MILLER, HENRY. (1891-1980). Controversial American author, and pioneer of modern literature. ALS. (“Henry Miller”). 1p. 4to. New York, N.d. To Wallace Weber, playfully addressed by Miller as “General Lew Wallace Weber.”
“Dear General Lew Wallace Weber or just Maximilian; – Would like to see the Kessler Sisters again. Lovely creatures. Can you give me their names & address & distinguish between them for me. Or a telephone number. We must get together again – cozy and intimate like – a womb festival…”
Miller is well known for the obscenity trials resulting from the publication of his novels Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn. First published in France, the books were banned in the United States because of their “lascivious” content, and for a time Miller lived on the edge of poverty, unable to collect foreign royalties. After decades of litigation, the works were finally published in the 1960s, by which time Miller’s reputation had already been established. Despite initial resistance to his writing, Miller, toward the end of his life, achieved recognition as a leader against censorship and a pioneer of modern fiction.
The form of address is a joke, referring to American soldier, lawyer, diplomat, and author of the immensely popular historical novel, Ben-Hur, Lew Wallace (1827-1905) and influential German sociologist and political economist Max Weber (1864-1920) whom he refers to as “Maximilian.”
German twin performers Alice Kessler and Ellen Kessler (b.1936) were popular for their singing, dancing and acting throughout Europe during the 1950s and 1960s and, in the United States, after they appeared on The Red Skelton Hour in 1963 and The Ed Sullivan Show. In 1976, they created a sensation by appearing on the cover of Playboy.
Miller has written his address at the top of the page care of NYC’s literary agency Russell & Volkering.
Folded and in very fine condition.
Henry Miller
