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Prout, Ebenezer, musical theorist (1835-1909).
Autograph lettercard signed. [Postal stamp: London, 29 Aug. 1887].
Oblong 8vo. ¾ page. With autograph envelope. To the musician Frederick Allan Wilshire (1868-1944) in Bristol: "I have only just returned home to find your letter awaiting me. I beg to enclose my autograph [...]". - With collector's note to envelope in ink, the envelope somewhat foxing.
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Rosa, Carl, stage impresario (1842-1889).
Autograph letter signed. [London], 25. VI. 1886.
8vo. ½ page (5 lines) on bifolium. With autograph envelope. To the musician Frederick Allan Wilshire (1868-1944) in Bristol: "Sincerely Ys / Carl Rosa". - On embossed monogrammed stationery with slight ink offsetting.
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Rousby, Clara, actress (1848-1879).
Autograph letter signed. Leamington, 6. V. 1872.
(Oblong) 8vo. 3 SS. Mounted on backing paper. To a Miss Frith about a certain letter and discussing Rousby's recovered health: "I only received your note & should have replied at once had I not waited until I got all my things together in hope of finding the letter you allude to among them. Having searched without finding it, I fancy I must have left it with my brother in London, anyhow it is quite safe, for I preserved it with the intention of handing it over to Mr. Fiddes at some future time. You will be glad to hear that I have been much stronger since I recovered from my severe illness at Bristol, & that we are enjoying a most profitable & agreeable tour [...]". - On mourning paper with embossed monogram and collector's note to backing paper.
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Scott-Siddons, Mary Frances, actress and dramatic reader (1844-1896).
Autograph signature. No place or date.
Oblong 12mo. 1 page (1 line). Mounted on backing paper. Slightly browned in places due to seeped glue.
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Templeton, John, tenor (1802-1886)).
Autograph letter fragment signed. No place or date.
Oblong 12mo. 1 page (2 lines). Mounted on backing paper. Clipped from a letter: "Yours very truly / John Templeton". - In 1832 Templeton appeared as Raimbaut in the first British performance of Meyerbeer's "Robert le diable", and he became Maria Malibran's leading tenor. - With collector's note to backing paper and old glue residue.
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Wickes, R., actor (dates unknown).
Autograph letter fragment signed. No place or date.
Oblong 16mo. 1 page (2 lines). Mounted on backing paper. Clipped from a letter: "I am very truly yours [...]". - With collector's note to backing paper.
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Einstein, Albert, Physiker und Nobelpreisträger (1879-1955).
Ms. Brief mit eigenh. Einfügung und U. ("A. Einstein"). Princeton, NJ, 5. VIII. 1949.
1 S. 4to. An seinen ehemaligen Assistenten, den Mathematiker Ernst Gabor Straus, über dessen "schönen mathematischen Fund" und ein Manuskript von dessen Onkel: "Vor allem möchte ich Ihnen gratulieren zu dem schönen mathematischen Fund, den Sie gemacht haben. Es sieht so aus, wie wenn Ihr Transcendenz-Beweis für [folgt eine Auslassung] einfacher wäre als der bisher gegebene. Den Brief Ihres Onkels habe ich bereits vor mehreren Tagen beantwortet und ihn gebeten, das Manuscript zu schicken, das ich auch gewissenhaft lesen werde. Allerdings mit geringer Hoffnung, eine Publikation durchsetzen zu können, selbst wenn ich eine solche als objectiv berechtigt beurteilen würde. Das Mitteilungsbedürfnis des isolierten Mannes ist begreiflich, zumal es schwer für ihn zu beurteilen sein dürfte, ob das Mitgeteilte gegenwärtig Originalität beanspruchen kann. Ich selber habe in dem Problem (Prüfung) noch nichts fertig gebracht, habe aber über den Weg bestimmte Vorstellungen gewonnen. Ausserdem habe ich im Winter, kurz vor meiner Operation, eine Arbeit geschrieben, in der die Feldgleichungen aus den Bianchi Identitäten abgeleitet werden (noch nicht erschienen in dem neuen Canadischen Journal). Diese Sache ist nach meiner Meinung sehr überzeugend [...]". - Ernst Gabor Straus war von 1944 bis 1948 Einsteins Assistent am Institute for Advanced Study gewesen und hatte mit ihm zusammen drei Arbeiten verfasst. 1946 veröffentlichten sie "A Generalization of the Relativistic Theory of Gravitation II" in den "Annals of Mathematics". Darin stellen sie eine Neuherleitung der Feldgleichungen dar, die notwendig geworden war, da die Herleitung in Einsteins im Vorjahr veröffentlichter Einzelarbeit auf einem Fehler beruht hatte. Straus reichte seine Doktorarbeit über Einsteins einheitliche Feldtheorie an der Columbia University ein und wurde 1948 promoviert. 1949 veröffentlichte er "Some Results in Einstein's Unified Field Theory", die auf seiner Dissertation beruhten. - Auf Briefpapier mit gepr. Briefkopf. Tadellos erhalten.
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Einstein, Albert, German physicist and Nobel laureate (1879-1955).
Typed letter signed "A. Einstein" . Princeton, 23. IV. 1934.
4to. 1 p. In German. Together with an autograph letter signed by Elsa Einstein and a letter by Max Gottschalk. Both 4to. 1 p. in French. To a high-ranking Belgian official named Costermann, asking him to renew the passports of his stepdaughter Margot and her husband Dimitri Marianoff: "I am writing you on behalf of my daughter Margot Marianoff and her husband Dr. Dimitri Marianoff. Both are holders of a Belgian foreigner's passport which they obtained last spring thanks to your obliging kindness. My daughter lived with us in Coq-sur-Mer but is currently nursing her gravely ill sister in Paris. She and her husband are stateless, the latter is Russian by birth. I would appreciate it greatly if you would renew the passports, especially as my daughter is the student of a Belgian sculptor at Bruges" (transl.). - Apparently, the letter was not sent directly to Costermann but was forwarded by the escape agent Max Gottschalk. His letter to the "Director General" is dated 7 May 1934 and accompanied Einstein's letter from 23 April with a further plea to treat the request favourably without delay. - Elsa Einstein's letter from 22 May 1933 to a "Director", very likely the same Costermann, concerns the original foreigner's passport for Margot. Elsa announces that Margot will arrive in Brussels the following day and contact the recipient directly. - Albert and Elsa Einstein were in the U.S. when the Nazis seized power in Germany in February 1933. As they could not return to their home in Potsdam, they sailed to Antwerp in March 1933, immediately renounced their German citizenships, and rented a small villa in Le-Coq-sur-Mer (De Haan) near Bruges, where Margot and her husband joined them. As early as September 1933, Albert and his wife emigrated to the U.S.; Margot and Dimitri would follow them in 1934 after the death of Margot's elder sister Ilse Einstein from tuberculosis. - Following the early death of her mother in 1936, Margot Einstein stayed with her father-in-law in Princeton, studied sculpture, and would live in the family home until her own death in 1986. Little is known about her marriage to Dimitri Marianoff. The couple had married in Berlin on 29 November 1930, much to the displeasure of Albert and Elsa, who distrusted their son-in-law; indeed, Marianoff turned out to be a Russian spy. The marriage probably ended soon after their arrival in the U.S. Marianoff profited from his previous close relationship to the world's most famous physicist by publishing a memoir "Einstein. An Intimate Study of a Great Man" in 1944. - On stationery with typed letterhead of Einstein's first address in Princeton: "2, Library Place". With an official note "Passeport Etr." in ink and a contemporary pencil translation into French. Minimally creased, two minor tears to the left margin and one to the lower margin. - The letter by Elsa Einstein shows three tears and staple holes. The letter by Gottschalk bears an official note "M. Marianoff et Gottschalk le 8.5.34" in ink and "T.U." (possibly "tâche urgent") in crayon and a minor tear.
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Freud, Sigmund, Mediziner und Begründer der Psychoanalyse (1856-1939).
Eigenh. Brief mit U. ("Sigm. Freud"). Wohl London, 11. III. 1939.
