[MILLER, Henry] ed. PERLES, Alfred

Paris: P.p., 1937


Small 8vo, pp. 48. Original green stiff paper wrappers, printed in black to front and rear panels.


First edition.

In 1937, and for reasons best known to himself, the head of the American Country Club of France entrusted its house journal to the editorial control of Alfred Perlès, encouraging him to bring in his literary friends and turn it into 'something really good'. Perlès took him at his word. Henry Miller, William Saroyan and Lawrence Durrell were installed as Literary Editors, which was a solid start, but alarm bells must have started to ring when Michael Fraenkel opened the Department of Metaphysics and Metempsychosis, and Walter Lowenfels was appointed to the key position of Head of Butter News. The newly conceived organ was relaunched in September 1937 and followed a less than predictable orbit before crashing to earth seven issues later in April, 1939. (It was lucky to get to seven: when Durrell published a piece about an old man being fucked to death by Eskimo Nell, the name of the magazine was changed to Delta at the insistence of a management understandably fearing legal action.)

This is the third issue, which bears the seasonal title 'The Tri-Lingual Womb Number'. It features contributions from Gerald Durrell (Death), Henry Miller (How to Lead the Podiatric Life) and Perlès (Limbs Ancient and Modern), as well as Saroyan, Raymond Queneau and Anais Nin.

A scarce survivor, and a bizarre literary side street.