Manuscripts

Correspondence and journal

Description: Brian G. Hutton incoming and outgoing correspondence, and Babitz's 1969-1970 personal journal.
Type: Manuscripts(Opens in new tab)
Date: 1962-1971
Call number: mssBabitz
Creator: Babitz, Eve(Opens in new tab)
Provenance: Purchased from Eve Babitz through Glenn Horowitz Bookseller with support from Steve Martin and Anne Stringfield, November 2021.; gift of Mirandi Babitz, December 2024.
Restrictions: Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at the Huntington Library for more information.

Correspondence - friends and family incoming/outgoing

Manuscripts

Incoming letters and cards from friends, some unsigned or unidentified; and the majority of Babitz's outgoing correspondence. Babitz's outgoing correspondence is primarily from the late 1960s to early 1970s and includes carbon copies, drafts, and unsent letters and postcards. There is also incoming and outgoing family correspondence (mid 1950s to mid 1960s) with her parents Sol and Mae Babitz, sister Mirandi Babitz, and a few other relatives.

mssBabitz

Image not available

Friends

Manuscripts

Prints and negatives of Babitz's friends, and some commissioned work for Atlantic records. Includes "Anne and Don", "Marva", Black Oak Arkansas, Jackson Browne, Byrds, Ron Cooper, Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne, Eagles, Harrison Ford, Noel Harrison, Brian Hutton, Annie Leibovitz, Steve Martin, Gram Parsons (38 images), Linda Ronstadt, J.D. Souther, Bucky Wilkins, and Dan Wakefield.

mssBabitz

Image not available

Correspondence - friends incoming

Manuscripts

Primarily incoming correspondence from Babitz's friends, admirers, and publishing contacts, including Larry Bell, Joseph Cornell (12 items including envelopes and inserts, plus photocopies), Jean Francois Dalle, John Gregory Dunne and Joan Didion, Peter Eden, "F" (unidentified), Paul Glass, Joseph Heller (6 items including envelopes, plus photocopies), Seymour Lawrence, Erica Spellman (ICM), Leah Spinrad, Paul Ruscha, Dan Wakefield, Victoria Wilson (Knopf), and Jann Wenner (Rolling Stone). There is back and forth correspondence in a few instances. Also included is a folder of other publishing-related correspondence, and get-well faxes and letters Babitz received after her 1997 accident.

mssBabitz

Image not available

Journal, 1969-1970

Rare Books

Excerpt of Babitz's diary, published in the Paris Review, vol. 67, no. 254 (Winter 2025), pages 73-92. The diary excerpts range from September 19, 1969 to March 24, 1970. The entries highlight Babitz's insecurities as a writer, her work as a collage artist, and her interactions with notable people like Joan Didion, John Gregory Dunne, Harrison Ford, Michael Jackson, and others. Includes an introductory note by the editors.

657343

Image not available

Artwork

Manuscripts

Primarily collages Babitz made between 1967 and 1970, using magazine clippings, paper, and cardboard. Collage subjects include musician friends and acquaintances including Jim Morrison, Mick Jagger, Stephen Stills, Ginger Baker, and Noel Harrison; commissioned work featuring Marilyn Monroe and Liza Minnelli; and pastoral and abstract scenes. There is also a 1917 watercolor by Babitz family friend Kate Steinitz, and an undated drawing by Eve Babitz's mother, Mae Babitz.

mssBabitz

Image not available

Eve Babitz papers

Manuscripts

Materials documenting the life and career of writer and artist Eve Babitz. Writings includes drafts and galleys of her books Slow Days, Fast Company (1977), Sex and Rage: Advice to Young Ladies Eager for a Good Time (1979), L.A. Woman (1982), Black Swans (1993), and Two By Two: Tango, Two-Step, and the L.A. Night (1999); as well as articles and stories; screenplays; unpublished manuscripts; and collected clippings and publications. The Personal series includes incoming and outgoing correspondence with friends, family, and publishing contacts; biographical and family items; and Babitz's notebooks and datebooks. Photographs are of Babitz, her friends and family, and the Los Angeles area, including hundreds she took with a Brownie camera documenting her friends and social sphere from 1968 to 1971. Artwork primarily consists of collages Babitz made between 1967 and1970, some commissioned for publication or album artwork. Collage subjects include musician friends and acquaintances including Jim Morrison, Mick Jagger, Stephen Stills, Ginger Baker, and Noel Harrison; commissioned work featuring Marilyn Monroe and Liza Minnelli; and pastoral and abstract scenes. There are also drawings and paintings dating from the early to mid-1960s.

mssBabitz

Correspondence and journal

Opening Hours

Admission Info and Tickets

You might also be interested in

Correspondence - friends and family incoming/outgoing

Friends

Correspondence - friends incoming

Journal, 1969-1970

Artwork

Eve Babitz papers