1½ SS. 8vo. An einen "hochgeehrten Herrn Doktor" über die gesundheitlich bedingte Unmöglichkeit, eine Besprechung zu verfassen: "Ein Unternehmen wie das, von dem Sie berichten, hat natürlich Anspruch auf mein stärkstes Interesse. Wenn Sie meinen, daß eine Besprechung darüber mit mir wünschenswert ist, müßte ich zu Ihrer Verfügung sein. Es trifft sich aber daß ich jetzt leidend u. nicht einmal Herr meiner Zeit bin, da ich eine ebenso anspruchsvolle wie ermüdende Behandlung unternommen habe (Röntgenbestra[h]lungen). Ich getraue mich also nicht Ihnen jetzt einen Zeitpunkt für Ihren freundlichen Besuch anzugeben. Sollten Sie später Ihre Absicht wieder aufnehmen, so bin ich dann vielleicht in der Lage, Sie bei mir zu sehen [...]". - Freud war bereits 1923 nach seiner Gaumenoperation mit Röntgenstrahlen behandelt worden, weitere Behandlungen folgten 1930, 1931 und 1934. Ab Februar 1939 wurde er dann in London u. a. von Neville Finzi, einem der führenden Röntgenologen Großbritanniens, behandelt. Nach mehreren Sitzungen diagnostizierte im Mai der Oralchirurg George Exner, der u. a. in Wien bei dem Kieferchirurgen Hans Pichler studiert hatte, "erneute Krebsrezidive, hält eine Operation aber nicht mehr für angezeigt. Es wurde Radium mit Hilfe einer Prothese 2 Stunden pro Tag gegeben, daneben tiefe Röntgenbestrahlung. Die Geschwulst ist zurückgegangen, aber Metastasen sind aufgetreten". Im Juli und August bemerkte Freuds Leibarzt Max Schur verdächtige Läsionen in Freuds Mundhöhle und konnte Pichler, der Freuds Gaumenkrebs zwischen 1923 bis 1936 schon mehr als 30-mal operiert hatte, dazu überreden, persönlich nach London zu kommen und Freud zu untersuchen. Pichler traf am 7. September in London ein und stellte in einer gleich darauf anschließenden Untersuchung fest, daß operiert werden müsse. Die Operation am Tag darauf überstand Freud gut, den ganzen Monat jedoch sollte er nicht mehr erleben. - Auf Briefpapier mit gedr. Briefkopf; stellenweise gering fleckig und mit zwei kleinen alt hinterlegten Einrissen im Mittelfalz. Christfried Tögel, "Freud-Diarium" (Online-Version), S. 454.
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Le Verrier, Urbain Jean Joseph, French mathematician and astronomer (1811-1877).
Autograph letter signed. Paris, 19. II. 1877.
8vo. 1 p. on bifolium. Interesting letter from the year of Le Verrier's death to a fellow member of the Institut de France, requesting a meeting to resolve a conflict in which "the one and the other" was at fault: "De mon côté, j'ai réprimé mon desir d'aller vous voir pensant que je ne vous serais pas agréable. Nous avons eu tort l'un et l'autre : et deux au contraire grand ça ne va pas qu'il faut se voir afin de mieux aviser et de concerter la route à suivre, scientifique et politiquement. Ceci entendu, comme je vous verrai au plus tard d[ans] l'Institut, je n'en dis pas plus long". - Despite his sensational discovery of Neptune in 1846, Le Verrier had a difficult standing in the scientific community and was engaged in many arguments. In 1854, he first became director of the Paris Observatory but unhappiness over his management led to his removal from office in 1870. When his successor and adversary Charles-Eugène Delaunay drowned in 1872, Le Verrier was reinstated as director of the Observatory, albeit under close supervision. His name is among those of the 72 French scientists commemorated on the Eiffel Tower. - Minimally creased. With a collector's note in pencil.
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Mach, Ernst, Physiker und Philosoph (1838-1916).
Eigenh. Brief mit U. Großpriesen [Velké Brezno], 6. VIII. 1873.
1 S. auf Doppelblatt. 8vo. Charmantes Entschuldigungsschreiben an einen Kollegen, dem Mach einen Artikel zur Akustik vitruvianischer Schallgefäße versprochen hatte: "Die Hoffnung Ihnen etwas über Schallgefässe in Kürze liefern zu können, hat fortwährend mein Schreiben verzögert. Decanatsgeschäfte, optische Arbeiten und Zufälle aller Art in meiner Familie haben mich bisher an Ausführung meines Vorsatzes verhindert. Nun kann ich aber meine Entschuldigung wenigstens nicht länger hinausschieben und muss das Versprechen hinzufügen, mich bald durch die That zu rechtfertigen. Kommen Sie heuer nach Wiesbaden? Wann sind Sie in Würzburg anzutreffen?". - 1872/73 war Ernst Mach Dekan der Philosophischen Fakultät der Karl-Ferdinands-Universität in Prag. - Leicht gebräunt und fleckig. Mit geringfügigen Seiteneinrissen ohne Textberührung. Das 2. Bl. verso mit alter Verfasserzuschreibung in Tinte.
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Tyndall, John, Irish physicist (1820-1893).
Autograph letter signed. Haslemere, Hind Head House, 17 Oct. 1889.
8vo (115 x 180 mm). 1 p. on bifolium. A cordial letter to the German physician René Du Bois-Reymond (1863-1938), a fellow mountaineer: "I have just returned from the spot where I had the pleasure of meeting you after your escalade of the Jungfrau. Here in Surrey I find your 'Inaugural Dissertation' with pleasant words upon its title-page, awaiting me. I thank you very much for it, and wish that it may prove the beginning of a career comparable in brilliancy to that of my friend your father [...]". René was the son of Emil Heinrich Du Bois-Reymond, a physiologist based in Berlin. - Name of the recipient pencilled to upper left corner. Well preserved.
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Degas, Edgar, French painter and sculptor (1834-1917).
Autograph letter signed ("Degas"). N. p. o. d., "Jeudi".
8vo. 4 pp. on bifolium. Interesting letter to a friend, probably Louis Braquaval, declining an invitation to Saint-Valery-sur-Somme due to health concerns, criticizing the luxurious salon of mutual friends, and reporting on the similarly fragile health of his maid Zoé Closier, as both appear to have suffered from a food poisoning. Degas also muses that the recipient "only wants to impress" him, adding that it is also his own desire to be impressed and announcing that one day he will take his friend by surprise in order to see who he really is. In closing, Degas implies a possible visit to Saint Valery after Easter. - Edgar Degas met Louis Braquaval in 1896 in Saint-Valerie-sur-Somme and visited him several times thereafter. The two men became close friends and painting companions. In general, Degas was largely isolated in his later years, having lost many friends due to his difficult character. The letter gives testimony to Degas's peculiarities and his failing health. His maid Zoé Closier is known from a famous photographic self-portrait of Degas from ca. 1895 kept at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. - Professionally restored. Minor browning and stains.
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Delacroix, Henry-Eugène, French painter (1845-1930).
Autograph letter signed. Paris, 29. IV. 1902.
8vo. 2½ pp. on bifolium. Interesting letter to a friend named Dorchain, probably the playwright Auguste Dorchain, asking him for support with Quentin Beauchard, a magistrate at the Ministry of Culture, ahead of the Paris Salon. Delacroix was hoping for the acquisition of his painting by the state and lobbied with Beauchard and other members of a ministerial commission: "J'attache la plus grande importance à son opinion qui, paraît-il, est préponderante au Conseil. Puis je continuerai mes démarches auprès des autres membres de la [...] Commission dite des B[eau]x Arts". Another concern of Delacroix' was the presentation of his painting, which was good overall, although in a "somewhat dark hall": "Mon tableau est bien exposé, quoique dans une salle un peu sombre, il ne faut pas trop se plaindre". In a short postscript, Delacroix asks Dorchain to put in a good word for him with journalists. - Minimal foxing and browning.
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Doré, Gustave, French artist (1832-1883).
Autograph letter signed. Glasgow, 12. III. 1875.
8vo. 4 pp. on bifolium. In French. To an unidentified friend, thanking him for a text on Doré's work and particularly praising his "protest against the systemaric ostracism" that excludes Doré "from all decoratif works for the state": "Voici vingt jours environ que j'ai quitté Paris et que je me livre à un vagabondage des plus écossais, ainsi que à la chasse aux grousse [!] et aux paysages et ce n'est que hier à Glasgow (quartier général que j'avais indiqué pour l'envoi de toutes mes lettres et papiers[)] que j'ai trouvé les rumeurs [?] du progrès de l'ami [?] et que j'ai eu le vif plaisir de lire les pages si chaleureuses et vraiment amicales que vous m'avez fait l'honneur de consacrer à la [...] de mes œuvres; et je m'empresse de vous adresser mes très affectueuses et reconnaissans [!] remerciements et merci encore et merci surtout pour les lignes où vous protestez si franchement contre l'ostracisme systématique qui m'exclut de tous les travaux décoratifs pour l'état [...]". - On stationery with stricken-out letterhead "Benmore, Kilmun". With collector's note in ink. Traces of folds. Some ink smudging.
