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Brügel, Fritz, Diplomat und Schriftsteller (1897-1955).
1 eigenh. Brief und 2 eh. Postkarten mit U. Wien, 30. IV. bis 8. VIII. 1926.
Zusammen 3 SS. auf 3 Bll. (Qu.-)8vo. An Franz Othmar Haeller in Wien-Alsergrund. - "[…] Herr Schmal von der Buchhandlung Beyer hat mir Ihre liebenswürdige Bereitwilligkeit übermittelt, mir Doubletten Ihrer Rückert-Sammlung abzutreten. Ich bin nun augenblicklich dienstlich so sehr mit Arbeiten überhäuft, (Vorbereit[un]g einer Bücher-Ausstellung für den Bibliothekartag) dass ich mich nicht weit von meiner Bibliothek entfernen kann […]" (30. IV. 1926). "[I]m Verlag Strecker u. Schröder ist ein Band 'Gedichte' von Friedrich Rückert hgg. von Dr. Leopold Magon erschienen [...] Bei flüchtigem Durchschauen scheint das Buch sehr gut zu sein [...]" (19. V. 1926). "Der Verfasser der Rückertrezension, dessen Namen ich Freitag nicht wusste, ist Fr. v. Sallet. Sein Aufsatz 'Rückert' steht im V. Band der sämmtlichen Schriften [...]" (8. VIII. 1926). - Der Sohn jüdischer Eltern, aufgewachsen in Prag, wurde nach Studium und Promotion Leiter der Sozialwissenschaftlichen Studienbibliothek der Wiener Arbeiterkammer. Er engagierte sich in der sozialdemokratischen Bildungsarbeit, arbeitete als Publizist, Journalist, war Mitglied der Kommunistischen Partei Österreichs und veröffentlichte lyrische und politische Gedichte. 1934 emigrierte er nach der Teilnahme an den Februarkämpfen in die Tschechoslowakei ("Februar-Ballade", 1935), 1938 nach Frankreich, 1941 über Spanien und Portugal nach Großbritannien. 1945 trat Brügel in den diplomatischen Dienst der Tschechoslowakei ein und wurde 1949 Leiter der Abteilung Deutschland und Österreich des CSR-Außenministeriums. Aus Protest gegen die Willkür der Justiz quittierte er den Dienst und floh über die Bundesrepublik Deutschland und die Schweiz 1950 nach Großbritannien. - Der Brief auf Briefpapier mit gedr. Briefkopf.
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Hesse, Hermann, Swiss writer and Nobel laureate (1877-1962).
14 watercolour drawings, mostly with autogr. inscriptions. No place or date.
56 to 125 mm (height) and 82 to 135 mm (width). On laid paper. Complete set of templates for the illustrations of his book "Wanderung. Aufzeichnungen von Hermann Hesse. Mit farbigen Bildern vom Verfasser", published by S. Fischer in 1920. Most of the watercolors have inscribed titles such as "Farmhouse", "The Bridge", "Rectory", "Trees", "Rainy Weather", etc. - Includes the 1949 edition of "Wanderung" with autogr. inscription. - Slight foxing (more extensive in some specimens); marked for reproduction.
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Lagerlöf, Selma, Swedish writer and Nobel Prize laureate (1858-1940).
9 letters and 2 lettercards signed. Mårbacka, Sunne, Badesanatoriet Skodsborg, and Karlavägen, 1925 to 1933.
Mostly small 4to. Altogether 34½ pp. on 22 ff. With 8 envelopes. Together with a portrait postcard with 2 autograph but unsigned lines. Mostly dictated. To the prominent Swedish baritone and opera administrator John Forsell, mentioning her novel "Gösta Berling's Saga", which was set to music by Riccardo Zandonai (under the title "I cavalieri di Ekebù") and was staged at the Stockholm Opera in 1928 in connection with her 70th birthday. Moreover, on some economic problems with a Mr. Falke, who wrote a dramatization of "Gösta Berling", and "who has never paid me a Pfening, but has repeatedly sought to capitalize his being in contact with me" (transl. from the Swedish original). - From the estate of John Forsell (1868-1941).
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Mann, Thomas, German writer and Nobel laureate (1875-1955).
Important series of ca. 90 early autograph letters and postcards, to Otto Grautoff. Various places, mostly 1894-1901.
