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A TWENTIETH-CENTURY CLASSIC
Tropic of Cancer “And it is blood and flesh which is here given us. Drink, food, laughter, desire, passion, curiosity, the simple realities which nourish the roots of our highest and vaguest creations. The superstructure is lopped away. This book brings with it a wind that blows down the dead and hollow trees whose roots are withered and lost in the barren soul of our times. This book goes to the roots and digs under, digs for subterranean springs.” –Anaïs Nin FIRST EDITION IN ORIGINAL WRAPPERS, one of only 1000 copies printed, of Miller’s masterpiece. In exceptionally fine condition. “Tropic of Cancer (1934), was, as [Miller] famously described it, ‘a gob of spit in the face of Art, a kick in the pants to God, Man, Destiny, Time, Love, Beauty.’ He denied that the book was a novel at all, and he allied himself with the tradition of Walt Whitman in American letters by claiming that the book was wholly an expression of himself: the story was his story and his ‘hero’ was himself. He called it an ‘auto-romance.’ Into the book went all of his experiences on the margin in Paris. Bawdy, offensive, rebellious, and reveling in the life of the lowest depths, Tropic of Cancer was also full of good humor, wonder, and spiritual passion. Miller had tried so long to succeed that he now seemed almost determined to offend; ironically, this effort won him the acceptance that had so long eluded him. His book was immediately praised extravagantly by the most influential modernist critics of his time. T. S. Eliot wrote that "Tropic of Cancer seems to me a . . . magnificent piece of work." Ezra Pound added that it was one of only a few modern books that could be set beside James Joyce's Ulysses, and he pointed to its ‘ethical discrimination.’ Inevitably the book attracted not only well-established critics but also young writers who declared themselves disciples of Miller's. Lawrence Durrell, then in his early twenties, wrote a fan letter to Miller stating that Tropic of Cancer was ‘the only man-size piece of work which this century can really boast of.’ Even George Bernard Shaw, though troubled by the excess of sexuality in the book, acknowledged, ‘This fellow can write.’ Tropic of Cancer continued to attract favorable comment for a long time. Edmund Wilson praised Miller's ‘sure hand at color and rhythm’ in 1938, and in 1940 George Orwell extolled his book as a revelation of ‘the disintegration of our society and the increasing helplessness of all decent people.’ Later, in the 1970s, Norman Mailer championed his work. “Even as Tropic of Cancer was receiving its first favorable commentary in the mid-1930s, the sexually explicit and offensive character of the book resulted in its being banned from sale in the United States and Great Britain and, indeed, from regular commercial distribution anywhere. Thus Miller became the most famous banned author in American history” (American National Biography). Paris: Obelisk Press, 1934. Octavo, original pictorial wrappers featuring a giant crab holding a naked woman in its pincers, designed by Maurice J. Kahan; custom half-leather box. Small split at base of spine, a few spots of soiling to rear wrappers. A magnificent copy. $26,000. For Miller's Tropic of Capricorn, click here |
MILLER,
HENRY.