villa Seurat 3 July 1935. Before beginning reading Sur le Fleuve Amour, he expresses his joy at once again being on French soil, and states at length his devout admiration for Delteil, especially for his sense of the miraculous, and his way of immersing himself completely into a book. He wonders what he could do in America to make Delteil’s name better known. He hopes to meet up with him soon. . . Big Sur 9 march 1951, stating his admiration for Jésus II, which made him laugh quite a bit, and that he will read and reread like all of the other books by Delteil, to whom he sends both of his Tropics, and his book on Greece [The Colossus of Maroussi] ; he is going to write about Delteil in a book on books. . . 28 April, looking back on Jésus II: “I felt more things in your last book than I can describe. I saw line - Apuleius, Petronius, Rabelais, and the “Zen” (Buddhism) masters. If I could espouse “a philosophy,” it would be Zen. But laughter is enough for me. ” He evokes the work of Arthur Machen. . . Sexus (volume I of La Crucifixion en Rose) is “banned by order of the Ministry of the Interior. In French and English,” but he will try to find a copy. “Corréa is going to publish the 2nd Plexus, in French. I see that Genet is published by Gallimard. How? ? ? ” 9 May. He read Choléra, Jeanne d’Arc, Sur le Fleuve Amour; he would like to read La Belle Aude, Perpignan, Discours aux Oiseaux. . . “I am truly attracted by Provence, for all that it promises us- and has already given us over the centuries. I am always moved by everything related to the Albigeois. A mystery that intrigues me. ” He recommends Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse: “It’s for you! I see in you this old Adam-Cadmus. You are a Chinese-Frenchman, one of the rare souls still filled with joy. That why I am following Zen (Buddhism) . They say that it is a religion of “non-religion. ” Good! I find everything in Zen. And a little more. But especially laughter. . . ” 5 December, about the account of Cabeza de Vaca that he prefaced. . . At Corréa, Maurice Nadeau will publish the translation of The World of Sex, and Plexus. . . He's in big marital trouble, and he's fighting to keep his kids. . . Paris 2 May 1953: he has returned to Paris, full of the marvelous Bruges atmosphere. . . 6 May, details on the next trip to Spain with the Delteils; in Barcelona, he would find his old friend, Alfred Perlès: "This is the first time in 14 years or more that I've seen it" . . . Perigux 11 July, reporting his conversations with Dr. de Fontbrune about Nostradamus, and the prediction of an upcoming Third World War. . . Big Sur March 19, 1960, on his account of Francis of Assisi. He gives the details of the trips that he must make, before spending the winter in Japan. He talks about the American edition of his book To Paint is to Love Again. . . Locarno 13 March 1961, on the subject of his literary agent Ruth Liepman in Hamburg, interested by Francis of Assisi; reading Chesterton’s book on Thomas Aquinas. . . He wrote a “melo-melo” in 7 scenes, Just Wild About Harry. . . Reinbeck 21 August 1961, after a stay in Italy with Marino Marini who sculpted his bust. “From here to London in a few days, then a little time in Ireland with Perles. Afterward, at my children’s house in California- and then a dive back into work. I have not written a single line of this book (Nexus-Volume II) promised to the editors a long while ago”; he therefore cannot write a short book like Pour Saluer Melville, which he adores, for Grasset. . . 25 January 1963, following a letter of admiration for Alexander King, a wonderful man who has committed all of the sins. . . He would go to Paris in April or May for the film version of the Tropic of Cancer. Pacific Palisades 1 June 1969, expressing his enthusiasm for reading La Deltheillerie: “I am thrilled, dazzled, and more. At two o’clock yesterday morning, rereading a chapter on “Les Trois Parrains,” I stood up and, despite my arthritis, I started to do a little dance in my bedroom. This was my way of celebrating a book, a man, a writer, a great bedrock, that you are. Hurray! And the Rigole de Riquet ! Does this place really exist- or did you dream it up? What a splendid description! Only royalty could have managed such a feat. . . ” He evokes Aragon. . . “You are