Title: Henry Miller, Alfred Perlés, and Irma Stein Collection
Creator: Miller, Henry (1891-1980). Perles, Alfred (1897-1990). Stein, Irma (1904-2002).
Location and Contact Information: Virginius H. Chase Special Collections Center, Bradley University, Peoria, IL. SpecialCollections@bradley.edu. 309.677.2822
Identifier or Call Number: SPEC.PS3525.I5454
Finding Aid Author: Abigayle Spear; Dr. Libby Tronnes, head of the Special Collections Center and Archives
Physical Description:
Date (inclusive): 1938-1991, undated
Biographical/Historical Note:
Henry Miller (1891-1980) was born in New York to Heinrich Miller and Louise Nieting and grew up in Brooklyn. Before pursuing writing as a career, Miller held a variety of jobs as he traveled in the United States. Miller completed High School in 1909 and started college but he left in his first semester. His disillusionment toward traditional settings and expectations for education are apparent in his letters to Irma Stein. By the time Miller met Stein in Chicago in 1941, he had lived and traveled in many places–most famously Paris and Greece. He had published Tropic of Cancer (1934), married and divorced twice (Beatrice Sylvan Wickens and Juliet Edith Smerth), and fathered a son with Wickens. In the years he corresponded with Stein, Miller married his third and fourth wives: Janina Lepska,(1944), with whom he fathered two children, and Eve McClure (1953). In the the 1940s, Miller lived in New York City, Los Angeles, and Big Sur.
Alfred Perlès (1897-1990) was born in Vienna, Austria. Perlès is known for his books concerning American novelist Henry Miller. Perlés and Miller met in Paris and worked in the same circle of edgy writers in the 1930s. Their friendship endured for the remainder of their lives and Perlés most well-known works were about Henry Miller. Perlès relocated to England after Paris. In 1939, he enlisted in the British Army’s Pioneer Corps. Miller forwarded Perlés’s address to Stein, who wrote to Perlés as early as February 1942. Perlés occasionally used a pseudonym, Alfred Barret or A. J. Barret. Barret was his wife Anne’s surname. Anne Barret and Alfred met in 1939 and married in 1943 or 1944. Perlés died in 1990. Source: "Alfred Perles." In Gale Literature: Contemporary Authors. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale, 1998. Gale Literature Resource Center (accessed July 22, 2023).
Irma Stein (1904-2002) was born in Peoria, Illinois to Philip and Henrietta Stein. In 1927, a few years after completing high school, Stein moved to Chicago where she worked as a bookkeeper for a gas company for many years. She lived in Chicago until she enlisted in the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (later the Women’s Army Corps) in November 1942. After her service overseas in the Second World War, Irma returned to Peoria and earned a Bachelor of Science degree at Bradley University. During her years in Chicago, Irma lived in the Hotel St. Clair (now known as the Inn of Chicago) on East Ohio Street, a fifteen-minute walk from the Argus Book Shop on North Michigan Avenue. Argus owner Ben Abramson introduced Irma to Henry Miller during Miller’s visit to Chicago in September or October 1941, sparking a friendship between them. Irma Stein died at the age of 97 in 2002.
Scope and Content:
The Henry Miller, Alfred Perlés, and Irma Stein Collection at Bradley University contains correspondence, printed and published materials, unpublished notes, photographs, and original artwork from the early 1940s into the 1990s, though the bulk of the collection is correspondence from the 1940s. The collection was donated by Irma Stein, who graduated from Bradley University in 1951 at the age of forty six. She met Henry Miller in Chicago in 1941, striking up a correspondence. Miller encouraged Stein to write to Alfred Perlés, who was serving in the British military. Irma did. The earliest letter from Perlés in this collection is February 1942.
In August 1941, Stein wrote to Ben Abramson (owner of Argus Book Shop) describing her reaction to reading Tropic of Cancer. (Abramson put a copy of this banned book in Stein’s hands.) Stein’s letter to Abramson is the only letter written by her in this collection. Virtually all correspondence was sent to Irma Stein and much of it was written by Miller and Perlés, though there are letters to Stein from Ben Abramson, Emil White, Lepska Miller, Kurt Wagenseil, and others.
The collection offers glimpses of Miller’s lean years following his return to the United States in the early 1940s. Miller’s correspondence tracks his life in New York City and his move to Hollywood and then Big Sur, California. Perlés’s correspondence with Stein dates from February 1942 to November 1944. This coincides with Perlés’ military service and the publication of The Renegade (1943) and Alien Corn (1944). It is worth noting that Alfred Perlés had already met the woman he would marry, Ann Barrett, by the time he began his correspondence with Irma Stein.