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Ingres, Jean-Auguste-Dominique, French painter (1780-1867).
Autograph letter signed ("J. Ingres"). Paris, 12. IV. 1844.
4to. 1 p. on bifolium. To a friend and author, thanking him for one of his works and a dedication: "Je suis extrêmement touché et reconnaissant de l'envoi que vous avez bien voulu me faire de votre bel ouvrage et des trop charmants beaux vers qui l'accompagnent ; j'ai déjà eu le plaisir de lire votre bel et intéressant ouvrage lorsqu'il a paru dans la revue britannique et je suis trop heureux de le posséder; je vous remercie donc, mille fois, Monsieur et ami de cet aimable envoi, ainsi que de la belle lettre que vous avez bien voulu y joindre et qui n'en sera jamais séparée, mais que dans ma juste modestie je ne puis m'approprier qu'une petite partie des beautés qu'elle renferme". - On Bath stationery. Well preserved.
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Marie Adélaïde de France, daughter of Louis XV (1732-1800).
Document signed. Versailles, 1. II. 1779.
Folio. 1 p. A petition on behalf of Marie Louise de Vidame Comtesse Dessöffy in Bar-le-Duc, addressed to the princesses of France, with Madame Adélaïde's signature to a pledge of 120 livres from the "fonds des missions" for the destitute noblewoman in the upper right corner. The document details Dessöffy's struggle to provide for her seven children, having already depleted her inheritance. A son who had finished military school and served as an officer for fours years was in need of a new uniform and a horse, probably following punishment and degradation to the infantry. Furthermore, the youngest daughter had been accepted at the Maison royale de Saint-Louis at Saint-Cyr, a boarding school for girls from impoverished noble families founded by Madame de Maintenon, but the family could not afford to pay for her journey. - The French branch of the Hungarian magnate family Dessewffy de Csernek was founded by Miklós Dessewffy or Dessöffy, who left Hungary in 1711 to enter the service of Louis XIV, eventually rising to the rank of Maréchal du Camp. The petition mentions the sacrifice of his Hungarian possessions and of his life in the retreat from Prague in 1742 during the War of the Austrian Succession. Finally, the military service of Marie Louise's husband Jacques-Charles Dessöffy (1720-1785) in the army of Louis XV and his ranks are highlighted. - A small receipt attached with sealing wax states that the Comtesse received the 120 livres on 23 February 1779. - Beyond Madame Adélaïde's donation, this or other supplications probably led to the final promotion of Jacques-Charles Dessöffy to the rank of Maréchal du Camp in March 1780. - Traces of folds. Some browning, particularly to the right margin. With several tears, partly affecting the text.
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Napoleon, Emperor of the French (1769-1821).
Letter signed "Nap". Erfurt, 9. X. 1808.
4to. ½ p. To the archchancellor Jean-Jacques-Régis de Cambacérès, reporting that the Congress of Erfurt was continuing as planned but there were no new developments: "Les Conférences continuent ici; tout va au mieux; il n'y a du reste rien de nouveau. Sur ce je prie Dieu qu'il vous ait, mon Cousin, en sa sainte et digne garde". - The meeting between Napoleon and Alexander I of Russia, known as Congress of Erfurt, lasted from 27 September to 14 October in the then-French city and was supposed to reaffirm the French-Russian alliance that had been forged by the Treaties of Tilsit in July 1807. Napoleon was eager to impress his imperial guest and spared no expenses, hosting lavish receptions, hunting parties, and theatre performances. On the occasion of the Congress, Napoleon received Goethe on 2 October 1808, and Niccolò Paganini performed for the two emperors. - In the hand of Napoleon's private secretary Claude-François Méneval. Traces of folds and minimal browning. With old accession no. 481 in ink.
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Napoleon, Emperor of the French (1769-1821).
Letter signed "Nap". Erfurt, 30. IX. 1808.
4to. ½ p. To the archchancellor Jean-Jacques-Régis de Cambacérès, reporting on the beginning of the Congress of Erfurt, which attracted numerous "princes and foreigners" to the city and "continued to proceed to common satisfaction": "Les Princes et les étrangers affluent de tous côtés à Erfurt, et les choses continuent à marcher à la satisfaction commune". - The meeting between Napoleon and Alexander I of Russia known as Congress of Erfurt lasted from 27 September to 14 October in the then-French city and was supposed to reaffirm the French-Russian alliance that had been forged in the Treaties of Tilsit in July 1807. Napoleon was eager to impress his imperial guest and spared no expenses, hosting lavish receptions, hunting parties, and theatre performances. On the occasion of the Congress, Napoleon received Goethe on 2 October 1808, and Niccolò Paganini performed for the two emperors. - In the hand of Napoleon's private secretary Claude-François Méneval. Traces of folds and minimal browning. With old accession no. 479 in ink.
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Napoleon, Emperor of the French (1769-1821).
Letter signed "Nap". Kaiserslautern, 24. IX. 1808.
4to. ½ p. To the archchancellor Jean-Jacques-Régis de Cambacérès, informing him about his arrival in Kaiserslautern, instructing him to inform Empress Joséphine of his well-being, and relating that "the Russian court had already arrived in Königsberg", as both parties were heading to meet in Erfurt: "Je suis arrivé à Kaiserlautern [!]. Donnez de mes nouvelles à l'Impératrice; je me porte fort bien. Le tems a été superbe jusqu'ici. J'ai des nouvelles que toute la Cour de Russie était déjà arrivée à Koenigsberg". - The meeting between Napoleon and Alexander I of Russia known as Congress of Erfurt lasted from 27 September to 14 October in the then-French city and was supposed to reaffirm the French-Russian alliance that had been forged in the Treaties of Tilsit in July 1807. Napoleon was eager to impress his imperial guest and spared no expenses, hosting lavish receptions, hunting parties, and theatre performances. On the occasion of the Congress, Napoleon received Goethe on 2 October 1808, and Niccolò Paganini performed for the two emperors. - In the hand of Napoleon's private secretary Claude-François Méneval. Traces of folds and minimal browning. With old accession no. 477 in ink.
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Napoleon, Emperor of the French (1769-1821).
Letter signed "Napo". Erfurt, 1. X. 1808.
4to. ½ p. on bifolium. To the archchancellor Jean-Jacques-Régis de Cambacérès, asking him to draft a birth certificate for his niece Louise Julie Caroline, the youngest daughter of Joachim Murat, King of Naples, and Napoleon's youngest sister Caroline in accordance with the statute of the imperial family: "Nous désirons qu'assisté du Secrétaire de l'État de la famille Impériale vous fassiez dresser un acte constatant la naissance de la Princesse Louise Julie Caroline, quatrième enfant de notre Soeur la Reine de Naples. Vous vous conformerez, pour ce qui concerne la désignation des témoins, à ce qui est prescrit par l'article 19". - Louise Julie Caroline (1805-89) was born before the decree of the statute of the Imperial family on 30 March 1806, which explains the necessity for a new birth certificate and the delay. - The letter was written during the Congress of Erfurt, a meeting between Napoleon and Alexander I of Russia that lasted from 27 September to 14 October in the then-French city and was supposed to reaffirm the French-Russian alliance that had been forged in the Treaties of Tilsit in July 1807. Napoleon was eager to impress his imperial guest and spared no expenses, hosting lavish receptions, hunting parties, and theatre performances. On the occasion of the Congress, Napoleon received Goethe on 2 October 1808, and Niccolò Paganini performed for the two emperors. - In the hand of Napoleon's private secretary Claude-François Méneval. Traces of folds and minimal browning. With old accession no. 480 in ink.
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Napoleon, Emperor of the French (1769-1821).
Letter signed "Np". Saint-Cloud, 21. X. 1808.
4to. 4 lines. To the archchancellor Jean-Jacques-Régis de Cambacérès, asking him to draft a decree for the ennoblement of vice-admiral Honoré Joseph Antoine Ganteaume: "présentez-moi un projet de décision pour conférer au Vice-amiral Ganteaume le titre de Comte". - Excepting the signature, the letter is in the hand of Napoleon's private secretary Claude-François Méneval. Traces of folds and minimal browning. With old accession no. 482 in ink.