92 items, ca. 260 pages in all, mainly 8vo, autograph address panels to the postcards, some on Mann's printed stationery, with a few unpublished greeting cards, mainly 1894-1901, together with letters to Erna Grautoff and Karl Federn, mainly Munich and Rome and a few items from Naples, Unterach, Riva del Garda, Dresden, Bad Tölz, Oberammergau and Paris, September 1894-7 July 1925, about twelve letters incomplete (mostly undated letters from ca. 1895-1896), the first two letters with sections cut away, occasional dust-marking and splitting at folds, each letter carefully annotated in pencil by the Austrian National Library (July 1938) and some also with editorial dating (ca. 1975). Important series of ca. 90 early autograph letters and postcards, to Otto Grautoff, about Buddenbrooks, including eleven unpublished items, with poems and transcriptions about his writing, reporting his commission from the publishers Fischer to write a long prose work, specifying the mid-nineteenth-century milieu to be treated in Buddenbrooks, its length and plans to finish it, and finally giving Grautoff a long analysis of its Germanic and Wagnerian nature, discussing Goethe (with quotations of "Alles Vergängliche", from Faust), Shakespeare (Hamlet; Romeo and Juliet), Wagner (Tristan und Isolde), Turgenev, Nietzsche, his brother Hermann, Balzac, Dehmel, Fontane and many other writers, the publisher Fischer, the journals "Simplicissimus" and "Neue Deutsche Rundschau", and reporting his travels in Italy, mainly Rome during the years 1895 to 1897; the collection also includes two autograph poems by Mann, 'Weihnacht' ("O festlich Sternenzelt!"), and, in a letter of 1898, the apparently newly-composed poem 'Nur Eins' ("Wir, denen Gott den trüben Sinn gegeben"), together with a transcription from the love duet in Tristan und Isolde ("Bricht mein Blick sich..."), and from Romeo and Juliet ("Komm, Nacht...Verhülle mit dem schwarzen Mantel mir"), poems by August von Platen and others. T. Mann, Briefe an Otto Grautoff 1894-1901 und Ida Boy-Ed 1903-1928, ed. by Peter de Mendelssohn (1975).
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Wells, H[erbert] G[eorge], English writer (1866-1946).
Autograph letter signed ("H. G. Wells"). Easton Glebe, Dunmow, undated [but ca. 1914/15].
8vo. 1¾ pp. 8vo. To an unidentified recipient: "Dear Sir, Although I am anxious to help the country in this war, I cannot conceive any human being who is likely to be impressed by my inspired utterances upon the National War Bonds. I think you will do well to keep me & Little Tich & G.B.S. & so on out of this & get opinions from people of financial repute. A letter from Sir Alfred Mond or Lord Northcliffe saying that the bulk of his reserves is in N. W. Bonds will impress all of us [...]". - On stationery with printed address. From the collection of Diana Herzog.
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Rachmaninoff, Sergei, Russian pianist and composer (1873-1943).
Photograph signed and inscribed. No place, 1927.
284 x 212 mm. "To Mrs. R. E. Yarnale [?] / S. Rachmaninoff / 1927". - A fine bust portrait by Kubey-Rembrandt, showing the artist in profile, looking downwards. Inscribed in the image, vertically, lower right. Additionally signed by the photographer, in pencil, in the blank lower margin.
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Sibelius, Jean, composer (1865-1957).
4 autograph letters signed ('Jean Sibelius') and 1 typed letter signed. Järvenpää, Berlin and Helsingfors, 1925, Nov. 16, 1930, May 17, 1931 and Dec. 17, 1940.
In 8vo and 4to. (folds, 1 with Russian stamp and with tear, 1 with stamp from the Royal Swedish Opera). 4½ pp. on 9 ff. With 1 autogr. envelope. To John Forsell, in Swedish. Sibelius writes of his admiration towards Forsell and other Swedish artists/conductors "till dig oförliknelige konstnär, Nils Grevillius och Ture Rangström". - Together with Sibelius' calling card and an envelope stamped Berlin. - Provenance: John Forsell (1868-1941), Swedish opera singer, Director at the Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm between 1924 and 1939.
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Braun, Wernher von, German rocket engineer (1912-1977).
Signed and inscribed photograph. No place, c. 1962.
265:204 mm. Black-and-white studio portrait of v. Braun in a suit jacket before a curtain, signed on the image. - Accompanied by a letter from Bart J. Slattery Jr. at NASA in Huntsville, Alabama, fulfilling the request for a signed photograph.
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Hasenöhrl, Friedrich, Austrian physicist (1874-1915).
2 autograph manuscripts, both signed on flyleaf ("Prof. Dr. F. Hasenöhrl"). Vienna, 1907-1914.
