Re: Tropic of Cancer - copies in U.S. in 1934

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Posted ByDavid Hartzheim on April 28, 19101 at 03:25:58:

In Reply to: Tropic of Cancer - copies in U.S. in 1934 posted byKaren on April 25, 19101 at 06:41:50:

: Does anyone have information about Miller's distribution In the U.S. of copies of the Obelisk Press edition of Tropic of Cancer just after its 1934 publication in Paris? I'm interested to know when Miller began to distribute these copies and approximately how many. Various published sources have referred to his efforts to get the book into the hands of U.S. readers/critics but have not provided details. Thanks for whatever help you can provide.

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The first printing of Tropic of Cancer was very limited as publisher Jack Kahane, although lavishingly praising the book, would not publish it without Miller (via Nin, via her husband many say), paying for much its publication costs. Kahane's son, Maurice Girodias, who was to found and run The Olympia Press, created the infamous "woman in the crab's claws" cover art for the first edition. As this first edition was banned just about everywhere, copies were smuggled into the US and UK and were seized and destroyed by customs whenever intercepted. Publisher Roger Jackson would probably have more exact numbers of the Obelisk Press printings. Any copies remaining would be quite scarce and extremely valuable. There is also an incredibly detailed and thorough Miller bibliography available at this site http://www.hmbiblio.com/ It's comprised of decades worth of work, some contributions by Roger Jackson mentioned earlier.

There were also numerous piracies of Miller's early works, including Tropic of Cancer before the censorship ban was lifted in the 60s and Grove Press published the first "legal" edition in the US. Many writers and the general public take the freedoms authors have today to say pretty much anything they want for granted. Pioneers such as Miller, Lawrence, Nin, Durrell, Nabakov and Donleavy (along with many more) were those who faced and fought the censors and lawmakers, breaking the "obscenity" barriers.

David Hartzheim
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J.P. Donleavy Compendium

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Comments:: : Does anyone have information about Miller's distribution In the U.S. of copies of the Obelisk Press edition of Tropic of Cancer just after its 1934 publication in Paris? I'm interested to know when Miller began to distribute these copies and approximately how many. Various published sources have referred to his efforts to get the book into the hands of U.S. readers/critics but have not provided details. Thanks for whatever help you can provide. : ........... : The first printing of Tropic of Cancer was very limited as publisher Jack Kahane, although lavishingly praising the book, would not publish it without Miller (via Nin, via her husband many say), paying for much its publication costs. Kahane's son, Maurice Girodias, who was to found and run The Olympia Press, created the infamous "woman in the crab's claws" cover art for the first edition. As this first edition was banned just about everywhere, copies were smuggled into the US and UK and were seized and destroyed by customs whenever intercepted. Publisher Roger Jackson would probably have more exact numbers of the Obelisk Press printings. Any copies remaining would be quite scarce and extremely valuable. There is also an incredibly detailed and thorough Miller bibliography available at this site http://www.hmbiblio.com/ It's comprised of decades worth of work, some contributions by Roger Jackson mentioned earlier. : There were also numerous piracies of Miller's early works, including Tropic of Cancer before the censorship ban was lifted in the 60s and Grove Press published the first "legal" edition in the US. Many writers and the general public take the freedoms authors have today to say pretty much anything they want for granted. Pioneers such as Miller, Lawrence, Nin, Durrell, Nabakov and Donleavy (along with many more) were those who faced and fought the censors and lawmakers, breaking the "obscenity" barriers. : David Hartzheim : ............................

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