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Sartre, Jean-Paul, French philosopher and writer (1905-1980).
"Les communistes et la paix". Autograph manuscript (fragment). No place, [1952].
4to. French manuscript on paper. (2) pp. on 2 ff. Interesting early manuscript of chapter I/2 of his series of articles entitled "Les communistes et la paix" that was first published in Sartre's journal "Les Temps modernes" (July 1952 - April 1954) and later in its entirety and thoroughly revised as part of the collection Situations VI (1964). The original title of the chapter, "Moscou veut la guerre", sets the cynical tone of the text that was first conceived in reaction to the deadly suppression of the Paris protests against General Ridgway on 28 May 1952 and the subsequent wrongful arrest of the French communist leader Jacques Duclos. Sartre accuses Western, particularly U.S. politicians of hypocrisy as, in the name of peace, they employ the violent and belligerent means that theye ascribe to the Soviet Union, polemically asking, in a deleted section: "Do you not also pretend to desire peace? I look for your olive twigs and I see atomic bombs, I look for your doves and I see rocket planes. You say that you show your force so as not to have to make use of it. But to show force is already violence: let your tanks defile, cover the African sky with your bombers [...]". - With "Les communistes et la paix" Sartre publicly affirmed his support of the French Communist Party, despite its loyalty to Stalin, which would cause his rupture with Maurice Merleau-Ponty. In 1956, appalled by the Soviet invasion of Hungary, Sartre definitely broke with the party. Unsurprisingly, the corresponding pages in the 1964 publication Situations VI (96-97) are very different from the manuscript and the article. - Some browning and bent corners.
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Baudelaire, Charles, French poet (1821-1867).
Autograph letter signed ("Ch. Baudelaire"). [Paris], 18. VIII. 1862.
8vo. 3 pp. on bifolium. In French. Important letter to Arsène Houssaye, desperately requesting an advance on articles or a loan, as he is facing eviction, and offering valuable hints at his current work, which mostly remained unpublished during Baudelaire's lifetime: "If you do not come to my rescue today, I will find myself today even without lodging, and in a situation in which I will no longer have the necessary rest to work a little. I always hoped that La Presse would begin [to print] my Variétés [a section of his diary] and would slowly continue week by week or fortnight by fortnight. It is, I assure you, with deep regret that I address myself to your purse but to whom do I address myself at this moment? No one is in Paris. It will be, if you wish, an advance, which you will repay, or a loan; for if I consider the work finished, I know someone who will advance me the whole amount. The sum I need is too great for me to have any right to ask you for it, but 250 fr., which probably represents two large Variétés-articles that you have, might allow me to put off my man for a few days. Permit me, I beg you, to insist vigorously, as on a serious matter, and not to speak of recognition. It is the fashion of those who forget" (transl.). In a long postscript, Baudelaire mentions his "Petits Poèmes en prose", better known under the later title "Le Spleen de Paris", his posthumously published diatribe "L'esprit et le style de M. Villemain", ideas for new titles that feature in his diaries and the autobiographical fragment "Mon cœur mis à nu" and he announces to visit Houssaye: "It is not surprising that I torment you to try [to have] a work of mine in La Presse. I have many other things in my mind than the Poèmes and Villemain. Everything could be broken up. I found two new titles: Fusées et Suggestions / Soixante Six Suggestions. I did not know until yesterday that I would be obliged to assail you in this way; do all you can, not to get me out of trouble but to help me lengthen the belt. I still have a little bit of copy with me but I would have liked to extend it. I will go and see you today". - Baudelaire's plea was successful, as Arsène Houssaye published some of the "Petits Poèmes" in La Presse on 26 August, 27 August, and 24 September 1862. - With several small tears and one larger tear due to ink corrosion affecting the text. Somewhat brittle.
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Hugo, Victor, French writer (1802-1885).
Autograph letter signed ("Victor-M. Hugo"). N. p. o. d.
12mo. 2 pp. on bifolium. With autograph address. Charming letter to the royalist lawyer and publisher Charles-Pierre Ducancel (1766-1835), correcting the title of a poem that Hugo was supposed to recite at a meeting of Ducancel's "Société des bonnes lettres": "J'ai l'honneur de saluer Monsieur Ducancel et de le prier de rectifier s'il en est encore temps, une erreur qui m'est échappée dans mon griffonnage de ce matin. La pièce que je me propose de lire à la société n'est point sur le désastre de Quiberon; mais c'est tout simplement une ode intitulée Quiberon. Cette inexactitude constitue une nuance bien légère à la vérité ; mais je désirerais que Monsieur Ducancel pût et voulût bien la faire disparaître. Je tremble de promettre plus que je ne tiendrais [...]". - Written in 1821, Victor Hugo's ode "Quiberon" commemorates the royalist victims of the 1795 Battle of Quiberon, which ended a brief counter-revolutionary invasion by French royalists and the British Navy. The poem was published as part of the collection "Odes et Ballades" in 1828. A passionate royalist in the first decades of his life, Hugo's political convictions shifted towards republicanism in the 1840s. - With a tear from breaking the seal. Some browning.
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Jacob, Max, French poet, painter, writer, and critic (1876-1944).
Autograph letter signed. Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire, 11. II. 1943.
8vo. 1 p. To his friend and protégé Maurice Morel, known as l'Abbé Morel, concerning a manuscript that has been saved from his "shipwreck disaster" and hopes to publish it "as it is" after everything "has been taken" from Jacobs: "Tout est donc au même ! Gloria in excelsis Deo. Merci au Seigneur d'avoir sauvé ce manuscrit de mon désastre de naufrage. Publions le manuscrit tel que puisque je n'ai rien d'autre, tout ayant été pris. Cependant je ne veux pas vendre le manuscrit et perdre mes droits. Que votre éditeur me propose un contrat que j'étudierai". - The touching letter is a testament to Max Jacob's desperate situation in occupied France and the importance of his Christian faith during this period. Whether Jacobs could have actually hoped for a publication under these circumstances is very doubtful. - Traces of folds.
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Jacob, Max, French poet, painter, writer, and critic (1876-1944).
Autograph letter signed. Quimper, 18. XI. 1935.
4to. 2 pp. With autograph envelope. To his friend and protégé Maurice Morel, known as l'Abbé Morel, concerning a forthcoming publication of selected poems. Jacob asks Morel to insist with their friend, the theologian Jacques Maritain, to keep the insconspicuous title "Poémes choisis inédits" so as not to attract "hate and furor", as well as the information "chosen by l'abbé Morel". The second part of the letter concerns the contract, Jacob's dire financial situation, and the painter Jean Colle, who was currently in London and somehow involved in the projected publication. While there is no publication of Max Jacob entitled "Poémes choisis inédits", it is very likely that the anthology in question is identical with the "Morceaux choisis" published by Gallimard in November 1936. - The devout Catholic Jacob met the future priest Maurice Morel (1908-91) when he was taken in by Father Albert Fleureau in Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire for detoxification in 1921. Jacob dedicated his 1921 poem "Le Laboratoire central" to Morel and encouraged him to follow his second calling as a painter. In his art, Morel was decidedly modern and abstract. He opened the Catholic Church of France to non-figurative art, even facilitating the introduction of modern art to the Vatican Museums. - Traces of folds.
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Louÿs, Pierre, French poet and novelist (1870-1925).
1 autograph letter signed and 1 autograph letter monogrammed. Tamaris [La Seyne-sur-Mer], 12 and 13 Sept. 1907.
8vo. Together 5 pp. on bifolia. With autograph envelopes. To his brother Georges Louis, commenting on political articles in Le Temps and Le Gaulois and mentioning a favour to a friend who was seeking employment in French West Africa. The letter from 12 September: "Tout en approuvant le fond des deux articles du Temps sur la note allemande, je ne pense pas que tu en approuves la forme; je crois comprendre qu’on avait soufflé à [André] Tardieu : ‘La note a voulu être plus aimable qu’elle ne l’est. Mettez en valeur ce qu’elle a de mieux. Ne faites pas de susceptibilités.’ Mais il a exagéré les salutations. Il reproche à ses confrères d’être nerveux, il est plus nerveux que personne [...]. C’est très habile avoir fait dire par El Guebbas [M'hammed El Guebbas, grand vizier of Morocco] lui-même que la police mixte était impossible. Quand profitera-t-on de la situation nouvelle ? [...]". - Well preserved.
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Louÿs, Pierre, French poet and novelist (1870-1925).