quite often in my thoughts and I speak of you often when the idiots (here) ask me who I admire, among today’s writers. I saw Delteil- and Isaac Bashevis Singer, Jewish writer, whom I read in translation [. . .] And now my son, Tony, writes me that he would like to be a writer one day. Pour boy! He doesn’t know what the future holds for him. ” Pacific Palisades 24 May 1973. He agrees to the quotation of letters by Jean-Marie Drot. “When I speak to friends about your books, I am more eloquent, more aggressive, so to speak. I am not a Christian, nor a Pagan, or anything else, but for me- and thanks to you- Francis of Assisi is still the greatest man of our civilization- the truest of the true”. Michèle Arnaud came to film him for a TV show. . . 29 July 1974, on the subject of one of Caroline’s manuscripts; and on his sad state of health, quite ruined; as for Delteil, he is the king, the Lion of Judah. . . 17 December 1974: “Yes, age is the destroyer. But life is beautiful nevertheless. There is nothing wrong with life, it’s with the planet, the earth, that the Gnostics referred to as a cosmic error. I’m quite Gnostic, anarchist, and anything that is destructive, or simply “against. ” I don’t believe that the earth is a cosmic mistake but that people, all of us, are crazy. And crazy in a bad way. I am waiting for the end of the world- with joy. The older I get, the more rebellious (or is it revolted?) I become [. . .] I have no ideology, no hope, but, like Jacqueline François sings - “lots of love. . . ” Pacific Palisades 18 July 1975. On the subject of the book he was writing in French, I’m no dumber than anyone else, and the search for a quote by Francis of Assisi; he refuses that anyone correct his defective French; he added many expressions that he will never forget “ insolite, saugrenu, tapète, connerie, emmerdeur, enculé, etc. , etc. And – “ferme ta claque-merde ! ” Drôle, quoi ? ”. . . He met a gorgeous Japanese woman; if he wasn’t already in love with his Chinese actress, he would have gladly made love to her. . . 2 August, discovering that Delteil only has one eye, like him; on people from the East. . . Delteil is wise to quit while at the height of his power, he remains “the king of kings! ”. . . 13 September, on the subject of Marie Corelli. . . “Your last letter sent me to seventh heaven. I have never read anything like it. In English there is only one author who resembles you a little, my master John Cowper Powys, a Welshman. But your letter is absolutely unique, dazzling, crazy and wise at the same time”; he wants to put it in the appendix of his book in French. . . 16 November His eye is preventing him from working on Caroline’s book on La Revue Negre. . . his love is shooting a film in Taiwan; he speaks about his attraction to Asians. . . 19 February 1976: “I am overwhelmed by your last letter. I know that you aren’t a flatterer, but. . . In any case, I was happier to read your words that I was when I received the Legion of Honor”. . . He is sorry that his French book has been rewritten by Gallimard “in a rusty French. ” It’s miserable”. . . “He adds: “Especially don’t read the biography that Brassai wrote about me! It’s terrible”. . . 7 April, on his health and his bad heart: “But I am breathing, I see women, I even go to the cinema from time to time”. . . 13 January 1977, he has been bedridden after a fall; rejoicing that Delteil is writing about them [Joseph and Caroline’s project] ; he wonders about the word “ Pâques” (Easter) : “ I am too lazy to search for definitions. I prefer to dream up my own etymologies. . . ” 9 June: “I just received your news about Caroline. What a miracle! I’m afraid of miracles, myself, as the American song says. I believe in many things, and even more with age. Yes, we are united- God only knows how and why. Your name is...
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MILLER (Henry) . (1891-1980) . 23 handwritten signed letters and 3 signed letters, 1935-1977, to Joseph Delteil and/or Caroline Delteil; 41 pages that are mostly quarto, 10 with his Pacific Palisades header; in English and in French. Very beautiful and important literary and friendly correspondence. The private correspondence between Joseph Delteil and Henry Miller was published (Pierre Belfond, 1980) through the care of F.
