Harry Ransom CenterThe University of Texas at Austin

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Alexander B. Miller Collection of Henry Miller,
1936-2007
Preliminary Inventory

2 boxes (.84 linear feet)

Note: This brief collection description is an accession record. The collection is not fully processed or cataloged; no biographical sketch, descriptions of series, or indexes are available.
Acquisition:
Access: Open for research
Processed by: Stephen Cooper, 2007
RLIN Record ID: None

Table of Contents

Scope and Contents
Folder List

Scope and Contents

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.

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.

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.

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."

Seventeen books by or about the author were part of the gift and were transferred to the Ransom Center Library.

Folder List

Box	Folder	Description

Series I. Correspondence, 1936-2000

		Gerhardt, Renate
1	1		To Alexander Miller, 2000
	2		To Henry Miller, undated
		Miller, Henry
	3		To Count Antonini, 1936-1937, undated
			To Renate Gerhardt
	4			1960
	5			1961
	6			1962
	7			1963
	8			1964
	9			1965-1970, undated
	10			Postcards, 1960-1967
	11			Telegrams, 1960-1962

2	1-3			Envelopes
	4		To others, 1955-1979; envelopes
	5	Robitaille, Gerald to Renate Gerhardt, 1968

Series II. Miller-Related and Other Materials, 1949-2007

	6	Business and personal related materials, 1957-1979,
				undated
	7	Publishing promotional materials, 1949-1995,
				undated
	8	"The Temple of the Living God" thesis by Carter
				Burden, 1963
	9	"Miller-Gerhardt Collection, An Introduction" by
				Karl Orend, 2007
Alexander B. Miller Collection of Henry Miller Preliminary Inventory
(Last modified: 11 January 2008)

Reference queries to: reference@hrc.utexas.edu

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