Miller, Henry

Letters from Henry Miller to Hoki Tokuda Miller

ISBN: 0709040113
London, England: Robert Hale, 1990. First UK Edition. Hardcover. "Henry Miller described himself as a confused, negligent, reckless, lusty, obscene, boisterous, thoughtful, scrupulous, lying, diabolically truthful man...filled with wisdom and nonsense. These letters, penned by the controversial author of Tropic of Cancer, Tropic of Capricorn and Black Spring, represent Henry Miller's sexual and moral summing-up. Published in the UK for the first time, they chart the infatuation, marriage and eventual disillusionment of Miller with his fifth wife Hoki Tokuda, a talented Japanese musician almost fifty years his junior. In its almost dangerous candour and its melancholy recognition of love's failure to sustain happiness, this volume deserves to be viewed as the culminating statement of Miller's interior life." (from front flap) A compilation of letters written by Henry Miller (1891-1980), the great American author & artist whose earlier works anticipated & inspired the Beat Generation, to Hoki Tokuda Miller (b. 1934?), his fifth & final wife. Written between 1966 & 1969, the letters trace the arc of courtship, marriage & disillusionment between the aging Henry & much younger Hoki. Compiled, edited & with an informative Introduction by Joyce Howard (1922-2010), an acclaimed British actress & author. With a section of captioned photographs of Henry, Hoki & co. First published in the USA during 1986, offered here is the first UK edition of 1990, hardcover in unclipped dust jacket, a presumed first-&-only printing with all points in Shifreen & Jackson, A246b, pgs. 513-514. We found & have retained, between pages 18-19, an elegant bookmark of Wessel and Lieberman Booksellers in Seattle, Washington, with cursive notes in an unknown hand in black ink at verso, in near-fine condition with creases across middle & some tiny bumps, creases at edges & corners. An important later Miller collectible in its second-rarest form. Book in very fine condition with only a touch of wear at edges & corners of front, back covers & spine; otherwise substantially mint inside & out. Dust jacket very fine with only a bit of rubbing, faint scratching to front, back covers & spine; very slight wear & some tiny bumps, creases at edges & corners of same & flaps. Very Fine / Very Fine. [Item #5879]

Price: $35.00