Description
The papers of Anaïs Nin document the life of the noted diarist and novelist. Nin began her diary at the age of 11 in 1914
when she moved to the United States with her family. She continued to write in her diary as she grew up, married and settled
into the role of a banker's wife. The diaries chronicle her interest in psychoanalysis, her literary aspirations and her relationships
with various writers and artists, including Otto Rank, Henry Miller and Antonin Artaud. The diaries held by UCLA conclude
in 1965. In 1946 her diaries took on a different form. Instead of the bound journals she traditionally used, the diaries became
compilations of loose pages which included her diary entries interspersed with letters, ephemera, and other writings by Nin
kept together in portfolios. The papers also include manuscripts of some of Nin's short stories and erotica, some correspondence,
a number of taped interviews and speeches and appearances by Nin in underground films and a documentary by Robert Snyder.
Background
Anaïs Nin was born in Neuilly, France, February 21, 1903, to Joaquin Nin and Rosa Culmell and moved to New York in 1914 after
her father abandoned the family. She began her diary at this time and continued the diary throughout her life. She married
banker Hugh P. Guiler in Cuba in 1923 and moved to Paris with him in 1931, where she published her first book, D.H. Lawrence: an unprofessional study (1932) and associated with and cultivated writers and artists, including Antonin Artaud, Lawrence Durrell, Henry Miller,
Gonzalo Moré. Began psychoanalysis with Dr. Réne Allendy and later with Otto Rank. She published The house of incest (1936) and Winter of artifice (1939) while in Europe. Returned to New York and began to publish her own work under the imprint of the Gemor Press, including
Under a glass bell (1944), This hunger (1945) and limited editions of The house of incest and Winter of artifice. Her husband, Hugh Guiler, using the name Ian Hugo, became a filmmaker and engraver, while maintaining his banking career.
Nin published several more books of fiction, including Ladders to fire (1946), Children of the albatross (1947), The four-chambered heart (1950), A spy in the house of love (1954), Solar barque (1958), Cities of the interior (1959) and Seduction of the minotaur (1961). In 1947 she met Rupert Pole and accompanied him on a cross-country trip from New York to Los Angeles, with stops
in New Orleans and Taos. She spent the next several years living in New York and Los Angeles, continuing to write in her diary
and establishing herself in the creative community of Los Angeles. She took up permanent residence in Los Angeles in 1961.
The publication of the first volume of her diary in 1966 brought Nin world-wide attention. The diaries were subsequently published
in 7 volumes, 1966-1980. Unexpurgated volumes were published following the death of Hugh Guiler in 1985. Nin died in Los Angeles
in 1977.
Restrictions
Property rights to the objects belong to UCLA Library Special Collections. All other rights, including copyright, are retained
by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue
the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.