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

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.