-J. Temple, who comments: “What a strange meeting! On one side, the pure product of the streets of Brooklyn; on the other, the farmer from Pieusse. For Miller, the tremendous need to live; for Delteil, the meticulous precaution of living. For both of them, the unalterable language bulimia. ” Temple once more evokes “this dialogue between two men, two writers, growing old together, who honoured each other through their shared friendship, respect, admiration, so different and yet so close in their passionate love of life. ” Miller’s letters are missing here; the letters by Joseph Delteil are preserved in the Henry Miller Papers, UCLA Library, Los Angeles. Miller’s first 2 letters, from 1935, are in English and typed (and one other from 1960) . When their correspondence resumed in 1951, Miller generally wrote in French to Delteil, and in English to Caroline (sometimes in the same letter) . Here we will give a quick overview of this correspondence. New York 16 May 1935, sending Delteil the double of a long letter to his friend Alfred Perlès, informing him of what was going on in New York, as well as his article Glittering Pie; Miller is very interested in Delteil’s on-going work, to whom he often wishes to write, since Delteil interests him quite a bit as an artist: the little that he has read has given him the appetite to read it all; rather than success, with nauseating resonances, he wishes him “joie de vivre”. . . 18 Villa Seurat 3 July 1935. Before beginning reading Sur le Fleuve Amour, he expresses his joy at once again being on French soil, and states at length his devout admiration for Delteil, especially for his sense of the miraculous, and his way of immersing himself completely into a book. He wonders what he could do in America to make Delteil’s name better known. He hopes to meet up with him soon. . . Big Sur 9 march 1951, stating his admiration for Jésus II, which made him laugh quite a bit, and that he will read and reread like all of the other books by Delteil, to whom he sends both of his Tropics, and his book on Greece [The Colossus of Maroussi] ; he is going to write about Delteil in a book on books. . . 28 April, looking back on Jésus II: “I felt more things in your last book than I can describe. I saw line - Apuleius, Petronius, Rabelais, and the “Zen” (Buddhism) masters. If I could espouse “a philosophy,” it would be Zen. But laughter is enough for me. ” He evokes the work of Arthur Machen. . . Sexus (volume I of La Crucifixion en Rose) is “banned by order of the Ministry of the Interior. In French and English,” but he will try to find a copy. “Corréa is going to publish the 2nd Plexus, in French. I see that Genet is published by Gallimard. How? ? ? ” 9 May. He read Choléra, Jeanne d’Arc, Sur le Fleuve Amour; he would like to read La Belle Aude, Perpignan, Discours aux Oiseaux. . . “I am truly attracted by Provence, for all that it promises us- and has already given us over the centuries. I am always moved by everything related to the Albigeois. A mystery that intrigues me. ” He recommends Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse: “It’s for you! I see in you this old Adam-Cadmus. You are a Chinese-Frenchman, one of the rare souls still filled with joy. That why I am following Zen (Buddhism) . They say that it is a religion of “non-religion. ” Good! I find everything in Zen. And a little more. But especially laughter. . . ” 5 December, about the account of Cabeza de Vaca that he prefaced. . . At Corréa, Maurice Nadeau will publish the translation of The World of Sex, and Plexus. . . He's in big marital trouble, and he's fighting to keep his kids. . . Paris 2 May 1953: he has returned to Paris, full of the marvelous Bruges atmosphere. . . 6 May, details on the next trip to Spain with the Delteils; in Barcelona, he would find his old friend, Alfred Perlès: "This is the first time in 14 years or more that I've seen it" . . . Perigux 11 July, reporting his conversations with Dr. de Fontbrune about Nostradamus, and the prediction of an upcoming Third World War. . . Big Sur March 19, 1960, on his account of Francis of Assisi. He gives the details of the trips that he must make, before spending the winter in Japan. He talks about the American edition of his book To Paint is to Love Again. . . Locarno 13 March 1961, on the subject of his literary agent Ruth Liepman in Hamburg, interested by Francis of Assisi; reading Chesterton’s book on Thomas Aquinas. . . He wrote a “melo-melo” in 7 scenes, Just Wild About Harry. . . Reinbeck 21 August 1961, after a stay in Italy with Marino Marini who sculpted his bust. “From here to London in a few days, then a little time in Ireland with Perles. Afterward, at my children’s house in California- and then a dive back into work. I have not written a single line of this book (Nexus-Volume II) promised to the editors a long while ago”; he therefore cannot write a short book like Pour Saluer Melville, which he adores, for Grasset. . . 