4to. 2 vols. (1), 314, (1) pp.; 2 ff. of equations inserted loosely. 260 [but 248: page count jumps from 229 to 240; 1 revised leaf removed by author after numbering the pages], (3) pp. Black ink on squared paper, occasional additions and notes in pencil and red or blue crayon. Includes numerous diagrams (some nearly full-page). Contemp. half calf with giltstamped spine title "Vorlesungen Mechanik I. [bzw. II.] F.H.". All edges red. Hasenöhrl's Mechanics lecture manuscripts, used and revised throughout the great physicist's last seven years of work, mainly composed in 1907/08 and bound for the author around that time. His name is on the flyleaf in his own hand: "Prof. Dr. F. Hasenöhrl / Wien, Universität". The volumes comprise the complete first two lectures (Mechanics and Continuum Mechanics) of Hasenöhrl's four-year cycle, which also included Electrodynamics, Theory of Heat, and Optics. - Volume 1 contains "Vorlesung über Mechanik der starren Systeme. Gehalten fünfstündig im Wintersemester 1907/8 (vom Beginn 24. X, bis 14. II.)" (a piece of information that contradicts Bittner's statement [p. 335] that Hasenöhrl did not teach that winter semester). The first session was Hasenöhrl's inaugural lecture at Vienna University. He inherited Boltzmann's chair, who had taken his life in Duino in the fall of 1906. In the appointment process for the successor to Boltzmann, Hasenöhrl had prevailed against his older colleagues Max Planck and Wilhelm Wien. Appropriately, this inaugural lecture, the only one largely written in shorthand, is an obituary of his predecessor (not identical with his Boltzmann obituary published in "Elektrotechnik und Maschinenbau" 41 [1906]). The remaining 28 chapters include "Kinematik des Punktes", Lagrange's equations, "Hamiltons partielle Differentialgleichung", and the theories of relative and cyclical movement. Red crayon markings indicate the progress made from session to session; individual problems are marked as having been treated in the seminary course rather than in the lecture hall. At the end (p. 305 ff.), Hasenöhrl has included the changes made for the 1910/11 winter semester (according to Bittner, Hasenöhrl again repeated the lecture in 1913/14). - Volume II contains the two-semester "Vorlesung über Mechanik der deformablen Körper" (winter semester of 1907/08: Elasticity; summer semester of 1908: Hydromechanics, of which latter course two weeks were lost due to the great student strike). Hasenöhrl prefixed a motto from Guido Ubaldi's "Paraphrasis in duos Archimedis aequeponderantium libros" (1588): "Quapropter ad Archimedem confugiendum est, si vera huius scientiae principia perdiscere cupimus." This volume likewise contains final changes made in 1911, constituting a thorough revision of pp. 90-101. In the summer of 1914 he revised the "slipshod pages 183 ff." about ray formation, which are partly struck out (p. 183f.), partly removed altogether (p. 185f.; the leaf is missing save for a narrow guard); these notes are followed by the sections "Allgemeines über Bewegung mit Rotationssym[m]etrie" and "Kreisförmige Wirbel" (13 pp. in total). Shortly before the end of the semester, the First World War erupted. Hasenöhrl, whose mother was descended from the old military nobility, volunteered for the infantry and was decorated after an injury in July 1915. In a battle near Folgaria he was killed by a shell splinter to his head on 7 October. - Although Hasenöhrl always spoke freely during his lectures (cf. Bittner, 198), rather than reading out a written text, as many of his colleagues did, it is clear that his presentation was based on minutely prepared notes. So closely did he compress the subject matter of his lectures that each session usually comprises a mere four to six pages in the manuscript; and still, we find in the text many tidily formulated paragraphs, including digressions on themes such as Sven Hedin's observations on the rivers of Tibet, which, when flowing south-north, are deflected eastwards - a practical example of relative movement. In his 1933 Nobel Prize acceptance speech, Erwin Schrödinger looked back on the gift of his teacher Hasenöhrl to discuss a subject matter in the lecture hall both extensively and closely: "The lecture cycle, which spanned eight semesters of five periods per week, treated the advanced theories of mechanics as well as the eigenvalue problems of continuum physics with the degree of detail that I would later need dearly - I have never been able to study from books with any ease [... He died in the War], and a feeling tells me that, but for that, it would be he who would be receiving this honor in my place today." In his 1904 treatise "On the Theory of Radiation in Moving Bodies", Hasenöhrl had applied the concept of "electromagnetic mass" to a cavity filled with radiation, arguing that any kind of thermal radiation provides such a body with an apparent increase of mass. This achievement, which makes the connection of energy and mass and - in its most radically compressed form "m = E/c²" - seems to anticipate Einstein's special theory of relativity, won Hasenöhrl the 1905 Haitinger Prize (at Boltzmann's suggestion) and was the basis for his appointment to the Vienna Chair of Physics the following year. In 1905, Einstein generalised Hasenöhrl's equation (which the latter had applied only to cavity radiation) and managed to embed it within an encompassing theory, thus arriving at the iconic "E=mc²" equation (for Hasenöhrl's role in the development of the equation cf. Stephen Boughn's recent article, "Fritz Hasenöhrl and E=mc²", in: The European Physical Journal H 38/1 [Jan. 2013], p. 1-18). Incidentally, Hasenöhrl taught Einstein's theory of relativity in his lectures - a highly uncommon course topic for the time. In 1911, Hasenöhrl participated in the historic first "Conseil Solvay", the invitation-only Brussels conference that united the world's elite of experimental and theoretical physicists to discuss the fundamental problems of their field. Themed "La théorie du rayonnement et les quanta", that first conference tackled the various approaches of classical physics and the emerging quantum theory; among the other participants were Einstein, Marie Curie, Ernest Rutherford, H. A. Lorentz, Wilhelm Wien, Heike Kamerlingh Onnes, and Henri Poincaré. Hasenöhrl also participated in the second Solvay Conference in 1913. - Edges slightly frayed and dusty, otherwise perfect. Of the utmost rarity: Hasenöhrl manuscripts are considered virtually unobtainable; auction records since 1975 list not a single leaf of writing in his hand (in contrast with more than 1000 records for Albert Einstein, more than 100 of which are manuscripts). The Göttingen State Library holds a 17-page transcript of Hasenöhrl's lecture on spherical functions (Cod. Ms. G. Herglotz E 15) in the hand of the student Gustav Herglotz (1881-1953), later professor of Mathematics at Leipzig and Göttingen. The Austrian Central Library of Physics keeps an archive of Hasenöhrl material: a single-box corpus containing mainly photographs, offprints, and photocopies of personal documents, but no manuscripts at all (with the exception of a single page of equations on the reverse of a letter from a bookseller). Several letters by Hasenöhrl are to be found in the personal archives of scholars (e. g., to Prof. Stefan Meyer, in the Archives of the Institute for Radium Research, Austrian Academy of Sciences). Cf. Lotte Bittner, Geschichte des Studienfaches Physik an der Wiener Universität in den letzten hundert Jahren (Vienna, Ph.D. thesis 1949), pp. 193-202 and 335-337. Cf. Stephen Boughn, "Fritz Hasenöhrl and E=mc²", in: The European Physical Journal H 38/1 [Jan. 2013], p. 1-18.
