
The Henry Miller Memorial Library is a public benefit 501(c)(3) organization, located in Big Sur, California. It is both a bookstore and a cultural resource center, functioning as a public gallery, performance, and workshop space for artists, writers, musicians, and students from around the world.
Established in 1981 by writer Henry Miller’s best friend, Emil White, the Library, like other properties in the area, has worked closely with county officials to meet
Through an unexpected and inspired coincidence of events, we find ourselves in the extraordinary position to not only further our two primary missions — the environmental protection of the Big Sur region and the preservation and promotion of the literary and cultural contributions of the late writer, artist, and Big Sur resident Henry Miller — but to ensure the long-term sustainability of the HMML itself, as an institution that is indispensable to the life and spirit of Big Sur.
Your support will help us meet these two goals.
Purchasing the canyon behind the Library
One of the library’s longest-held ambitions is to acquire a two-acre coastal redwood canyon behind the Library, which we plan to restore, preserve, and develop into a botanical garden that will be accessible to the public on a limited basis.
You have seen the canyon during your visit. Fallen redwoods overlap like dominos and a giant wooden box sits in the creek, collecting accumulated debris during the rainy season. At the time of this writing, a rope and a “No Trespassing” sign blocks entrance to the canyon — because we do not own it.
Fortunately, that will soon change. The wheels are in motion for the Library to purchase the canyon from the current owner. Once the deed is in hand, we plan to restore the canyon — named “Emil’s Canyon,” after HMML Founder Emil White — and protect native flora and fauna that call this region home. By revitalizing this habitat, we can provide a safe haven for numerous endangered and threatened species.
The restoration of Emil’s Canyon is not merely a matter of reviving a landscape; it is an investment in the future of our planet. By prioritizing biodiversity preservation, carbon sequestration, water quality, economic opportunities, education, and cultural significance, we embrace a holistic approach to environmental conservation.
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The HMML possesses an extensive archive of collections related both to the life and work of Henry Miller and to the history and development of the Henry Miller Memorial Library and the Big Sur region. The most important of these collections, from the standpoint of American and European literary history, is our Emil Schnellock Collection. Schnellock was a boyhood friend of Miller, and as his first and most devoted literary trustee, he preserved nearly everything Miller sent him over the course of forty years. During this time, he accumulated one of the world’s largest and most important collections of Miller manuscripts, letters, and artwork.
Since 1999, when the HMML acquired these papers, we have acted as their custodian. However, the HMML is not an academic institution, and in order to both ensure their long-term preservation and render them safely accessible to a larger public, we decided to begin the process of placing them in a world-class research institution.
In the spring of 2022, the HMML hired an archivist and Miller specialist to fully reprocess the Emil Schnellock Collection before submitting it for an independent appraisal by the rare book and manuscript dealer Ken Lopez. The collection was valued at $830,000 to facilitate the transfer of the Emil Schnellock Collection to a world-class research institution,
To our mind, there is only one place where this material belongs – in Paris, where Henry created the better part of it. The Bibliothèque Nationale de France (BnF) is the national library of France. Located in the heart of Paris, it is one of the world’s oldest and largest libraries, receiving over one million visitors each year. The Emil Schnellock Collection of Henry Miller will be housed at the BnF’s historic Richelieu site, an eighteenth-century
Help us preserve, and to transmit this important literary heritage to future generations.
The Henry Miller Memorial Library is a 501 (c)(3) organization, and any contribution to the projects is tax-deductible.
If a six-hundred-year-old redwood falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? In the case of the Henry Miller Memorial Library, the answer is a definitive Yes: it reverberates still, and with your help, we hope to make it resound far into the future.