Autograph letter. N. p., "30 mars", n. y.
8vo. 2½ pp. on bifolium. Personal letter to his half-brother Georges Louis, announcing his return from a longer visit to their sister Lucie, relating news from the family and friends, and expressing his hope to see Georges at lunch: "Je reviens toujours demain matin, mon cher Georges. J'espère te voir à déjeuner parce que je serai peut-être obligé de sortir le soir. Tout le monde va bien ici et on est très affectueux pour ton frère. J'ai trouvé les enfants bien grandis. Jacques m'a envoyé ici une lettre très étrange, mystique et jeannesque au possible. L'influence conjugale est encore mal digérée; mais d'une force ! Ma tante M. elle-même n'a pas eu plus de puissance sur son mari. Je te ferai lire cette prose. C'est bien curieux. 'Tu embrasseras Georges pour moi', me crie Lucie par la porte. Et pour moi aussi !". - On mourning paper.
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Rilke, Rainer Maria, Dichter (1875-1926).
Eigenh. Brief mit U. Westerwede, 6. VII. 1901.
1 S. 8vo. An den namentlich nicht genannten Germanisten August Sauer in Prag zur Übersendung einer Novelle: "Obwohl Sie in Ihrer freundlichen Aufforderung zur Theilnahme an der neuen heimatlichen Publikation nur von Gedichten gesprochen haben, sende ich Ihnen eine Novelle "Reflexe", die mir besonders passend erscheint, und die ich umso lieber Ihrer Zeitschrift geben würde, als sie mir persönlich besonders lieb ist unter allen neueren Arbeiten [...]". - August Sauer lehrte seit 1892 an der Karl-Ferdinands-Universität in Prag und war u. a. Mitglied der Gesellschaft zur Förderung deutscher Wissenschaft, Kunst und Literatur in Böhmen. Zugleich fungierte er als Redakteur der von der Gesellschaft herausgegebenen Zeitschrift "Deutsche Arbeit" (1901-18). Der frischgebackene Ehemann Rilke, der im April des Jahres die Bildhauerin und Malerin Clara Westhoff geheiratet hatte, reiste im Sommer 1902 - nach bloß 16-monatigem Zusammenleben - nach Paris, um dort an seiner Monographie über Auguste Rodin zu arbeiten; Clara löste den Haushalt in Worpswede auf und folgte Rilke mal mehr und mal weniger während dessen Wanderjahren. Die 1912 von ihr eingereichte Scheidung kam auf Grund von zu hohen Kosten und bürokratischen Schwierigkeiten nicht zustande. - Mit kleinen (am rechten oberen Rand stärkeren) Randläsuren und einem eh. Antwortvermerk des Empfängers.
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Sade, Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de, French writer (1740-1814).
Autograph document signed. Charenton, 15. IX. 1812.
199 x 74 mm. 5 lines. Receipt for the allowance that de Sade received from his second-born son Claude-Armand during his imprisonment in the Charenton asylum: "Je soussigné reconnais avoir reçu de Monsieur Armand de Sade mon fils la somme de deux cent cinquante-deux francs savoir celle de cent cinquante-six pour le mois de Septembre et celle de quatre-vingt-seize pour un objet particulier". - In 1801, Napoleon personally ordered the arrest of the anonymous author of "Justine" and "Juliette" after he had received a copy of the novel. De Sade was arrested at his publisher's office and imprisoned without trial. After two years of imprisonment in Sainte-Pélagie and in the Bicêtre Asylum, his family managed to have him declared insane and placed in the Charenton asylum with favourable treatment. There he would spend the rest of his life in captivity but with some personal freedom and comfort. - After the death of his eldest son Louis-Marie in the Napoleonic Wars in 1809, Claude-Armand (1769-1847) became the head of the family. A devout catholic, Claude-Armand was eager to eradicate the memory of his scandalous father and destroyed all remaining manuscripts upon his death in 1812. - Minimally stained and creased.
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Sand, George, French writer (1804-1876).
Autograph letter signed. Nohant, 3. III. 1876.
8vo. 3 pp. on bifolium. In French. Charming letter to Charles Edmond, editor at Le Temps, concerning an article on the puppet theatre of her son Maurice in Nohant. Sand apologizes for a delay due to her merry duties as a grandmother during carnival, as she played the piano for her dancing granddaughters and dressed up as "an old Turk with a fake nose and an old Pierrot with the powdered figure" (transl.). Furthermore, her cook got married to a managing road construction worker who accepted an apartment in Sand's house, so as not to deprive the family of their "good cordon bleu". She warns Edmond that the "article reached frightening proportions" and gives him free hand for its publication, advising that it might better fit the "entertainment section rather than the feuilleton". For the planned publication as a book with Michel Lévy Frères, Sand would add a "purely literary preface". - The article "Le théâtre des marionnettes de Nohant" appeared in Le Temps on 11/12 May 1876. It was among Sand's final publications; she died less than one month later on 8 June 1876. In 1890, Maurice Sand published with Calmann Lévy the book that his mother had announced to Edmond. An ingenious puppeteer and puppet maker, Maurice Sand is overshadowed by his famous mother. The letter bears beautiful testimony to George Sand's appreciation of her son's work and her dedication to her granddaughters. The family home in Nohant still houses the puppet theatre and displays Maurice's creations. - On stationery with blindstamped monogram. Minor browning. Lubin, vol. XXIV, p. 548.
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Sand, George, French writer (1804-1876).
Autograph letter signed "GSand". N. p., "vendredi" [26 June 1868].
8vo. 1½ pp. on bifolium. To a close friend, concerning the dissolution of a household with instructions for the sale of some objects, while others should be sent to Nohant: "Je viens d'écrire à Mr. Blochel que je ne céderais pas le buffet, la desserte, l'étagère et la batterie de cuisine à moins de 500 f -- et je me réserve la balance et le moulin à café que je vous prie de mettre dans la caisse pour Nohant petite vitesse avec les objets restants que nous avons spécifiés [...]". In a short postscript Sand expresses her joy about a successful reading: "Grand succès de lecture !". - According to a collector's note in pencil, the letter was written on 26 June 1868. On stationery with embossed monogram. Traces of folds. Some browning and minimally creased.
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Valéry, Paul, French poet and philosopher (1871-1945).
"Introduction aux images de la France". Autograph manuscript and typed manuscript with autograph annotations. N. p. o. d., [1927].
4to. French manuscript on paper. (3) pp. on 6 ff. Typescript: (18) pp. on 18 ff. Several drafts for Valéry's introduction to Martin Hürlimann's photo book "La France, architecture et paysages" (Zurich/Paris 1927), which was later published as part of Valéry's essay-collection "Regards sur le monde actuel" (Paris 1931). One of the typed pages re-uses a letter from 17 January 1927. - This beautiful ensemble of a manuscript and typescript with annotations and numerous corrections offers a rare insight into Paul Valéry's writing process. The text is an attempt at a profound characterization of France as a nation and its people. Both the manuscript and the typescript comprise several versions of only a few paragraphs of the long introduction. The recurring first phrase of the manuscript is: "La France est le pays du monde où les considérations de la forme, le souci singulier de la forme en soi ait persisté, et même se soit imposé dans les temps modernes" ("France is the one country in the world where questions of form, the singular concern for form in itself, have persisted and even imposed themselves in modern times"). The unsystematically numbered typescript represents passages that are more descriptive of France as a country, trying to establish links between the people and their historical and natural environment. The different versions of the poetic first phrases depict France as harmonious in its geographical diversity: "La terre de France est remarquable par la netteté de sa figure, par les différences de ses parties, par l’équilibre général de cette diversité de régions qui se conviennent et se complètent. Une sorte de proportion assez heureuse existe dans ce pays entre la plaine et la hauteur, entre la montagne et la mer, entre l'étendue intérieure et le développement des côtes, et sur les côtes mêmes, entre les plages, les roches, les falaises [...]." - A beautiful condensation of Valéry's patriotic sentiments is a sentence added by hand to one of the typed pages: "La France tombe, se reléve, se restreint, reprend sa grandeur, redéchire soi-même se reconcentre" ("France falls, rises again, restrains herself, regains her greatness, tears herself apart again, refocuses"). Valéry revised and extended this phrase for the final version. - Stronger browning of the typescript and occasional tears. The first page of the manuscript is dust-stained, showing several minor tears. With editing marks in crayon. Regards sur le monde actuel (Paris: Stock, Delamain et Boutelleau, 1931), pp. 103-144.