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Russell, Bertrand, British philosopher and Nobel laureate (1872-1970).
4 typed and signed notes and letters. No place, July-September 1962.
4to and oblong 8vo. Altogether 6 pp. on 6 ff. With 4 envelopes. All addressed to the Russian journalist and poet Igor Mikhailusenko (b. 1932) concerning Russia and the Cold War: "I believe that the two German States are equally dangerous. Western Germany is fanatically obsessed with the cold war and Eastern Germany is a cruel, vicious tyranny, capable of keeping its population within its borders only with barbed wire and machine guns. I think that the Government of the Soviet Union and the Government of the United States have a responsibility to come to an agreement which reflects the interests of peace and not the interests of either German State. I think that the problem of West Berlin could be solved in several ways. One would be for a united Berlin to become the seat of the United Nations, another would be for West and East Berlin to become a neutral city under the jurisdiction of the United Nations, and another would be for Berlin to become autonomous, protected through agreement by both East and West [...]" (from the letter of September 5, 1962). - Together with a flyer for Russell's Committee of 100 mass sit-down, originally scheduled for 9 September 1962, but cancelled for lack of support. - Generally good, sizes vary.
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Man Ray, i. e. Michael Rudnitzky, American artist (1890-1976).
Autograph letter signed ("Man"). Paris, 13 Jan. 1961.
4to. 1p. To Virginia Knopik, an American friend: "We are still wondering by what process of divination you could send us (me) a pair of shoes that fit - and the package of men's Cleenex [!] in the box, that caught me with a cold in bed [...] Things are going well - no problems - we keep the studio comfortable and travel a bit - Germany, England; South of France and Spain for vacation, always where there are friends. Hope soon in New-York, and that you 'll be there. Am sending to Toronto address - the last I have but keep us posted. Love to all of you from Julie and Man".
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Millais, John Everett, English painter (1829-1896).
Autograph letter signed ("John Everett Millais"). (Scotland), 22. X. 1871.
8vo. 3 pp. on bifolium. To the Saxon artist Ludwig Gruner (1801-82), long active in Britain and then director of the Royal Cabinet of Engravings in Dresden: "Dear Sir. I am delighted to hear so good an opinion of my Holbein. I bought it without a moment's hesitation upon its merits. If there has been any published criticism on the pictures during the Holbein exhibition I should very much like to have it, as I should like my judgement supported. I have read Mr. Robinson's letters in the Times, but of course I can form no opinion without seeing the two pictures (the Madonna's). Some day I hope to visit Dresden and see your picture. My wife desires me to send her best regards to you [...] I am staying now in Scotland but when the picture is in my house I will return you your acknowledgement of its being borrowed for the Dresden exhibition."
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Whistler, James Abbott McNeill, American painter and etcher (1834-1903).
Autograph letter signed ("J. A. M. Whistler"). "9 Lindsey Row, Old Battersea Bridge, Chelsea, Saturday", no year.
8vo. 2¼ pp. on bifolium. To Ernest Brown: "I have just got your letter and am sorry about Tuesday's dinner coming to grief - I haste now to write and tell you that being judged sufficiently recovered by my brother, I am to go down and meet my Mother in the country and bring her back on Monday morning [...]". - Whistler goes on to discuss plans and is very desirous of "showing you what I am about", etc. - A nice letter with much cirtuitious meandering in trying to establish a meeting.
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[Album amicorum]. - Jena.
Studentenstammbuch des Johann Martin Oberländer aus Hildburghausen. Jena, 1750-1752.
