This small collection contains letters written to the Presidio Branch of the San Francisco Public Library in response to Richard Brautigan's book, The Abortion : an historical romance, 1966, between 1971-1989. The collection also includes newspaper clippings about the Presidio Branch library and the letters, ephemera about the Richard Brautigan Library in Vermont, two letters from Richard Brautigan to Erik Webber, color slides of the interior and exterior of the Presidio Branch Library from the 1970s, and one audio cassette of Brautigan reading some of his poetry and short stories.

Brautigan modeled the fictional library in The Abortion on the Presidio Branch Library and included its address: 3150 Sacramento Street. Shortly after publication of the novel, letters started arriving at the Presidio Branch inquiring if it was a real library, if the library was like the fiction library in the book. Brautigan's library never closed, the librarian lived in the back of the library, and was repository for unpublished manuscripts placed on the shelves at all hours of the day and night directly by the writers themselves.

1 manuscript box (1 cubic foot)

All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to Book Arts & Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the San Francisco Public Library as the owner of the physical items.

The collection is available for use during Book Arts and Special Collections hours. The audio cassette tape is currently unavailable at this time pending transfer to digital format.