Lot 7: BOWLES, PAUL

BOWLES, PAUL An archive of 46 letters, comprising 37 autograph letters, 8 typed letters, 1 autograph postcard, all signed ("Paul", "Paul B."), Tangier and other places, 29 August 1982 — 10 March 1999, to Phillip Ramey, 50 pp. (most 11 x 8 1/2 in.; 279 x 216 mm); vertical and horizontal folds, with condition generally good. Autograph and typed envelopes.

A fine archive of unpublished letters from Paul Bowles to American composer Phillip Ramey, written during the 1980's and 90's, accompanied by an interesting collection of photographs, documents, objects and ephemera, including the Persian cigarette case Bowles used for his supply of kif.

In addition to being a fellow composer and close friend, Phillip Ramey was Paul Bowles's neighbor in Tangier for part of every year during the period when these letters were written. There is talk here about goings-on in their apartment building and requests for supplies from New York (potholders, shredded wheat, jello, tarragon). An international cast of creative and successful people populate the letters, including writers Patricia Highsmith ("Very likable, simple, direct, bright, fun"), Juan Goytisolo, Gore Vidal, Mohammed Mrabet, and Jay McInerney; composers Aaron Copland, Virgil Thomson, and John Corigliano; the pop singer Donovan, and others. After reading Vidal's most recent novel in 1992, Bowles comments, "I ... just finished Gore's Live from Golgotha. It's quite over my head, with its television vocabulary. Perhaps it does for Christianity what Rushdie did for Islam." In a later letter, he writes, "I was surprised a few days ago when Paul Theroux put in an appearance .... Very bright and sympathetic. He was sent by Gavin Lambert, who is alive and well in Los Angeles."

Of course, not every person mentioned in the letters is an illustrious personage. In addition to trusted servants, obscure ex-pats, and innumerable television crews and journalists, other characters with another sort of appeal occasionally surface: "The photos of Jamal make him look like any Boulevard Pasteur hustler. Of course they're in xerox, but I don't discern any of the vaunted beauty. Perhaps it's a matter of de gustibus. Still, he must look better than that."

He comments on a New York revival of his late wife Jane Bowles's only play, In the Summerhouse, "I'm very happy that Jane's play will be performed at Lincoln Center. I wish she could know about it and be there. Recognition came too late."

On a few occasions, Bowles remarks on the darkening clouds on the horizon, as here on 30 November 1993: "The opening guns have been fired here against Christianity .... [I]n the Tangier paper, they announce that anyone receiving a Bible ... will receive a visit from the police." And on 28 October 1996, "The word jihad doesn't mean holy war, rather a state of vigilance, which must never be relaxed. Constant alertness and willingness to involve oneself in acts of violence."

The other items which accompany the letters include a few snapshots of Bowles taken in the 1930's, two by Aaron Copland (with whom he studied privately at the time) and one by Gertrude Stein taken at Bilignin. The tobacco/marijuana case is an enamelled case produced for the tourist trade in Tehran in the 1930's. A photo of the case, inscribed by Bowles, accompanies it. Bowles was photographed with it a number of times. Virginia Spencer Carr, in her biography of Bowles, tells the story of Bowles making a gift of the case to Phillip Ramey. Other items include an autographed phonograph album, autographed scores of Bowles's music, programs from concerts of his music, and other items, some with Bowles's annotations.