Quer-8vo (170 x 100 mm). Mit 2 Stammbuchkupfern auf den Innendeckeln. Gedrucktes Titelblatt mit hs. Ergänzung u. 163 fehlerhaft paginierte Bll. mit 276 Einträgen. Goldgepr. und bemalter Pergamentband der Zeit. Das sehr reichhaltige Stammbuch eines Thüringer Theologiestudenten enthält ausschließlich Einträge aus Jena. Unter den Beiträgern, die zum größten Teil in der Matrikel der Universität Jena nachgewiesen werden können, sind vor allem Theologen, aber auch viele Juristen und einige Mediziner zu finden. Unter den zahlreichen namhaften Persönlichkeiten seien genannt Wilhelm Hieronymus Bach (1730-54), ein Verwandter Johann Sebastian Bachs aus dem Erfurter Zweig der Familie, Johann Adam Gottlob Barnickel (1733-87), später Rechtskonsulent der Vogtländischen Ritterschaft und Besitzer einer großen Bibliothek, Johann Michael Degner (1719-80), Rektor des Schweinfurter Gymnasiums und auch durch naturwissenschaftliche Arbeiten hervorgetreten, Johann Jakob Fröbel (1730-1802), der Vater Friedrich Fröbels, Friedrich Ludwig August Held (1732-74), schwarzburgischer Stadt- und Amtsphysikus, Johann Stephan Müller (1730-68), Professor der Theologie in Gießen, Johann Christoph Rasche (1733-1805), bekannt durch seine numismatischen Schriften, Johann Christoph Schellenberger (1726-90), Professor der Theologie und Pfarrer der Barfüßergemeinde in Erfurt, und Johann Georg Hieronymus Weingärtner (1733-93), ebenfalls Professor der Theologie und Oberpfarrer in Erfurt (vollständige Liste auf Anfrage). - Besonders interessant sind die gelegentlichen handschriftlichen Bemerkungen des Stammbuchhalters zu seinen Kommilitonen. Oberländer fügte nicht nur die späteren Tätigkeiten oder Sterbedaten seiner Studienkollegen an, sondern gibt mehrfach auch launige Kommentare ab. So schreibt er zu Johann Christian Faustus (geb. 1728), der als Feldprediger nach Kursk gegangen ist, "jagt Zobel in Sibirien". Faustus ist noch 1781 in Kursk nachweisbar. Andere Mitstudenten charakterisiert er als "verdrüßlichen Hauptmann von Kapernaum", "tiefsinnige[n] Mathematicus" oder konstatiert: "Anjetzo ein hypochondrischer Candidat, hat aber eine sehr reiche Mutter". Die beiden Kupfer auf den Innendeckeln zeigen das Collegium Jenense und den Jenaer Markt (letzteres mit Feuchtigkeitsspuren und Tintenkritzelei). - Einband stärker berieben und bestoßen, Innengelenke gebrochen, Buchblock vom Einband gelöst. Innen gering gebräunt, gelegentlich etwas wasser- oder fingerfleckig, vereinzelt kl. Randeinrisse. Mehrere Bll. entfernt, darunter 1 Registerblatt zu Beginn.
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Browne, Maximilian Ulysses, Baron de Camus and Mountany (1705-1757).
Letter signed, with a four-line autograph postscript. Heidelberg, 15. I. 1746.
3 pp. on bifolium. Folio. "Si j'ai retardé jusqu'a present de rendre mes Soumis devoirs a Votre Eminence, ce n'est certainement pas par oublie des Graces et politesses, dont Elle m'a Comblé pendant mon séjour en italie en 1744. et pour les qu'elles je lui aurez une reconnoissance perpétuelle, mais uniquement pour ne la pas distraire inutilement dans les hautes occupations, et par ce que je scavoir que Mr le Marechal Comte de Traun lui donnoit part diréctement de tout ce qui se passoit de remarquable à notre Armée d'Empire. Mais à present Monseigneur que S. M. J. R. atpris La Resolution après la paix conclue le Roy de Prusse d'envoyer incessament un renfort considerable de Trouppes en italie, et qu'Elle at denommera cet effêt de l'Armee en Empire les Regimens de Schullenbourg, Bärenklau, jeune Königsegg, Mercy, Stahremberg et Forgatsch infanterie. Chaque de trois Batallions presque complettes à 7300 hommes, ceux de Portugall, Lobskowiz, Ballayra, et Holly Cavallerie […]". In holograph: "Je supplie Votre Eminence vouloir permettre que je la prie assurer des mes regrets Monsieur Le Prince de Santa Croce". - Browne was born in Basel, the son of Count Ulysses Browne (1659-1731) of Limerick and of Annabella Fitzgerald, a daughter of the House of Desmond. Both families had been exiled from Ireland in the aftermath of Tyrone's Rebellion. A second-generation "Wild Goose", he became one of Austria's most capable military leaders in the War of the Austrian Succession and the Seven Years' War. He was mortally wounded in the 1757 Battle of Prague.
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Cobden, Richard, English manufacturer and statesman (1804-1865).
Autograph letter signed. British Hotel (Dresden), 23. VII. 1847.
8vo. 1 p. on bifolium. On "Bristol" stationery. To the German historian and chief librarian of the Royal Library of Dresden, Konstantin Karl Falkenstein: "I cannot leave Dresden without thanking you for your very kind attentions at the Royal Library. - If you should again visit England do not forget me [...]". - Cf. Cobden's diary entry for 22 July, published in: John Morley, The Life of Richard Cobden, vol. 1 (London 1881), p. 444.