The collection is organized into seven series. Series 1 through 4 are available online.
Arrangement:
Series 1: Letters, Henry Miller to Irma Stein, 1940s-1950s
Series 2: Notebook, 1939-1941
Series 3: Letters, Alfred Perlés to Irma Stein, 1942-1944
Series 4: Letter, unknown author to Irma Stein, 1948
Series 5: Ephemera, Photographs, Dated and Undated Items, 1941-1998
Series 6: Artwork, Original Watercolor, 1940, "Another Bird in a Gilded Cage" by Henry Miller
Series 7: Books and Other Publications
Related Materials: Porter, Bern. Henry Miller Miscellanea. San Mateo, California: Greenwood Press, 1945. This is copy 173 out of 500.
Subjects and Indexing Terms:
Authors, American -- 20th century -- Archives.
Paintings (visual works).
Artists -- United States -- Archives.
Miller, Henry -- Archives
Series 1 Letters primarily consists of correspondence from Henry Miller to Irma Stein. This series is organized chronologically. This correspondence includes some letters written by Emil White, Ben Abramson, and others. One letter in this collection was written by Irma Stein and it was to Ben Abramson in September 1941. Some photos, advertisements, and other items sent with letters may have been moved to Series 5: Ephemera, Photographs, Dated, and Undated Items, 1941-1998. Contact SpecialCollections@Bradley.edu with questions.
Series 2 Notebook features Miller's notebook dating from 1939 to 1941, containing notes and writings in English and French as well as Miller’s notes while learning Spanish and Greek. Miller's notes and writings coincide with his leaving Paris, traveling to Greece, and returning to the United States. He includes comments related to Tropic of Capricorn (1939), Colossus of Maroussi (1941) and Air Conditioned Nightmare (1945). Miller added notes on characters, scenes, and lists of essays and people to write. Miller also wrote about a dream he had in NYC on November 34, 1941. Front cover has written “For Irma”. First page has a note that says “Dear Irma- This is a little notebook containing odds + ends which I thought you might like to have. It’s a little souvenir for you. Henry Miller NYC. 1/13/42”.
Series 3: Letters includes correspondence primarily written by Perlés to Stein from May 1942 through February 1944. This series also includes photographs Perlés sent to Stein. Also included are letters (possibly transcribed by Irma) to Perlés from Claude Houghton. Some subjects include: Perles’s military service and his thoughts about where he is stationed, the relationship between Perlés and Stein, his writing, Henry Miller, zodiac signs, Claude Houghton. (Alternative names used by Perlés include AJ Barret and Alfred Barret).
Painted by Henry Miller in New York City at the studio of Abraham Rattner
With notes about inscriptions and contents found within publications.
Hanley, James. No Directions. London, England: Nicholson & Watson, 1946.
Front page inscribed: “For Irma from Henry 5/28/46”
Back cover addressed: “To Irma Stein O.M.G. Det from Henry Miller Big Sur, Calif. U.S.A.”
Jackson, Roger and Wm. E. Ashley. Henry Miller: A Personal Archive. United States of America, 1994.
Miller, Henry. The Air-Conditioned Nightmare. New York City, New York: New Directions, 1945.
Included: Newspaper clipping from Peoria Journal Star inside front cover. Handwritten date in pen, November 13, 1973. Topic: Henry Miller recovering from an operation on his leg.
Included: clippings of Time Magazine article titled “Aphrodite Ascending,” December 24, 1945.
Miller, Henry. The Cosmological Eye. Norfolk, Connecticut: New Directions Books, 1939.
Included: notice from the Argus Bookshop about The Happy Rock
Included: newspaper clipping,“WAAC Defamers Beneath Contempt” by Damon Runyon
Miller, Henry. “Good News! God is Love!” In Connolly, Cyril, ed. Horizon VI, No. 35. London, England, 1942.
Miller, Henry. “A Holiday in Paint.” In Leite, George, ed. Circle 6. Berkeley, California, 1945.
Included: Envelope inside front cover containing two postcards with prints of Emil White paintings: “N’ Shopping Days to Christmas” and “I am a Stranger Here Myself.”
Miller, Henry. Maurizius Forever. San Francisco, California: The Colt Press, 1946.
Inscribed: “Irma Stein, 308 Ellis St Peoria.”
Included: Flier for The Happy Rock sent by the Argus Book Shop.
Included: advertisement for Henry Miller’s art gallery dated November 30, 1943, mailed to Irma Stein, on November 28, 1943.
