Anais Nin (for the cover of "Under a Glass Bell")

Ian Hugo

Ian Hugo was the artistic pseudonym of Hugh Parker Guiler, a banker who was married to writer Anais Nin. As "Ian Hugo" he worked as an engraver, illustrating and helping publish many of her manuscripts. In this photo of Nin his engraving "Under a Glass Bell" is blown up in the background, the photo was used for the cover of the book. Ian Hugo went on to work as an experimental filmaker.

Although "Under a Glass Bell" is now considered one of Anaïs Nin’s finest collections of stories, it was initially deemed unpublishable. Refusing to give up on her vision, in 1944 Nin founded her own press and brought out the first edition, illustrated with striking black-and-white engravings by her husband, Hugh Guiler (Ian Hugo). Shortly thereafter, it caught the attention of literary critic Edmund Wilson, who reviewed the collection in the New Yorker. The first printing sold out in three weeks.