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Cumberland, Stuart C. (d. i. Charles Garner), Hellseher (1857-1922).
Eigenh. Albumblatt mit U. O. O., 26. IX. 1889.
1 S. Qu.-4to. "Just my luck. Whenever I am trying to concentrate my thoughts on the 'other world' there is sure to break upon my meditations the autograph fiend reminding me that I am of all things earthly [...]". - Der als Charles Garner geborene "Mentalist" Cumberland, Sohn eines Oxforder Schlachtereibuchhalters, verblüffte nicht nur das viktorianische England, sondern ganz Europa mit seinen Gedankenlesekünsten. Wohlhabend geworden, zog er sich 1910 von der Bühne zurück.
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Fontana, Giovanni (1540-1614) and Maderno, Alessandro, Papal architects.
Autograph document signed. [Rome], 15 April 1597.
4to (280 x 205 mm). 1 p. Maderno confirms having received from Giovanni Reatino the sum of 244 scudi, which he has given his uncle Giovanni Fontana toward the building of the Cava Clementina ("a bon conto de la Cava Clementina"). The receipt is counter-signed by Fontana himself ("io Giovanni Fontana approvo quanto di sopra"). - The "Cava Clementina" was a project to canalize the river Velino near Reate, commissioned by Pope Clement VIII between 1596 and 1602 and undertaken by Maderno and Fontana. - Giovanni Fontana was the elder brother of the architect Domenico Fontana (1543-1607), Alessandro Maderno was their nephew and the brother of the architect Carlo Maderno (1556-1629) and the sculptor Stefano Maderno, as well as the uncle of the architect Francesco Borromini. Apart from Gian Lorenzo Bernini, the Fontana-Maderno-Borromini family of architects, originally hailing from Ticino, were the most important builders of Baroque Rome. They not only worked on St. Peter's Basilica, but also on many other Roman churches and palaces, and their works have shaped the face of the Eternal City. Fontana, known as one of the leading hydraulics engineers of his age, was responsible for a great number of Roman wells and Papal projects in water engineering (river regulation, aqueducts, irrigation of the Vatican gardens). - Creased, with traces of folds; some stains; occasional ink corrosion.
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Hardinge, Henry, 1st Viscount Hardinge, officer and statesman (1785-1856).
Autograph letter signed ("Hardinge"). "Hesse Guards", 25 Nov. 1852.
4to. 2 pp. on bifolium. To Count Colloredo, marked "private": "Having sealed my letter to Baron Hesse, it appeared to me that Your Excellency ought to see it. I therefore annex a copy, requesting you to return it after perusal [...]". - Hardinge had succeeded the Duke of Wellington as commander-in-chief of the British Army on 28 September 1852; while in this position he had responsibility for the direction of the Crimean War.
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Macaulay, Thomas Babington 1st Baron Macaulay, writer and historian (1800-1859).
Autograph letter signed. Albany, [London], 6. XII. 1843.
1 p. 8vo. "Thank you for your note. All is perfectly right. Ought I not to sign another agreement respecting the fourth edition of the Lays? […]".
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Marlborough, John Churchill Duke of, englischer Feldherr (1650-1722).
Reisepass mit eigenh. U. "Au Camp devant Donay", 9. V. 1710.
1 S. Folio. Mit schwarzem Siegel. Ein für zwei Monate gültiger Reisepass für Leopold Eberhard von Württemberg-Mömpelgard und Tross mit oder ohne Eskorte für die Reise durch Holland und Deutschland zu dessen Fürstentum, auf vorgedr. Dokument: "Jean Duc & Comte de Marlborough, Prince du Saint Empire, Marquis de Blandford, Baron Churchill d'Aymouth & de Sandridge […] Nous Ordonnons par la Presente à tous Gens de Guerre étant sous notre Commandement, & prions ceux à qui il apartiendra, de vouloir laisser librement passer [aus Sekretärshand:] Monsieur le Duc Leopold Everard Prince de Montbeliard allant d'icy en Hollande, et de la à sa Principauté en Allemagne, avec ses Domestiques et Baggages, par toute sorte de voiture, avec ou sans escorte. Le present Passeport valable pour Deux mois […]". - Mit kleinen Einrissen, knittrig, leicht gebräunt.
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Napoléon I, Emperor of the French (1769-1821).
Autograph letter (fragment). N. p., [after 22 Dec. 1793].
4to. ¾ p. Final page of the broullion of a letter to an unidentified recipient, possibly to M. Perrier, director of the arsenal of Marseille, or Sucy, commissaire des guerres. The letter, which contained extensive instructions on the deployment of artillery, was obviously written at the end of 1793 or in early 1794, immediately after the Fall of Toulon, when the Republicans won an early victory over a Royalist rebellion and Napoleon was "inspecteur des côtes". The fragment preserved here begins with the words "Le fondeur est", which are struck out, then continues: "Roux, fondeur, ést venu me demander que l'on fixe le prix de sa journée. La municipalité doit fixer le maximum sur cet objet, comme sur tant d'autres. Je crois qu'il vaut mieux payer tant par quintal de balles que par jours. Vous pouvez, pour cela, faire fixer la journée qui doit toujours être l'élément de toutes les mesures". - Lower left corner torn off (not touching text); some brownstaining, otherwise a perfect sheet. Once in the collection of André de Coppet (1892-1953), now stored at the Firestone Library, Princeton. J. Arnna, Pages de l’épopée impériale (no. 6, reproduced on pl. XIV). Correspondance générale I, p. 155f., no. 130.
