Eve Babitz Papers: Finding Aid mssBabitz
Kelly Kress
The Huntington Library
July 2022
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Business Number: (626) 405-2191
reference@huntington.org
Note
Finding Aid last updated on February 16, 2024 by Kelly Kress.
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
Writings 1963-2000s
Physical Description: 6.96 Linear Feet(13 boxes)
Drafts and galleys of Babitz's 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
the unpublished manuscripts for Travel Broadens (1963) and drafts of the unrealized Bonnie and Clyde (2001) and Russia (2001).
Articles and stories include drafts of early work for publication in Rolling Stone, Coast magazine and others; and stories
later published in the collection I Used to Be Charming: The Rest of Eve Babitz (2019). Also includes several screenplays,
incomplete drafts, and copies of clippings and publications featuring Babitz's published work.
Arranged by type of material, with books first in chronological order.
Box 1, Folder 1-4
Box 2, Folder 1-12
Box 3, Folder 1-6
Box 4, Folder 1-3
Box 5, Folder 1-5
Box 6, Folder 1-5
Box 7, Folder 1-5
Box 8, Folder 1-15
Articles and stories A-M 1970s-2000s
Primarily typescript drafts and photocopy drafts of articles and stories, many of which appeared in Vogue, Rolling Stone,
and other publications. Grouped alphabetically with a few titles housed separately in original folders: Gilded Lily, Hair
These Days, Inventories, In Praise of Folly, and Maui Wowie. Some drafts include notes from publishers and revisions.
Box 9, Folder 1-13
Articles and stories N-W 1970s-2000s
Primarily typescript drafts and photocopy drafts of articles and stories, many of which appeared in magazines or the 2019
collection I Used to Be Charming. Grouped alphabetically with a few titles housed separately in original folders or housing:
A New Yorker's Foolproof Guide to L.A., Power Seducts, The Ruscha Rainbow, and Valley High. Many stories in this box document
Babitz's 1997 accident and recovery, including The Raymond, Waiting for Songs, and Weathering Heather. Some drafts include
notes from publishers and revisions.
Box 10, Folder 1-10
Screenplays 1970s-1990s
Typescript and photocopy drafts of Dead Giveaway, The Flute, Green Hotel, Lovers and Dangers, Models, and Naked Chess. There
are three untitled screenplays: one about Art and Laurie Pepper, another about Babitz's Hollywood childhood, and the last
featuring characters Marie and Gina.
Box 11, Folder 1-14
Box 12, Folder 1-6
Publications 1972-1992
Clippings of Babitz's work, as well as book reviews and some biographical articles about her. Included are copies of Babitz's
first published article, The Sheik, for Rolling Stone in 1972; Jim Morrison is Dead and Living in Hollywood, and I Was A Naked
Pawn for Chess, both for Esquire in 1991; and several issues of The Flyer, an editorial supplement to Rolling Stone covering
Southern California.
Box 13, Folder 1-10
Publications 1970s-1990s
Clippings of Babitz's writing for Coast magazine, Vogue, and others; issues of a KPFK program featuring her artwork; and two
copies of Manifesto LAX, which featured contributions from Ronee Blakley, Ron Cooper, Carrie Fisher, Steve Martin, Terry Melcher,
Ed Ruscha, and others. There are also other collected publications which may have served as research material or another purpose.
Personal 1958-2016
Physical Description: 2.69 Linear Feet(6 boxes)
Incoming and outgoing correspondence with friends, family, and publishing contacts, including Joseph Cornell (12 items including
inserts and envelopes, plus photocopies), Peter Eden, Paul Glass, Joseph Heller (6 items including envelopes, plus photocopies),
Dan Wakefield, and Jann Wenner; and her father Sol Babitz, mother Mae Babitz, and sister Mirandi Babitz. A folder of get-well
letters and faxes following her hospitalization in 1997 includes notes from Jackson Browne, Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne,
Don Henley, Annie Leibovitz, Steve Martin, Van Dyke Parks, and many others. Also includes several notebooks and datebooks,
biographical and family materials, personal items, and audiovisual materials.
Arranged by type of material.
SEALED. Box 19 is sealed until January 1, 2040, at family's request.
NOT AVAILABLE. Box 18 includes audiovisual materials that are unavailable until reformatted.
Box 14, Folder 1-18
Correspondence - friends incoming 1960-2001
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.
