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Babitz (Eve) Papers
mssBabitz
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Table of contents
Contributing Institution:
The Huntington Library
Title: Eve Babitz papers
Creator:
Babitz, Eve
Identifier/Call Number: mssBabitz
Physical Description:
37.67 Linear Feet
(38 boxes,1 oversize folder)
Date (inclusive): 1917-2016
Date (bulk): 1943-1997
Abstract: Materials documenting the life and career of writer and artist Eve Babitz. Collection includes writings, personal and biographical
items, photographs, and artwork.
Language of Material: Materials are in English.
Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at the Huntington Library for more
information.
Restrictions apply to:
Box 19: Brian G. Hutton correspondence and Eve Babitz 1969-1970 personal journal closed until January 1, 2040, at family's
request.
The literary copyright of materials by Eve Babitz is held by the Estate of Eve Babitz. Anyone wishing to quote from or publish
any photographs or manuscript material by Eve Babitz must contact: Erica Spellman Silverman, Trident Media Group, LLC, 355
Lexington Ave, Floor 12, New York, NY 10017.
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Box 18: Audiovisual materials unavailable until reformatted.
[Identification of item]. Eve Babitz papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchased from Eve Babitz through Glenn Horowitz Bookseller with support from Steve Martin and Anne Stringfield, November
2021.
Eve Babitz was born in Los Angeles in 1943. Her parents were Sol Babitz, a classical violinist, and Mae Laviolette Babitz,
an artist. She grew up in Hollywood with her sister Mirandi Babitz and attended Hollywood High School. After high school Babitz
spent time in Rome and New York City, then returned to Los Angeles where she began to write, make art, and take photographs,
inspired and influenced by her artist friends and the environment of 1960s-1970s Los Angeles. First recognized as Marcel Duchamp's
nude chess opponent in the iconic photograph by Julian Wasser, Babitz distinguished herself as a working artist when Ahmet
Ertegun hired her at Atlantic Records, where her photography and collages were incorporated as album artwork for Black Oak
Arkansas, Buffalo Springfield, the Byrds, Linda Ronstadt, and others. In the early 1970s she focused on writing, publishing
articles and short stories in Rolling Stone, the Village Voice, Esquire, and Coast magazine. In 1976 she created Manifesto
LAX, an underground publication featuring the work of many of her friends at the time, including Ronee Blakley, Carrie Fisher,
Steve Martin, and Ed Ruscha. Babitz published several semi-autobiographical books chronicling her life in Los Angeles, including
Slow Days, Fast Company; Sex and Rage; L.A. Woman; and Eve's Hollywood. She continued to write during the 1980s and 1990s,
publishing the books Black Swans and Two by Two, in addition to articles for Esquire, Cosmopolitan, and others. In 1997 she
suffered severe burns over half her body when her clothing caught fire as she lit a cigar. Babitz wrote about this event,
as well as her long hospital stay and subsequent recovery, versions of which were later published in I Used to Be Charming:
the Rest of Eve Babitz (2019). Eve Babitz died in Los Angeles in 2021, at the age of 78.
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, and Noel Harrison; commissioned work featuring Marilyn Monroe and Liza Minnelli;
and pastoral and abstract scenes.
Processed by Kelly Kress in July 2022.
Organized in four series:
- Series 1. Writings, 1968-2000s
- Series 2. Personal, 1958-2016
- Series 3. Photographs, 1942-2000s, bulk 1942-1988
- Series 4. Artwork, 1917-1970s, bulk 1967-1970
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Artists -- California -- Los Angeles
Authors, American
Women authors, American -- 20th century
Hollywood (Los Angeles, Calif) -- History -- 20th century
Los Angeles (Calif.) -- History -- 20th century
Collages (visual works)
Letters (correspondence) -- 20th century
Photographs
Scrapbooks
Cornell, Joseph
Martin, Steve, 1945-
Heller, Joseph
Morrison, Jim, 1943-1971
Parsons, Gram, 1946-1973
Ronstadt, Linda
Wakefield, Dan