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Nelson, Horatio, 1st Viscount Nelson, British admiral (1758-1805).
Autograph letter signed. St. George, Revel Bay [Gulf of Finland], 15. V. 1801.
4to. 1 page. With fly-leaf bearing address in his handwriting, and his seal (head of Lady Hamilton). Fine autograph letter to "Lady Hamilton, 23 Piccadilly, London". An important letter written when Nelson was Commander-in-Chief in the Baltic, six weeks after the Battle of Copenhagen. The political situation was complicated in that the Russians, while not now openly hostile, were definitely unfriendly. The cold air of the northern latitudes disagreed with Nelson, who had a severe cough and chill, and he was depressed at the separation from Lady Hamilton and concerned about their baby daughter Horatia, who had been born in January. The letter is discreet, evidently because of Nelson's fear that it might fall into other hands, and he employs the deception previously arranged with Lady Hamilton of referring to himself as "Thomson". The tone of the letter is melancholic, and Nelson concludes by quoting the last portion of an equally unhappy letter he had written recently to the First Lord of the Admiralty Lord St. Vincent: "My Dearest Friend, | The Harpy Brig sails tomorrow for England, you will not receive this Line for a fortnight after her arrival. I cannot say a word on Politicks. I expect to find a new Admiral on my return which will be in a very few days, poor Thomson is return'd from Petersburgh he desires his kindest affections to his Wife and familiy [i. e. to Emma Hamilton herself and Horatia] - And ever believe me Your Most attach'd & affectionate | Nelson & Bronte. | Most probably you will never receive this letter I have 3 wrote for you now laying by me, firm as a Rock, finish of 8 lines to Lrd. St. V[incent]. I expect to find a new Ad[mira]l when I return off Bornholm, or most probably you will never see again your aff[ectiona]te | N & B".
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Stanhope, Edward, British politician (1840-1893).
Autograph letter signed. London, 10. V. 1884.
8vo. 1 p. To "my dear Mr. Baggely".
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Stanley, Henry Morton, African explorer (1841-1904).
Autograph letter signed. Pirbright, Surrey, 18. VIII. 1902.
8vo. 3 pp. on 3 ff. A sharp letter revealing Stanley's sensitivity to cultures other than his own and his desire to impart this on others. To Robert Stein, criticizing his correspondent's remarks about the French, Germans, Americans and the English: "It is impossible to read your article without coming to the conclusion that you are an accomplished writer, & I feel immensely flattered at being asked to endorse what has been so ably & eloquently argued. I am sorry however to say that my rude common sense prevents me from approving your suggestion. I am neither pro-German, or pro-French and I distinctly see that the ideas you broach will not please Frenchmen nor indeed any American or Englishman who is of clean unbiassed mind, & I doubt, whether the higher class of Germans will regard them as wise. I cannot divest my mind quite from the suspicion that there is some irony concealed in your proposals, & if I were a Frenchman I feel I should be furiously angry. You may be innocent of all intention to provoke Frenchmen, but it is too evident your exaggerated ideas of German[y] might border perilously near being offensive. If America talked of American projects with such exaggerated insinuation of her power, & her wealth &c, she would be simply insufferable, & no lover of Germany would care to put ideas in her mouth which would estrange the good will of every nation. Germany is too rich & powerful to need such language to impress her greatness & her value as one of the foremost among the nations. As yet she feels the need of more land, but if out of inordinate conceit she proclaims her greedy love of it & wantonly promotes discord to indulge it, she will end in making herself as detested as the French did previous to 1870-71 [...]". - On his imprinted stationery; very scattered spotting.
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Andersen, Hans Christian, Danish poet (1805-1875).
Autograph letter signed. [Denmark], 31. III. 1870.
