Miller, Henry; Childs, J. Rives

Collector's Quest: The Correspondence of Henry Miller and J. Rives Childs, 1947-1965

Charlottesville, VA: University Press of Virginia, 1968. First Edition. Hardcover. "J. Rives Childs, the author of important works on (Giacomo) Casanova and Restif de la Bretonne and former ambassador to Saudi Arabia and to Ethiopia, began to collect Henry Miller's work in 1939. But it was not until 1947 that Childs opened his correspondence with Miller by sending to him a copy of a letter written to a French reviewer who had misunderstood the direction of Miller's writing. Miller responded enthusiastically, and later wrote again. From that time, despite the vagaries of distance and personal burdens, the letters were more or less frequent. Childs was always eager to learn about Miller's work, and his inquiries have produced a nineteen-year record of considerable bibliographical importance and literary significance." (from front flap) The collected correspondence over two eventful decades between Henry Miller (1891-1980), the great American writer & artist whose earlier works were an influential precedent for the Beat Generation; & J. Rives Childs (1893-1987), the noted American diplomat, author & collector. Edited & with an Introduction & notes by Richard Clement Wood (1925-2014), the distinguished American academician, editor & poet; & with a bibliographical appendix listing the Miller collection in the Walter Hines Page Library at Randolph-Macon College, Ashland, Virginia. Hardcover in unclipped first-issue dust jacket (with $5.75 price printed at front flap), first edition, first (& apparently only) printing of 2,679 copies published in 1968 per Shifreen & Jackson, A164, pg. 394. A very rare & most insightful Miller-Childs collectible in its singularly scarcest original form. Book in very fine condition with only light rubbing, fading to edges & corners of front, back covers & spine; light rubbing, spotting to edges of text block. Interior very fine with only slight browning, light spotting to blank paste-downs & endpapers; otherwise substantially mint. Dust jacket relatively quite fine with mild rubbing, light spotting to front, back covers, spine & flaps; a touch of wear & some tiny bumps, creases at edges & corners of same. Very Fine / Fine. [Item #5837]

Price: $50.00