INSOMNIA: Or, The Devil at Large by Miller, Henry - 1970

Albuquerque, NM: Loujon Press, 1970. First edition, limited issue, this one being number 10 of "99" copies in "Edition F" (there were actually 65 at most, see below) with twelve loose watercolor prints, THREE of which are SIGNED AND DATED 10/15/70 BY MILLER, as called for [Shifreen & Jackson A175f]. The three prints SIGNED BY MILLER are "Insomnia No. 1" (8/3/66); "Insomnia No. 2" (8/22/66); and "2nd Insomnia Series, No. 1" (5/8/67). Large, elaborate production; housed in decorative wooden box measuring approximately 24 x 19 x 1.5" with sliding wood cover (actually wood paneling, smooth side up) illustrated with photograph of Miller and wife "Hoki" beneath which is affixed an antiqued copper plate engraved "Ed. F." Each of the TWELVE COLOR PRINTS is printed on heavy artist's paper and measures approximately 22.5 x 17.5". Also includes a large, heavy card stock title sheet and the book itself -- another elaborate production of plain, comb-bound boards with foil paper dust jacket (made from wall paper?); in facsimile manuscript and illustrated with photographs throughout. "Edition F" was initially planned for 192 copies and later reduced to 99, Shifreen & Jackson estimate that NO MORE THAN 65 COPIES WERE ACTUALLY PRODUCED and that ONLY 300 WOODEN BOXES WERE EVER CONSTRUCTED for the total edition (note to Shifreen & Jackson A175a, p.408). The book and prints are best described by Miller's daughter, Valentine, on her tribute website: "In the mid 60s Dad became infatuated by a cabaret singer from Japan named Hoki Tokuda. He would spend hours at the piano bar in the Imperial Gardens Restaurant in Hollywood, listening to Hoki sing. He eventually wooed and married her. In 1965-6 he got insomnia worrying about the relationship and wrote a small book called Insomnia or the Devil at Large and during those sleepless nights painted a dozen watercolors, the Insomnia series." Light finger smudges to half-title sheet, otherwise book, prints, and box are all fine.