News | December 12, 2023

Henry Miller's Bathrobe, Letters, Diaries, and Watercolors to Auction

Guernsey’s

Henry Miller's blue bathrobe, estimate $3,000-$5,000

An archive of personal letters and writings by Henry Miller as well as his favorite blue bathrobe and paintings, goes under the hammer at Guernsey's this week.

Later in life the author of Tropic of Cancer, banned in the U.S. due to its candid sexuality, struck up a torrid relationship with Brenda Venus who later wrote a book about their affair. These never-before-offered archives, including more than 500 handwritten, passionate, explicit correspondences, will appear in the online auction on December 14. Among them will be Miller's last letter (estimate: $4,000-$6,000).

Leading the sale is a collection of more than 500 original handwritten letters on approximately 950 pages, written by Henry Miller, then in his eighties, to Brenda Venus (estimate: $600,000-$800,000). Many are multi-page letters, some written on two sides of the paper. Most of the paper has Miller's letterhead with his name and Pacific Palisades address appearing printed upper left. Occasionally, printed quotes (by Henry Miller and other writers) appear on the bottom of the pages.

A separate lot of manuscripts, letters, and nine handwritten postcards from Miller, eight of which reproduce Henry Miller artworks on the picture side, have messages handwritten in ink by Miller: seven addressed to Brenda Venus in Los Angeles, one to Sally Venus (Brenda Venus’s mother) in Hattisburg, and one to Tony Miller (Henry Miller’s son) in Paris. Estimate: $20,000-$40,000.

The bathrobe and matching tie belt (size M, 38-40, J C Penney label) has an estimate of $3,000 - $5,000. Miller wore this blue bathrobe in the manner of a traditional smoking jacket for interviews with journalists, visits from friends, dinners, and painting sessions.

Guernsey's

The Blue Journal

Guernsey's

A selection of Miller's letters

Guernsey's

Miller's postcards

Guernsey's

A selection of Miller's book in the auction

Elsewhere more than 50 books from Miller's personal library gifted to Brenda Venus (estimate $4,000 - $5,000) include his best known books Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn as well as Nexus, The Wisdom of the Heart, The Colossus of Maroussi, and The Smile at the Foot of the Ladder. Many are inscribed and given to Brenda. Several of the books were written with or by friends and associates Norman Mailer, Lawrence Durrell, Alfred Perles, William Gordon, Elmer Gertz and William Webb. Also included is a copy of the 1912 Edmondo de Amicis book The Heart of a Boy which Miller fondly remembered and wrote about in a 1980 monograph just months before he died.

In addition to the books, the collection also includes nine issues of the rare Stroker magazine, each containing articles and essays by Miller, some of which were accompanied by images of Miller’s artwork, all dating from 1978 and 1979.

Miller's Guide Bleu notebook, also known as the Blue Journal, has an estimate of $15,000-$20,000. This was the name Henry Miller gave to this notebook, dating back to the author’s years in Paris, 1930 to 1939. Miller used it to record commonly used French words and phrases along with their translations as he acclimated to living in France and became more fluent in the language. In it he made note of museums, dance halls, and bistros, and address of friends.