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Liszt, Franz, Komponist (1811-1886).
Eigenh. Brief mit U. ("F. Liszt"). O. O., 19. V. 1851.
1¾ SS. auf Doppelblatt. 8vo. Wohl an den Musikschriftsteller und -verleger Bartholf Senff über Korrekturen und einen Artikel für die Zeitschrift "Signale für die musikalische Welt": "In ein paar Stunden gehe ich abermals nach Eilsen! - Sollten Sie mir Correcturen oder andres mitzutheilen haben, so bitte ich Sie bis zum 5ten Juny nach Eilsen zu adressiren. Für die Vorstellungen der Pfingstfeiertage gedenke ich wieder hier einzutreffen. Beifolgend der Göthe Stiftungs Artikel ein[es] Hamburger Correspondenten; vielleicht convenirt es Ihnen denselben in den Signalen aufzunehmen, wofür ich Ihnen nur dankbar sein würde - Zerdahely hat Ihnen schon diesen Wunsch ausgesprochen - jedenfalls muß ich Sie aber bitten sich keineswegs damit zu incommodiren [...] Die beiden Polonaisen erhalten Sie sogleich nach meiner Rückkehr; sie sind gänzlich fertig und bedürfen blos der Abschrift". - Liszt hatte den Sommer 1849 zusammen mit seiner Lebensgefährtin, der Fürstin zu Sayn-Wittgenstein, und deren Tochter Marie auf Helgoland verbracht. Auf der Rückreise im September war Marie an Typhus erkrankt. Gemeinsam blieb man in Bad Eilsen und ließ sich vom damaligen Kurarzt, dem Geheimen Hofrat Dr. Karl von Möller aus Minden, behandeln. Von da ab sollte Liszt bis 1851 insgesamt zwölf Monate in Bad Eilsen verbringen. - Während seiner Zeit als Hofkapellmeister in Weimar (1848-58) hatte Liszt das detaillierte Programm einer Goethe-Stiftung entworfen, mit deren Hilfe die Künste in Deutschland an den europäischen Rang der Goethezeit anknüpfen sollten, und dazu 1851 bei Brockhaus seine Schrift "De la Fondation-Goethe à Weimar" veröffentlicht. - Ede Szerdahelyi (1820-80) war ein ungarischer Pianist und Komponist, der wegen seiner Beteiligung am Ungarnaufstand von 1848 in Olmütz inhaftiert gewesen war. Von Jänner bis Juli 1851 war er in Weimar zu Gast bei Liszt, dem er die Verbindung zu prominenten Exilungarn herstellte. Nach mehrjährigem Aufenthalt in London und in den USA kehrte er 1877 nach Pest zurück und traf auch wieder mit Liszt zusammen, der ihm seine Ungarische Rhapsodie Nr. 1 in E-Dur widmete. - In den Faltungen etwas gebräunt.
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Liszt, Franz, Komponist (1811-1886).
Eigenh. Brief mit U. ("F. Liszt"). Budapest, 3. III. 188[4?].
2 SS. auf Doppelblatt. 8vo. Laut der Transkription eines hier nicht mehr beiliegenden Kuverts an einen René de Jekelfalussy in Theodosía (heute Feodossija, Krim) über eine nicht erhaltene Zusendung: "Es ist mir ganz unbekannt, von Ihnen Compositionen erhalten zu haben. Dieselben sind mir gewiß, entweder gar nicht zugekommen, oder aber, bei meinen vielen Aufenthaltwechseln abhanden gekommen. Sie sind mir noch immer in freundlicher Erinnerung u. hoffe ich, daß es Ihnen wohlergeht [...]". - Längs- und Querfaltung mit tieferen Einrissen, die untere Ecke von Bl. 2 abgeschnitten (keine Textberührung); etwas fleckig.
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Stravinsky, Igor, Russian, and later French and American, composer, pianist, and conductor (1882-1971).
Autograph letter signed ("I. Str."). Paris, 11. VI. 1937.
4to. 1 p. With an autograph envelope. Charming letter in French and German to the silent film star Dagmar Godowsky, thanking her for a "pharmaceutical package" and telling her about a conversation with her brother and his imminent departure for Lake Geneva: "Mille merci de votre envoi pharmaceutique votre frère avec lequel j'ai eu eine telephonische conversation reste ici 2, 3 jours et moi qui pars aujourd'hui au Lac de Genève pour 3 jours (afin de décider pour l'été). En toute hâte. Mille meilleures choses à vous, chère amie, küsse die Hand". Above the text, Stravinsky adds in German that he is in sufficient health: "Gesundheit Got [!] sei bedankt ganz gut". - In her memoir, Dagmar Godowsky (1897-1975) named Stravinsky as one of her great lovers. Little is known of the relationship, but the letter bears beautiful testimony to Stravinsky's familiarity with the actress. Her younger brother Leopold Godowsky Jr. was a violinist and chemist who, together with Leopold Mannes, created the first practical colour transparency film, Kodachrome. - Traces of folds. With tears to the folds and minimal browning.
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Ibsen, Henrik, Norwegian playwright (1828-1906).
Portrait photograph with autograph inscription signed. N. p., 5. XII. 1898.
12mo (109 x 168 mm). 2 lines. Beautiful print of Ibsen's portrait from ca. 1891 by the German photographer Julius Cornelius Schaarwächter mounted on cardboard. Inscribed on verso to a close friend in German: "Von deinem Freund". - With a small water spot and minor pinchfolds affecting the signature. Traces of former mounting.
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[Académie de Dijon].
Document signed by 12 members, including Émiland Gauthey, Louis-Bernard Guyton de Morveau, and Hugues Maret. Dijon, 5. IX. 1785.
Small fol. 3½ pp. Historically interesting administrative document of the Académie des Sciences, Arts et Belles-Lettres de Dijon for the year 1785, listing attendance ("Controlle des Entrées de Messieurs les pensionnaires pendant l'année académique 1785"), the payment of pensions ("État des pensions de Messieurs les Pensionaires [!]"), and the lectures that had been given by the members ("Catalogue des ouvrages lus dans le cours de l'année académique"). The identified signatories are: Pierre-Louis Baudot, historian (1760-1816); Charles Boullemier, historian and librarian (1725-1803); François Chaussier, anatomist (1746-1828); Jean-François Durande, botanist (1732-1794); Joseph Enaux, physician (1726-1798); Émiland Gauthey, engineer and architect (1732-1806); Louis-Bernard Guyton de Morveau, chemist, lawyer, and politician (1737-1816); Jean-Baptiste Mailly, historian, geographer, and journalist (1744-1794); Hugues Maret, physician (1726-1786); Claude-Nicolas Perret, lawyer (1718-1788); and Henri-Claude Picardet, educator (1728-1794). Of these, Baudot, Bullemier, Guyton de Morveau, Maret, and Picardet signed the document three times as official witnesses or administrators. The remaining signatures, including a fourth signature each by Baudot, Boullemier, and Maret, confirm receipt of the pensions (fol. 1v). - Of particular historical interest is the list of works that had been presented by some of the signatories. The famous engineer Gauthey read a "Mémoire sur l'épaisseur qu'on doit donner aux murs de soutenement pour resister à la poussée des terres" concerning the statics of retaining walls, Hugues Maret presented a "Memoir on epidemic diseases in the spring of this year", his 1784 "Histoire Meteoro-Nosologique", and an analysis of the water of a volcanic lake in Monterotondo Marittimo, Tuscany. The little-known lawyer Claude-Nicolas Perret read a philosophical text on the subject of slavery: "Examen de l'opinion de quelques Philosophes Modernes sur l'esclavage", the botanist and physician Jean-François Durande presented a "method of multiplying the foreign trees", but also "the method of burying the dead" and "premature burials", while his colleague Enaux brought foward his "Méthode de traiter les morsures des animaux enragés et de la vipere" ("Method of treating bites from rabid animals and from the viper"), which was published in Dijon that year. - Some browning and several stains. Minor damage due to ink corrosion. With several tears minimally affecting the text and the first signature of Picardet. The first signatures of Boullemier and Baudot are somewhat rubbed. With collector's stamp, old price or inventory no. (fol. 1r).
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Humboldt, Alexander von, Naturforscher und Geograph (1769-1859).
Eigenh. Brief mit U. ("Humboldt"). Potsdam, "mardi" [1850/1851].
