Miller, Henry (Schnellock, Emil; Wickes, George)

Letters to Emil

ISBN: 0811210928
New York, NY: New Directions, 1989. First Edition. Hardcover. "In September 1938, Henry Miller first announced his preparation of a book to be called Letters to Emil- letters to his boyhood friend, the successful commercial artist Emil Schnellock. In the decades that followed, this one-sided correspondence was often quarried for publication, but the letters as gathered by Miller for the years 1922 through 1934 have never appeared in print until now. A chance encounter by the two men, who had known each other in childhood, led to Miller's decision to become a writer, and through the '20s and '30s, Schnellock acted as his chief mentor. Miller's letters to Emil are, then, a compelling record of the writer in the making, beginning with his first efforts in 1922, tracing his ten-year struggle to find his own voice, and reaching a climax with the publication of Tropic of Cancer in 1934. Indeed, it was in his actual Letters to Emil that Henry Miller developed his vigorously earthy yet philosophical style." (from front flap) A collection of letters by Henry Miller (1891-1980), the great American writer & artist whose earlier works were an influential precedent for the Beat Generation, especially Founding Father Jack Kerouac. The letters, to his contemporary childhood schoolmate & later mentor the American artist Emil Schnellock (1890-1958), demonstrate Miller's gestation & evolution as a writer during the critical period of 1922-1934, culminating in the hard-won achievement of his mature style. Compiled, edited & with an informative introduction by George Wickes (b. 1923), an acclaimed American scholar, author & academician who has written several other Miller-related works. With a section of captioned historical photographs. Hardcover in unclipped dust jacket, first edition, first printing "First published clothbound by New Directions in 1989" as stated on copyright page, an exemplary production of James Laughlin's fabled imprint. With reproduction of a 1929 drawing of Miller by Schnellock on jacket front cover. A most important acquisition for the Miller scholar & collector, in its rarest original form. Book in very fine condition with only a touch of rubbing, wear at edges & corners of black cloth front, back covers & spine; otherwise substantially mint inside & out. Dust jacket very fine with only very light, sparse rubbing & mild browning to front, back covers, spine & flaps; very slight wear & a few tiny bumps, creases at edges & corners of same. Very Fine / Very Fine. [Item #5739]

Price: $30.00