Typed letter signed "Marcel Duchamp" in black ink, dated March 18,1967 introducing Mrs. Edgard Varèse who "has some book publishing problems about her illustrious husband" [the important American composer and musical innovator of French birth] to editor, Robert Morton, and thanking him for "the many books you let me have." He closes by mentioning that he is "now leaving from France for the summer, and two shows en plus." 1 page, 8.5 x 11 inch writing paper sent from his New York City residence at 28 West 10 Street New York, New York. Usual folds, else in fine condition. 

A very interesting association letter from the artist who famously questioned the creative function of the artist and the meaning of art as a form of making. Edgard Varèse had closer affiliations throughout his life with painters and poets than with composers, and his explanations or descriptions of his music resembled those of visual artists describing their own work. Avant-garde visual artists of this period were testing the dimensional limits of their arts by experimenting with perspective and concepts of space and time. In accordance with these artists, Varèse tested the dimensional limits of his music through experimentation with the concept of musical space and the projection of sounds into such space. Varèse composed Intégrales (1925) with these goals in mind after extended contact with artists from the Arensberg circle, of which Duchamp was the most influential artist. 

One of the two shows mentioned at the close of the letter is presumably the 1967 exhibition of work by Marcel Duchamp and his brother, Raymond Duchamp-Villon, held June 7 through July 2 at the Musee National d'Art Moderne, Paris. Earlier that year, as the last surviving member of his artist siblings, Marcel Duchamp helped to organize the exhibition, “Les Duchamp: Jacques Villon, Raymond Duchamp-Villon, Marcel Duchamp, Suzanne Duchamp,” held in Rouen, France.