1 S. 8vo. In französischer Sprache. Spannender und inhaltsreicher Brief an einen jungen Forschungsreisenden, der Humboldt um Rat bezüglich einer Expedition in den Orient gebeten hatte. Humboldt empfiehlt zunächst den österreichischen Diplomaten Anton Prokesch von Osten als Ratgeber für den ersten Reiseabschnitt nach Konstantinopel, wobei er selbst vom Landweg über Galizien und Moldavien abrät und stattdessen den Seeweg ab Triest empfiehlt. Im Übrigen weist Humboldt darauf hin, selbst nur geringe Kenntnisse des Orients zu besitzen: "Da ich lediglich in der chinesischen Provinz Ili, nahe dem Dsaisang-See, bis zum Kaspischen Meer und am Don gewesen bin, habe ich keine Verbindungen mit dem Orient" (Übs.). Allerdings kann Humboldt auf sein immenses Netzwerk zurückgreifen und fügt ein Empfehlungsschreiben für den preußischen Gesandten in Konstantinopel, Albert von Pourtalès, bei. In dessen Residenz werde der Empfänger den Orientalisten Georg Rosen antreffen, der als Dragoman der Gesandtschaft fungierte. Rosen habe "wichtige Arbeiten in den Tälern des Kaukasus über die Reste der Alanen und anderer germanischer Stämme, die die Überreste des Schiffsbruchs der Völker in ihren großen Migrationen von Osten nach Westen sind, durchgeführt". Abschließend erwähnt Humboldt, dass Georg Rosen der Bruder des in London verstorbenen Orientalisten Friedrich August Rosen sei, und bittet den Empfänger, das beigefügte Empfehlungsschreiben "nicht alt werden zu lassen". - Der Brief kann anhand der Stationierung von Albert von Pourtalès (1812-61) in Konstantinopel auf die Jahre 1850-1851 datiert werden. Humboldt hatte Georg Rosen persönlich der Berliner Akademie der Wissenschaften für die Teilnahme an einer 1843 durchgeführten linguistisch-ethnografischen Expedition in den Kaukasus empfohlen. Im Anschluss an seine Stationierung als Dragoman in Konstantinopel wurde Rosen 1852 Botschafter in Jerusalem. Sein früh verstorbener Halbbruder Friedrich August Rosen (1807-37) leistete bedeutende Beiträge zur Sanskritforschung und war langjähriger Korrespondent Alexander von Humboldts. - Leicht gebräunt und fleckig. Mit einigen Nadellöchern in der linken oberen Ecke. Empfänger- oder Sammlernotiz in Tinte verso "de Humboldt".
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Tissot, Samuel-Auguste, Swiss physician (1728-1797).
Autograph medical manuscript signed. No place, 17. IX. 1769.
8vo. 2½ pp. on bifolium. In French. Highly interesting diagnosis and plan of treatment for the Marquess of Barolo. Tissot diagnoses constipation and "putrid corruption" of the lower abdomen "that disturb all functions and cause fever and the other symptoms", prescribing a minimal diet of rice cooked in chicken broth, "cream of tartar" as a laxative, an extract of the roots of couch grass (elymus repens, "graminis canini"), external treatment with mallow extract, cataplasms for the legs, and, when the patient is somewhat recovered and the fever has receded, "should we be so lucky to get there", warm baths. Should the fever cease completely, Tissot advises his patient to go to Spa so as to "restore to the intenstines their full functionality" thanks to the motion of the body during the horseback or carriage ride there and to recover fully in the famous thermal waters. - Today, Samuel-Auguste Tissot is best known for his 1760 medical treatise "L'Onanisme" on the ill-effects of masturbation, which had a lasting negative influence on Western medicine. However, his most famous work during his lifetime, "Avis au peuple sur sa santé" from 1761, was the greatest medical best-seller of the 18th century and earned him a reputation throughout Europe. In 1777 Emperor Joseph II visited Tissot, as both men were advocates for the smallpox vaccine. The Emperor later asked Tissot to direct the teaching hospital of the University of Pavia, a post he held from 1781 to 1783. - The patient was probably Charles Jérôme Joseph Falletti de Barolo, father of Ottavio Falletti di Barolo (1753-1828) and grandfather of Carlo Tancredo Falletti di Barolo (1782-1838), who co-founded the Sisters of St Anne with his wife Juliette Colbert. Little is known of Charles Jérôme, and whether his treatment by Tissot was successful remains a subject for further research. - With tears from breaking the seal. Traces of folds and some browning. With a collector's note in pencil.
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Wotruba, Fritz, Bildhauer (1907-1975).
Eigenh. Brief mit U. O. O., 1. V. 1967.
1 S. 4to. An den Kunsthistoriker und Direktor der Wiener Albertina Walter Koschatzky mit Dank für einen Brief: "Ihre Zeilen haben mich sehr gefreut. Es ist ein Pech, daß wir uns so selten sehen, aber ich hoffe, daß das jetzt einmal anders wird jedenfalls in der allernächsten Zukunft, lieber Dr. Ihnen und Ihrer lieben Frau [...]". - Im Herbst 1965 hatte die Albertina dem bedeutenden Bildhauer eine Werkschau gewidmet. - Auf Briefpapier mit gedrucktem Briefkopf "Fritz Wotruba". Mit kleineren Quetschfalten am oberen Rand.
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Louis XIV, King of France (1638-1715).
Autograph letter signed. Versailles, 23. V. 1697.
8vo. 2 pp. on bifolium. With sealed autograph envelope "à mon fils le conte de Toulouse". Framed and glazed (double-sided, 370 x 339 mm). Beautiful letter to his son Louis-Alexandre de Bourbon, Count of Toulouse, during the Nine Years' War: "Jay receu vostre lettre du 19 avec les Cartes qui y estoient jointes continués a men envoier ou tous les camps que larmée ou vous estes soient marqués et travaillés autant que vous pouvés a vous instruire pour estre un jour capable de servir lestat. Mandés moy tout ce qui se passera qui en vaudra la peine. Il ne me reste qua vous assurer de mon amitié qui durera tant que vous la meriterés par la vostre et par vos actions" ("I received your letter of the 19th with the maps that were attached to it. Continue to send [maps] to me, where all the camps of the army of which you are part are marked, and work as much as you can in order to instruct yourself, so that one day you will be able to serve the state. Inform me of every change that is worth noting. I can only assure you of my friendship, which will last as long as you deserve it by yourself and by your actions"). - Louis-Alexandre de Bourbon (1678-1737) was the last legitimate son of Louis XIV. At the age of five he was named Admiral of France, and following his participation in the Nine Years' War on the Spanish Netherlands front, he rose to the honorary rank of lieutenant general of the King’s armies. In his actual military career, Louis-Alexandre de Bourbon successfully commanded the French fleet in the Battle of Málaga (1704). During the regency he served as minister of the Navy. - Minor browning and minimal tears to the folds.
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Louis XIV, King of France (1638-1715).
Autograph letter signed. Versailles, 12. VI. 1697.
8vo. 2 pp. With sealed autograph envelope "à mon fils le conte de Toulouse". Framed and glazed (double-sided, 370 x 339 mm). Insightful letter to his son Louis-Alexandre de Bourbon, Count of Toulouse, during the Nine Years' War: "Je suis content de lestat que vous m’avez envoié de la Cav[ale]rie je voy avec plesir la quantité de beaux rég[imen]ts qu il y a il faut travailler a remettre les autres cest ce que vous devés bien mettre dans la teste des officiers. Jay veu avec plesir la petite carte que vous mavés envoiée ou tous les camps d’Aht [!] et de ses environs sont marqués. Continués a faire tout ce que vous devés et a voir tout ce que vous pourrés pour essaier de devenir tel que je vous desire" ("I am happy with the condition that you have sent me of the cavalry. It is with pleasure that I see the quantity of beautiful regiments that there are, work needs to be done in order to fix the others. That is what you must get into the heads of the officers. I saw with pleasure the small map that you sent me, where all the camps of Aht and is surroundings are marked. Continue to do all that you must and see to everything that you can in order to try to become as I want you to be"). - The Siege of Ath in present-day Belgium lasted from 15 May 1697 to 5 June, when the allied garrison capitulated to the French. The French commander Vauban was praised for the efficiency and speed at which his troops captured the eight-bastion fortress that Vauban himself had designed 25 years earlier. This feat put great pressure on the allies to negotiate the treaty of Ryswick that would end the war on 30 October 1697. - Louis-Alexandre de Bourbon (1678-1737) was the last legitimate son of Louis XIV. At the age of five he was named Admiral of France, and following his participation in the Nine Years' War on the Spanish Netherlands front, he rose to the honorary rank of lieutenant general of the King’s armies. In his actual military career, Louis-Alexandre de Bourbon successfully commanded the French fleet in the Battle of Málaga (1704). During the regency he served as minister of the Navy. - With minor browning and tears to the folds.
