mss0099_0757.xml Finding aid for collection of Henry Miller's Reflections on the Life of Mishima documents 1971–1973(bulk date 1971) University of Delaware Library, Special Collections University of Delaware Library
Newark, Delaware 19717-5267 Phone: 302-831-2229 Fax: 302-831-6003 URL: http://www.lib.udel.edu/ud/spec/
Date encoded (2007 December 07) Finding aid encoded 2007 December 07 English Collection of Henry Miller's Reflections on the Life of Mishima documents1971–1973 (bulk date 1971) Special Collections Department, University of Delaware Library
Newark, Delaware 19717-5267 Phone: 302-831-2229 Fax: 302-831-6003 URL: http://www.lib.udel.edu/ud/spec/
 Miller, Henry, 1891-1980. Collection of Henry Miller's Reflections on the Life of Mishima documents1971–1973 1971 MSS 099, F757 11 items Typescript manuscript and other items related to Henry Miller's Reflections of the Life of Mishima. Materials entirely in English. University of Delaware Library - Special Collections Source

Purchase, August 2005.

 Access Restrictions

The collection is open for research.

 Terms Governing Use and Reproduction

Use of materials from this collection beyond the exceptions provided for in the Fair Use and Educational Use clauses of the U.S. Copyright Law may violate federal law. Permission to publish or reproduce is required from the copyright holder. Please contact Special Collections Department, University of Delaware Library, http://www.lib.udel.edu/cgi-bin/askspec.cgi

 Citation

MSS 099, F757, Collection of Henry Miller's Reflections on the Life of Mishima documents, Special Collections, University of Delaware Library, Newark, Delaware.

 Shelving Summary Shelved in SPEC MSS 099 Processing

Processed by Karalee Kopreski, October 2005. Encoded by Anita Wellner, December 2007.

 Biographical Note

American author Henry Miller (1891–1980) was raised by German-American parents in Brooklyn. Before becoming a writer, Miller traveled throughout the western United States working at odd jobs and then returned to New York to work at his father’s tailor shop. After working for Western Telegraph Company for four years, Miller left for France in 1930 and lived there for nine years. During this period, he published Tropic of Cancer (1934), Tropic of Capricorn (1939), and Black Spring (1936). In 1940, Miller returned to the United States, traveled extensively, continued to write, and eventually settled in Big Sur, California. Miller’s early works were unavailable in America until the 1960s because they contained explicit sexual passages that were deemed obscene.

Perkins, George and Barbara Perkins and Phillip Leininger. Benet’s Reader’s Encyclopedia of American Literature. New York: Harper Collins, 1991.

Scope and Content Note

The Collection of Henry Miller's Reflections on the Death of Mishima documents, spanning the dates 1971–1973, contains items related to Miller’s work Reflections on the Death of Mishima (1972). Yukio Mishima (1925–1970), a Japanese author acclaimed for his postwar literature, publicly committed ritual suicide on November 25, 1970. The collection includes a carbon typescript of Part I of Miller’s Reflections on the Death of Mishima as well as four letters to Miller from New Directions editor Robert MacGregor in which he discusses Mishima’s writings and suicide, and principles of Zen Buddhism. Also included is a letter to Miller from Noel Young, editor of Capra Press, two short articles on Mishima’s death, a picture of Henry Miller, and an envelope addressed to Miller from Japan.

 Selected Search Terms Uniform Title Reflections on the Death of Mishima. Personal Names Mishima, Yukio, 1925-1970. Topical Terms Zen Buddhism--History--20th century--Sources. Seppuku--History--20th century--Sources. Form/Genre Terms Letters (correspondence) Typescripts. Manuscripts. Occupation Authors. Personal Contributors MacGregor, Robert M. Young, Noel. Detailed Contents List 49 F757 "Reflections on the Death of Mishima" Typescript carbon with note card, 33 pp.

With identifying cover notes "Carbon 1" and "Part I," as well as other minor corrections in the hand of Henry Miller, accompanied by note card reading "Corrected 2d draft ... original sent to Shiro Hayashi."

 49 F757 Robert M. MacGregor letters to Henry Miller March–April 1971 Typescript signed letters, 4 items

Four letters from New Directions editor Robert MacGregor.

 49 F757 Noel Young letter to Henry Miller 1973 January 2 Typescript signed letter, 1 p.

One letter from Capra Press editor to Henry Miller.

 49 F757 Articles regarding Yukio Mishima1971 and undated 2 items

Includes "Yukio Mishima" by Eido Tai Shimano, undated; and "Death as Precept" by Takeshi Muramatsu from the New York Times, April 16, 1971.

 49 F757 Ephemera 2 items

Includes a photo-postcard of Henry Miller and an envelope.