Auction 108 Letters by A. Einstein and Other Illustrious Personalities, Zionism, Holocaust and Anti-Semitism, Ritual Items & Jewish Art, Rare Books, Letters of Rabbis and Rebbes
Jun 19, 2018 (your local time)
Israel
 3 Shatner Center 1st Floor Givat Shaul Jerusalem
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LOT 10:

Interesting Correspondence from One of the Great American Playwrights - Arthur Miller. United States, 1992-2002

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Interesting Correspondence from One of the Great American Playwrights - Arthur Miller. United States, 1992-2002

The Miller Letters -- Introduction

A reflective and thoughtful series of letters between A. Miller and M. Stieglitz. In these letters, from the 1990s, Miller discusses such plays as The Last Yankee, Broken Glass, The Ride Down Mount Morgan and the film The Crucible – and looks back on his lifetime achievement.  The letters are replete with revealing observations about both men’s private and romantic lives. The central subject of the letters is, however, moral-history and politics. Miller presents his wearily critical views of the Clinton administration, the Balkan wars and wonders about the rise of Netanyahu.  

Stieglitz met Miller in 1987 when he was a post-doctoral fellow in international relations and nuclear strategy at Harvard’s Kennedy School and they became close friends. While driving back to Miller’s place from New York discussing the dilemma of family obligations and personal commitments, Miller asked Stieglitz to take a turn in the road and stop in front of the building where his son with Down Syndrome was institutionalized. In 1992, during dinner while Miller was visiting Israel, they discussed “obsessive love” and Miller reflected “women like her; they think they are the center of the world and worthless at the same time and this whirlpool is the source of their power – they draw you in.” The two shared many beliefs including a deep understanding of the moral-historical importance of the Gorbachev revolution, a founded stand on Just War and a critique of Israel’s sharp political twist.   

Correspondence between one of the all-time greatest American playwrights - Arthur Miller, and Dr. Meir Stieglitz. United States, 1992-2002.

Specifications: Correspondence from Arthur Miller to Dr: Stieglitz:

[8] signed letters, for a total of [11] leaves, paper. With the original envelopes. 1992-2002.

[4] faxes, some of which are signed: [4] pages, 1997-2002.

[4] email printouts: 1 leaf, dated Jan. 2000.

With [10] copies of letters from Dr. Stieglitz to Arthur Miller: [27] pages, 1987-2002.

Content: In his letter, Miller relates to his professional work, American and Israeli politics, to his relationship with political leaders in the United States, to women and fatherhood, to his relationship with his family members and their professional success, to the influence of his advanced age on his health and worldview, to his response to the great honors for his life's work, and more. He refers to his upcoming plays among others, which were in the process of preparation and performance: The Last Yankee, Broken Glass, The Ride Down Mount Morgan and Death of a Salesman.

He indicates his feelings about Clinton, Peres and Netanyahu, and relates to current political issues, including: the atomic threat on Israel, his disappointment in the State of Israel and the Jewish-Palestinian conflict (the Oslo Accords, the refugee problem, the influence of economic life on political stability, and more), massacres and wars (Kosovo, attack in Iraq, and more), the human tendency to support war, what causes his depression and what causes his hope, and more.

Arthur Miller was a Jewish-American playwright, one of the greatest of the 20th century. He was involved with high level figures in American culture and wrote significant plays criticizing social-political realities in the US. He was an ardent leftist, and was suspect in the McCarthy era. He won many prizes, and left a huge archive. For a more detailed biography, refer to the Hebrew text.

Some selected quotes:

I'm glad that you are enjoying your fatherhood. There is nothing quite like it.

As you get old there is less time for despair.

I am bored unless I am involved with some piece of writing …

I'm afraid I believe that given a choice human beings find the glamor and exhilaration of war more acceptable than a peace with low or negligible aspirations.

The situation at the moment is basically a checkmate in which the pieces are made of frozen butter and the sun is shining on the game board …

The problem with these women is that they consider themselves worthless and at the same time the center of the world …

I read that your great leader has been thrown out, and lift a glass to his departure.

I can recall the excitement among Jews with Israel's establishment we were at least going to be like everybody else. Unfortunately, it has come to pass ... Israel … its success lasted, historically speaking, some five minutes.

At 83 I suppose I see it [=the world] differently than I used to.

Condition: Very fine condition, fold marks.

 


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