About this Item
Chicago, IL: The Swallow Press Inc., (1976)., (1976). Good. INSCRIBED AND SIGNED ANAIS NIN'S HUSBAND RUPERT POLE TO THE ARTIST RENATE DRUKS - Octavo, 8-1/2 inches high by 5-1/2 inches wide. Softcover, bound in black, white & orange pictorial wrappers. The binding is rubbed with creasing to the rear cover & spine & to the bottom corner of the front cover. The left edge of the titling on the cover is slightly faded. xviii & 270 pages. The fore-edge is lightly soiled. Good. Later printing. Edited with an introduction by Evelyn J. Hinz. Inscribed to artist Renate Druks on the half-title by Anais Nin's West Coast husband and literary executor Rupert Pole. Pole writes: "For Renate / in Memoriam Jan. 14, 1977 / Rupert". Pole's inscription is dated the date that Nin died. He adds "Too Much" beneath the title "A Woman Speaks" followed by Aanais Nin's name. Rupert Pole (1919-2006) was a 28 year old musician and actor when he met the 44 year old Anais Nin in 1947 after the Broadway run of "The Duchess of Malfi". Pole earned a degree in forestry and, after joining the Forest Service, moved to live with Anais Nin in a rustic cabin in the Sierra Madre. Pole was under the impression that Nin had divorced her first husband Hugh Parker Guilder when they were married in Arizona by a justice of the peace. For 11 years Anais Nin kept secret from Pole that she was still married to Guilder but, concerned about legal & financial entanglements, the couple annulled their marriage. Though she remained married to Guilder, Nin spent her remaining years with Pole in a small house he had built in Los Angeles' Silver Lake neighborhood. The house was designed by Pole's half brother, Frank Lloyd Wright's grandson, Eric Lloyd Wright. Following Nin's death in 1977, Pole became literary executor of her estate, responsible for supervising preparations of posthumous editions of her work. In that capacity, he restored erotic content that had been toned down in earlier editions. The recipient, Viennese-born artist Renate Druks (1921-2007) was one of Anais Nin's closest friends. Renate was first introduced to Anais Nin by their mutual friend Paul Mathiesen. Druks and Mathiesen came up with the idea of the "Come as Your Madness" masquerade party to which Nin showed up in a skin-colored leotard with a birdcage encasing her head from which she drew out ticker-tape upon which she'd penned lines from her books. Kenneth Anger, in attendance, was inspired by the event to create his film "Inauguration of the Pleasuredome" which featured scenes with Nin, Druks and Mathiessen. Anais Nin and Renate Druks remained close friends until Nin's death and the character of Renate in Nin's final novel "Collages" is based on her friend. Renate Druks held her first solo exhibition of her paintings at the Lane Galleries in 1957. Her Malibu home later became known as a salon for the avant garde which was often visited by the likes of Kenneth Anger, Don Bachardy, Christopher Isherwood, James Bridges, Henry Miller,Virgil Thompson, and Anais Nin, among others. In her diaries, Anais Nin wrote "Renate's gift is a heightened mood which communicates itself to others. She created in a state of natural intoxication".
Seller Inventory # 99751
Contact seller
Report this item