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Carroll, Lewis, writer (1832-1898).
Printed prospectus with autograph additions signed ("C. L. Dodgson"). Eastbourne, 21. VIII. 1885.
8vo. 1 page. To Miss Lawrie, forwarding a prospectus for a house, with an autograph postscript, apparently responding to a proposed dinner party of only three persons: "I have undertaken, on behalf of a friend, to circulate the enclosed prospectus, in the hope of finding a purchaser, or a tenant, for the house. Would you kindly show it to any friend of yours, whom you think it might suit? / Believe me, / Sincerely yours, C. L. Dodgson. / As a general rule, I think 3 a very bad number for a Dinner-party. But was there ever a rule without an exception?". - In 1875 Dodgson took several known photographs of Rose Lawrie, one of which showed Lawrie draped in a white cloth, titled "The Birthday Wreath" (published in an album of the same name), after the poem "The Birthday" by Dodgson's pen friend Christina Rossetti, the sister of Dante Gabriel Rossetti. - With traces of old mounting to the verso. Slight brownstaining due to glue residue. Includes a small collector's note.
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Rosegger, Peter, Schriftsteller (1843-1918).
Eigenh. Albumblatt mit U. Graz, 21. XII. 1905.
2 SS. Visitkartenformat. An einen Sammler: "Es soll für Ihre Autographensammlung ein gutes Omen sein, daß Ihnen gleich das erste Autograph Gelegenheit gibt, das Angenehme mit dem Nützlichen zu verbinden. Wir wollen die Autographenjägerei, die an sich ganz sinnlos ist, einem guten Zwecke weihen. Ich pflege für arme Schulkinder im Gebirge zu verwerten meinen Namen / Peter Rosegger". - Mit einem schmalen Montagestreifen am Rand.
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Brahms, Johannes, Komponist (1833-1897).
Eigenh. Brief mit U. ("J. Br.") Wien, 4. XII. 1878.
4 SS. auf Doppelblatt. 8vo. An seinen Verleger Fritz Simrock in Berlin: "Möchten Sie die Freundlichkeit haben, 150 Mk für mich an Frau Karoline Brahms, Hamburg, Anscharsplatz 1 zu schicken? Neujahr können Sie wohl auf einige Zinsen Beschlag legen u. sich damit bezahlt machen? Es ist wirklich traurig daß ich all die schönen österreichischen Papiere verkauft habe! Früher brauchte ich nur Faber zu winken u. hatte Geld - merkte gar nicht daß es aus meiner eignen Kasse blutete; jetzt aber muß ich alle Augenblicke die Schubladen durchsuchen wo u. ob noch was ist! Für die Haydnschen Sinfonien danke bestens - nun ist die Sammlung ja vermehrt u. ich bäte gern mir nachträglich u. ganz gelegentlich noch 13 u. 14 zu kaufen! Die Eschmannsche Widmung könnten Sie mir auch gelegentlich senden [...] Falls Motette 1 [op. 74] etwa fertig wäre schicken Sie doch gleich ein paar - das Einzige hat Kremser zum Dirigiren u. manchmal wünschte ich ein zweites her. Auch von den Duetten bitte ganz gelegentlich um ein Ex. […] Es ist nur ein Glück daß ich nicht ebenso oft schicke u. mit Klavirstücken oder so was belästige […]". - Brahms' 1877/78 geschriebene "Balladen und Romanzen für zwei Singstimmen mit Klavier" (op. 75) zählen zu seinen schönsten Duetten. Die "8 Klavierstücke" (op. 76) sollten im Jahr darauf erscheinen. - Makellos erhalten.
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Brahms, Johannes, Komponist (1833-1897).
Eigenh. Brief mit U. ("J. Br.") Wien, 15. XII. 1893.
3¾ SS. auf Doppelblatt. 8vo. An seinen Verleger Fritz Simrock: "Epstein dankt mir u. ich danke Ihnen herzlich daß Sie so freundlich hinter dem Rücken des Autors in s[einem] Namen versandten. Nun aber: Was dem E. recht, ist dem Door billig! Wenn Sie das nicht selbst schon gedacht haben, bitte ich, doch auch an Door (I, Sonnenfelsgasse 1) ein Ex. zu senden. (An Brüll habe ich gegeben u. an Mandyczewski.) Wollen wir mit den Uebungen dann auch so liebenswürdig gegen die Professoren sein? Daß mir diese Freundlichkeit gegen m[eine] hiesigen Kollegen sehr angenehm ist, brauche ich nicht zu sagen. Ich möchte dann wohl um 4 Ex. bitten - aber ein Ex. des Klst. muß ich schon bitten wieder beizulegen, damit auch ich sie habe. Das Neueste vom Jahr lege ich dafür bei! [...]". In einem mit Bleistift verfassten Postscriptum ersucht er abschließend, von den 51 Übungen jeweils ein Exemplar an Door und Epstein zu schicken und ihm selbst auch 4 Stück zukommen zu lassen, ebenso 1 Exemplar von "op. 118": "Eben kommt ein Brief von Kirchner - Sie sind eben besser als ich, denn so viel ich erinnere, hatte ich nicht an ihn gedacht".
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Brahms, Johannes, Komponist (1833-1897).
Eigenh. Brief mit U. ("J. Brahms"). O. O., [Herbst 1883].
3 SS. auf Doppelblatt. 8vo. An einen namentlich nicht genannten Adressaten, bei dem es sich möglicherweise um Ferdinand Hiller handelt: "Entschuldigen Sie wenn ich nachträglich ein Briefpapier nehme, nur um Ihnen zu sagen daß ich das Bedauern nicht los werde neulich eine Karte genommen zu haben! Aber man kann nun einmal mit einem Briefbogen nicht umgehen wie mit einer Karte, wenn man auch die ernstlichste Absicht hat kurz zu sein. In jenem Fall aber wären noch beim zehnten Versuch unnütze Weitläufigkeiten u. Vertraulichkeiten aus der Feder gefloßen die nicht nur überflüßig gewesen wären sondern auch bei Ihnen jedenfalls irgendwie mißverstanden worden wären. Falls Sie Ihren Hrn. Kollegen v. d. Direktion von der Form meiner Absage gesprochen haben so melden Sie doch auch offiziel[l] dies m. Bedauern! Dann aber lassen Sie mich auch wißen ob Bruch sich über Amerika hinaus für Sie entschloßen hat!? [...]". - Ferdinand Hiller, der seit 1849 das Kölner Konservatorium geleitet hatte, sollte sich im kommenden Jahr von seinem Posten zurückziehen. Da Brahms keine Ambitionen gezeigt hatte, sein Nachfolger zu werden, wurde bei Hillers ehemaligem Schüler Max Bruch angefragt, der aber nach seiner Konzertreise in die USA eine Stelle in Breslau angetreten hatte und nicht glaubte, "Breslau verlassen zu können, nachdem er gerade erst angekommen war", und ferner daran zweifelte, "ein Konservatorium leiten zu können, dessen Lehrkräfte älter und erfahrener oder mit ihm befreundet waren; außerdem konnte er seiner Frau Clara kurz vor der Geburt des zweiten Kindes keinen weiteren Umzug zumuten. Das zuständige Komitee in Köln fürchtete jedoch Bruchs schwierigen Charakter und seine Fähigkeit, sich Feinde zu machen, und entschied sich für den amtierenden Dresdner Hofkapellmeister Franz Wüllner. Bruch reagierte indigniert; er betonte, er habe in der Zwischenzeit die Bedingungen genannt, unter denen er die Stelle in Köln dennoch antreten könne. Beim zuständigen Komitee kam dieses Verhalten nicht gut an" (Wikipedia). - Im unteren Mittelfalz etwas eingerissen, sonst gut erhalten.
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Gál, Hans, Komponist und Musikwissenschaftler (1890-1987).
Portraitpostkarte mit eigenh. Widmung und U. verso. O. O., 1922.
1 S. Qu.-8vo. "Hans Gál 1922 (In der Hauptrolle des Stücks 'Tempi passati')". - Etwas angestaubt und fleckig.
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