Included: newspaper clippings, “U.S. Policy Hit In Russ Press” dated July 14 and Peoria Journal Star article (date unknown) titled “Anais Nin Dies In Los Angeles Hospital At 74.”
Miller, Henry. Max and the White Phagocytes. Paris, France: The Obelisk Press, 1938.
Miller, Henry. Murder the Murderer. United States of America, 1944.
Inscription on title page: “For Irma from Henry 4/2/45 Lots of typographical errors—please excuse!”.
Included: letter inside front cover to Irma Stein from Henry, dated “Easter Sunday.” Integrated with 1945 correspondence.
Miller, Henry. “Preface for the Power Within Us”. In Leite, George, ed. Circle 5. Berkeley, California, 1945.
Miller, Henry. The Rosy Crucifixion Book One: Sexus Volumes I-III. Paris, France: The Obelisk Press, 1949. This is copy 2,076 out of 3,000.
Included: slip inside the front cover showing the price paid for the book and delivery of the book to Irma Stein,
Included: receipt for book and postmark,
Miller, Henry. The Rosy Crucifixion Book One: Sexus, Volumes IV-V. Paris, France: The Obelisk Press, 1949. This is copy 2,076 out of 3,000.
Miller, Henry. The Rosy Crucifixion Book Two: Plexus, Complete in One Volume. New York City, New York: Grove Press Inc., 1965.
Miller, Henry. “The Staff of Life”. In Crosby, Caresse, ed. Portfolio: An Intercontinental Quarterly, Volume 1. Summer 1945.
Included: Article in the August 1945 issue of Town and Country titled “Henry Miller on Wartime Literature in English,” pages 68-69 and 103-104.
Miller, Henry. Sunday After the War. Norfolk, Connecticut: New Directions Books, 1944.
Included: newspaper clipping from The Peoria Star, September 24, 1947, “Believe Me” by Robert. C. Ruark. Ruark criticizes the Sunday After the War.
Miller, Henry. “Varda: The Master Builder”. In Leite, George, ed. Circle 4. Berkeley, California, 1944.
Miller, Henry. The Wisdom of the Heart. Norfolk, Connecticut: New Directions Books, 1941
Miller, Henry. The World of Sex. Printed by J. H. N., one of 250 copies. Dated as being written April 1940, in New York City, at very end of work.
Moore, Nicholas. Henry Miller. Wigginton, England: The Opus Press, 1943.
Orwell, George. Inside the Whale. London, England: Victor Gollancz LTD, 1940.
Inscribed: “Miss Irma Stein, St. Clair Hotel-East Ohio St. Chicago, Ill. To Irma from Henry 12/3/41”.
Included: newspaper clipping highlighting Miller’s marriage to Evelyn Byrd McClure.
Included: Christmas Note addressed to Irma Stein from Inge.
Perlés, Alfred. Alien Corn. London, England: George Allen & Unwin LTD, 1944.
Included: Postage slip addressed to Irma Stein.
Perlés, Alfred. My Friend Henry Miller. London, England: Neville Spearman Limited, 1955.
Inscription on front page: “For Irma Stein Jan-18-56,” signed by Alfred Perlés and Henry Miller.
Included: postcard from Henry Miller to Irma Stein dated October 10, 1955. Postcard depicts Alfred Perlés.
Included: Flier titled “Titles still available from Henry Miller” Winter 1955,
Perlés, Alfred. The Renegade. London, England: George Allen & Unwin LTD, 1943.
Inscription on front page, “To Irma Stein instead of a Xmas card Alfred Perlés December 1942”
Included: several letters from Perlés to Stein in envelopes. Letters used Perlés’s pseudonym A.J. Barret. Dates:
7 February 1944, 21 February 1944, 6 March 1944, 20 March 1944, 1 April 1944, 23 April 1944, 28 May 1944 and Greeting Card dated 19 November 1944. The last two items were enclosed in a large envelope dated 9 May 1944. All of these were incorporated into the Stein/Perlés Collection.
Porter, Bern. Henry Miller: A Chronology and Bibliography. Baltimore, Maryland: Waverly Press, May 1945. This is copy number 33 out of 500.
Inscription on first page: “To Irma from Henry, 6/12/45” “and more dope, dates, names, clues, etc. as they come to me—by postcard, telegram, or carrier pigeon. -Henry Miller”.
Processed by Abigayle Spear and Dr. Libby Tronnes, director
Virginius H. Chase Special Collections Center Bradley University
Cullom-Davis Library
1501 W. Bradley Avenue
Peoria IL 61625
specialcollections@bradley.edu
URL: https://www.bradley.edu/academic/lib/collections-centers/special-collections/
Online finding aid last updated 2024 January 7