A large archive relating to Henry Miller and his friend David Edgar 1933-57

*A large archive of correspondence and transcripts to artist David Edgar from Henry Miller, dated between 1933 and 1957*
 
The collection consists of: Three original manuscripts, all annotated by Henry Miller, being: The Brooklyn Bridge, 16pp [with] into the future, 20pp [with] The Wisdom of the Heart, 18pp. 
 
Correspondence between Miller and Edgar in 1944 being: A three-page letter written in hand by Henry Miller to close friend David Edgar, dated 20 January 1944 [with] a first edition of 'Henry Miller' by Nicholas Moore, signed by Henry Miller to the title page P [3], 8vo, sometime folded presumably sent from Miller in California to Edgar in the UK; dated 20 January 1944; in excellent near fine condition, signed at the bottom of page 3 by Miller. Correspondence between Miller and Edgar during 1951 to 1957 being: An A6 postcard with Henry Miller. Miller's ALS to the reverse dated 5 May 1951. In excellent near fine condition. [with] a two-sided letter with envelope handwritten dated 27 May 1951 from Miller to Edgar [with] A similar A6 postcard as item 1, also to David Edgar. Miller's ALS to the reverse this time dated 18 December 1951. Also, in excellent near fine condition. [with] A promotional A6 postcard, "Henry Miller and Alfred Perles, author of The Henry Miller Story'. Henry Miller has signed his name in green ink. Underneath it is printed that the title has changed to 'My friend Henry Miller'. [with] an exceptional joint letter written by both Alfred Perles and Henry Miller, on an A4 page folded to make 4 sides, sometime folded. Addressed superbly, as Alfred Perles C/O Henry Miller, Big Sur, California. Written on all sides by Perles and one side also by Miller. To David Edgar dated 9 December 1954. The letter sits in its original envelope, headed Henry Miller Big Sur California and is addressed in Miller's hand to Edgar. In excellent near fine condition. [with] A 1-page, two-sided letter by Henry Miller to David Edgar on his headed paper, dated 19 August 1957. Sometime folded, with foxing marks and some nicks and small tears to the edges and folds. A very good letter. 
 
Miller met David Edgar in Paris in the mid-1930s, at around the time that Miller's career as a writer took off. He had just published by the Obelisk Press Tropic of Cancer. This prompted a move to Villa Seurat; the place he reminisced about the most. Alfred Perles, his long-time wing man, lived around the corner, and so did David Edgar, a shy, softly spoken, watercolour artist. They would spend time in each other's company most days, along with a revolving cast of writers and artists, such as Anais Nin and photographer Brassai. They would also work together on the infamous magazines’ The Booster and Delta with Edgar as the publicity officer. Miller gifted Edgar draft manuscripts of his works and the three in this collection all date to around 1936-1938. One of them ‘The Wisdom of the Heart’ came with a covering letter, where Miller explained that it was a rough, revised draft about psychoanalyst E. Graham Howe. Miller said to Edgar that he thought he might like to have it, and he was glad to have got it done. He said once the revisions were typed up that there would be subtle changes and no more. The essay on Howe would go on to become one of Miller’s most celebrated short works and initially was published in The Modern Mystic in April 1939. it would then be published with a collection of other essays, fronting this one as the lead essay and title of the book. The other two manuscripts in this collection are “into the future”, being the first chapter of Miller’s biography of D.H. Lawrence, where he has written ‘fragment from “the world of Lawrence”. This biography was only published posthumously in 1980, but Miller started work on it in 1936, as he has written on the first page of the manuscript. There is also a short story he wrote called “The Brooklyn Bridge’ that was published in Seven magazine in its Summer 1938 edition. Edgar would leave Paris in 1939 at the outbreak of the war and move to the UK, and then on in the 50's to New York. Perles, Miller and Edgar were clearly close friends and the two showed their affection for the softly spoken artist in a wonderful joint letter to him whilst they were drafting Perle’s biography of Miller in 1954. Miller and Edgar would keep in touch through written correspondence, and there is a sense in the later letters of Miller slowly losing close contact with his friend, that he clearly held with such fond regard