Box 15, Folder 1-9
Correspondence - friends and family incoming/outgoing 1958-2000s
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.
Box 19, Folder 1-3
Box 16, Folder 1-8
Notebooks, address books, datebooks 1960s-1990s
Box 17, Folder 1-13
Biographical and family 1953-2016
Materials related to Babitz's childhood and school days, including a handmade card for her father, a single diary page, report
cards, and yearbooks. Also includes her passports, astrology charts, business cards, miscellaneous notes and receipts, and
materials related to Marcel Duchamp events in which Babitz was asked to participate. Some family related items include a Bach
workbook written by Sol Babitz and a family calendar, cookbook, and genealogy by Mirandi Babitz.
Box 18
Artifacts and audiovisual 1960s-1998
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
NOT AVAILABLE. Audiovisual materials must be reformatted for access.
Babitz's Brownie camera, rubber stamps, and books by humorists Robert Benchley and H. Allen Smith. Audiovisual materials include
a microcassette interview with Laurie Pepper, a VHS tape entitled Readings of Eve Babitz (1998), an unidentified CD, and an
unidentified floppy disc.
Photographs 1942-2000s
Physical Description: 5.71 Linear Feet(9 boxes)
Photographs and negatives of Eve Babitz, her family and friends, and the Los Angeles area, including hundreds taken by Babitz
of friends and gatherings during the years 1969-1972. Photo subjects from this time include Jackson Browne, the Byrds, Black
Oak Arkansas, Glenn Frey, Steve Martin, Linda Ronstadt, Gram Parsons (38 images), and Dan Wakefield; and several Los Angeles
locations including Echo Park and the Griffith Observatory. There are also photos from the late 1980s of friends and gatherings
and a trip to Miami. Family photographs include Eve Babitz from childhood to the 2000s, her cats, her parents Sol and Mae
Babitz, sister Mirandi Babitz, and their family home. Scrapbooks and photo albums feature snapshots of friends and family,
with one album dedicated to the Slow Days, Fast Company book release party in 1977. There is also significant material related
to dance in Los Angeles, which appears to be related to Babitz's book Two by Two: Tango, Two-Step, and the L.A. Night.
Arranged by subject with albums and scrapbooks at the end.
Most photographs in boxes 21-24 were taken by Babitz; a few may be by other friends. Many prints and negatives were in the
original envelopes with Babitz's notes. Original names and titles were retained whenever possible, though images did not always
match envelope titles, prints and negatives had sometimes been moved or removed, or envelopes contained only negatives or
only prints. Some loose prints and negatives may match up; others may be missing.
Box 20, Folder 1-11
Box 21, Folder 1-18
Friends 1970-1971
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.
Box 22, Folder 1-6
Friends 1969-1971
Prints and negatives of Babitz's friends from the late 1960s and early 1970s, including Suzanne, Antoinette, Sofie, Fritz,
Carl Gottlieb, Jac Holzman, Judy Kinnamer, Danny O'Keefe, Ray Mungo, and others; and gatherings and events from the early
1970s, including Peter Alexander party and Betty Gold show. Envelopes with negatives only include Dianne Gardiner and Michael
Elias.
Box 23, Folder 1-9
Friends, around town 1969-1988
Loose prints and negatives of unidentified friends from the late 1960s and early 1970s, friends and gatherings in the 1980s,
and a trip to Miami in the 1980s. Also includes prints and negatives of photographs Babitz took in Los Angeles around 1969
to 1970, including Echo Park, Griffith Observatory, and various locations on Sunset Boulevard.
Box 24, Folder 1-8
Box 25, Folder 1-4
Box 26
Box 38
Box 27
Photo albums 1940s-1980s
Four photo albums, including one documenting the Slow Days Fast Company book release party in 1997, and another with snapshots
of Babitz and her friends at an event in 1987. The other two albums include a mixture of childhood, family, and friends photographs,
which have been removed and housed separately within the box due to the albums' deterioration.
Artwork 1917-1970s
Physical Description: 22.31 Linear Feet(10 boxes and one oversize folder)
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, 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.
Arranged by format, with sketches and watercolors first followed by collages in order of size.
Box 28
Box 29, Folder 1-10
Box 30, Folder 1-4
Box 31, Folder 1-6
Box 32, Folder 1-3
Box 33, Folder 1-2
Box 37