25 January 1963, following a letter of admiration for Alexander King, a wonderful man who has committed all of the sins. . . He would go to Paris in April or May for the film version of the Tropic of Cancer. Pacific Palisades 1 June 1969, expressing his enthusiasm for reading La Deltheillerie: “I am thrilled, dazzled, and more. At two o’clock yesterday morning, rereading a chapter on “Les Trois Parrains,” I stood up and, despite my arthritis, I started to do a little dance in my bedroom. This was my way of celebrating a book, a man, a writer, a great bedrock, that you are. Hurray! And the Rigole de Riquet ! Does this place really exist- or did you dream it up? What a splendid description! Only royalty could have managed such a feat. . . ” He evokes Aragon. . . “You are quite often in my thoughts and I speak of you often when the idiots (here) ask me who I admire, among today’s writers. I saw Delteil- and Isaac Bashevis Singer, Jewish writer, whom I read in translation [. . .] And now my son, Tony, writes me that he would like to be a writer one day. Pour boy! He doesn’t know what the future holds for him. ” Pacific Palisades 24 May 1973. He agrees to the quotation of letters by Jean-Marie Drot. “When I speak to friends about your books, I am more eloquent, more aggressive, so to speak. I am not a Christian, nor a Pagan, or anything else, but for me- and thanks to you- Francis of Assisi is still the greatest man of our civilization- the truest of the true”. Michèle Arnaud came to film him for a TV show. . . 29 July 1974, on the subject of one of Caroline’s manuscripts; and on his sad state of health, quite ruined; as for Delteil, he is the king, the Lion of Judah. . . 17 December 1974: “Yes, age is the destroyer. But life is beautiful nevertheless. There is nothing wrong with life, it’s with the planet, the earth, that the Gnostics referred to as a cosmic error. I’m quite Gnostic, anarchist, and anything that is destructive, or simply “against. ” I don’t believe that the earth is a cosmic mistake but that people, all of us, are crazy. And crazy in a bad way. I am waiting for the end of the world- with joy. The older I get, the more rebellious (or is it revolted?) I become [. . .] I have no ideology, no hope, but, like Jacqueline François sings - “lots of love. . . ” Pacific Palisades 18 July 1975. On the subject of the book he was writing in French, I’m no dumber than anyone else, and the search for a quote by Francis of Assisi; he refuses that anyone correct his defective French; he added many expressions that he will never forget “ insolite, saugrenu, tapète, connerie, emmerdeur, enculé, etc. , etc. And – “ferme ta claque-merde ! ” Drôle, quoi ? ”. . . He met a gorgeous Japanese woman; if he wasn’t already in love with his Chinese actress, he would have gladly made love to her. . . 2 August, discovering that Delteil only has one eye, like him; on people from the East. . . Delteil is wise to quit while at the height of his power, he remains “the king of kings! ”. . . 13 September, on the subject of Marie Corelli. . . “Your last letter sent me to seventh heaven. I have never read anything like it. In English there is only one author who resembles you a little, my master John Cowper Powys, a Welshman. But your letter is absolutely unique, dazzling, crazy and wise at the same time”; he wants to put it in the appendix of his book in French. . . 16 November His eye is preventing him from working on Caroline’s book on La Revue Negre. . . his love is shooting a film in Taiwan; he speaks about his attraction to Asians. . . 19 February 1976: “I am overwhelmed by your last letter. I know that you aren’t a flatterer, but. . . In any case, I was happier to read your words that I was when I received the Legion of Honor”. . . He is sorry that his French book has been rewritten by Gallimard “in a rusty French. ” It’s miserable”. . . “He adds: “Especially don’t read the biography that Brassai wrote about me! It’s terrible”. . . 7 April, on his health and his bad heart: “But I am breathing, I see women, I even go to the cinema from time to time”. . . 13 January 1977, he has been bedridden after a fall; rejoicing that Delteil is writing about them [Joseph and Caroline’s project] ; he wonders about the word “ Pâques” (Easter) : “ I am too lazy to search for definitions. I prefer to dream up my own etymologies. . . ” 9 June: “I just received your news about Caroline. What a miracle! I’m afraid of miracles, myself, as the American song says. I believe in many things, and even more with age. Yes, we are united- God only knows how and why. Your name is...
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