8vo. 2 pp. To General Christensen, in Danish. Andersen states that it has been a "peculiar pleasure" to make his correspondent's acquaintance, remarking "There are men to whom we feel drawn at once at the first meetings, and who become dear to us, and you are such a man. It is wonderful to me to think of, that we will probably never meet again, for I don't think I will ever come to America, although I am certainly not wanting in the desire". The author further adds that he promised Christensen's wife a small bouquet, "but the flowers must be fresh; it is the colour grouping that has an effect, if the flowers are dried the effect is mostly gone. I must therefore choose such colours that will keep best, but the appearance at best is not promising; yet it is flowers and greens from Danish soil, and my cordial greeting, and remembrance of the land of your birth, you must take as an evidence of my sincere good will" and also writes "You will soon depart for the great land beyond the ocean, bring my friends, old and young, my heartfelt love, and if you meet Mr. Marcus Spring and his wife Rebecca, remember me to them [...] Remember me also to the publishers of the Riverside Magazine and my dear friend there, Mr. Horace C. Scudder [...]". - Accompanied by a contemporary English translation in the hand of Christensen and also including an A.L.S. by Christensen, two pages, 8vo, Copenhagen, 7th April 1903, to Miss. M. D. Holliday in Brooklyn, New York, in English. Christensen states that he is anxious to meet his correspondent's wishes, as a proof of his friendship, and sends her "a letter which I received [from] Hans Christian Andersen more than 32 years ago, on my first visit to my native city after 20 years absence", further commenting "It is a valuable memento indeed - the signatures of the roy[al?] persons are very difficult, almost impossible to obtain [...] But Andersen's letter is worth them all!" - Marcus Spring (1810-1874) American Cotton Merchant, creator of the Raritan Bay Union, a utopian community in New Jersey. Husband of Rebecca Buffum (1812-1911) from 1836. - Horace Scudder (1838-1902) American Man of Letters and Editor, best known for his children's books. - All three letters are slightly worn to the edges, evidently a result of them having been removed from an album, only very slightly affecting a few words of text, but not the signatures.
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Dumas, Alexandre (père), French writer (1802-1870).
Signed and inscribed sepia cabinet photograph. No place, [ca. 1850s].
97:61 mm. A very fine signed and inscribed sepia cabinet photograph, the Alophe image from Paris depicting the author standing in a full length formal pose. Signed and inscribed to the verso ("To my good friend Lefrançois, Al. Dumas"), in French. - Extremely small age wear, otherwise in fine condition.
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Harte, (Francis) Bret, amerikanischer Schriftsteller und Diplomat (1836-1902).
Eigenh. Brief mit U. London, 21. V. 1886.
1 S. 8vo. Teilt einem ausländischen Verleger mit, dass er derzeit über keine für eine Übersetzung geeignete Kurzgeschichte verfügt: "Dear Sir | In reply to yours of the 17th inst., I beg to state that I have at present no short story suitable for the purpose of translation as designated by you […]". - Am Oberrand gelocht (keine Textberührung).
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Morgan, Lady Sydney, Irish writer (1776-1859).
Autograph letter signed. London, 10 May 1839.
8vo. 1 p. Sending an unidentified recipient her signature.
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Ruskin, John, Maler, Kunsthistoriker und Sozialreformer (1819-1900).
Eigenh. Brief mit U. Herne Hill, London, 30. VII. 1872.
1 S. auf Doppelblatt. 8vo. An den kunstsinnigen Französischlehrer, Übersetzer und Journalisten Hermann Kindt (1834-89), der sich in Yarm (Yorkshire) niedergelassen hatte: "Sir, Returning from abroad I find your obliging letter which I regret should have remained so long unanswered. I have directed copies of the Crown of Wild Olive & Political Economy of Art to be forwarded to your address by my publishers. These two books will give quite sufficent example, for your purposes, of what I can do best either in thinking or speaking [...]". Das geprägte Monogramm "AS" vom Schreiber durchgestrichen. Faltspuren. - Zu Kindts Korrespondenten zählten Charles Darwin, John Herschel, Eduard Mörike und Ferdinand Freiligrath.
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Thomas, Dylan, Welsh poet (1914-1953).
Autograph letter signed ("Dylan Thomas"). Laugharne, 8. V. 1949.
Small 4to. 1 p. To E. J. Evans of Skewen (unnamed), secretary of the Port Talbot Forum, in favour of a pension to be awarded to the Welsh poet Huw Menai (i.e., Huw Owen Williams, 1886-1961): "Dear Sir, Please forgive my not having answered your letter before this. I have just come back to Wales to live, & letters have been misforwarded. I shall be most grateful if you will include my name in the list of those who are supporting the appeal to the Prime Minister for a Civil List Pension to be awarded to Huw Menai. I have the greatest admiration for him - though I do not know him personally - & for his work, & I think the Port Talbot Forum is to be congratulated in its sponsoring of the appeal - which I do most sincerely hope will succeed [...]". - In May 1948 Thomas and his family had moved to his final home, the Boat House at Laugharne purchased for him at a cost of £2,500 in April 1949. - Insignificant foxing; slight traces of mounting at upper corners. Published in: D. Thomas, The collected letters (ed. by Paul Ferris), p. 705.
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Voltaire, French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher (1694-1778).
Autograph letter signed ("V"). [Potsdam, 1751/52].
8vo. ¾ p. To the unnamed Prussian minister Samuel von Marschall (1683-1749), whom he invites to attend a comedy: "vous avez manqué la comédie ces jours passez. venez monsieur réparer cela aujourduy; apres le soupé de la reine mere [i. e. Königin Sophie Dorothea]. je joue malgré ma maladie je vous feray entrer assurément. il nous faut des spectateurs comme vous [...]". - Besterman Nr. 4053. - With some autograph remarks from Voltaire's editor Louis Nicolas Jean Joachim de Cayrol (1775-1859). - Somewhat browned and spotty; upper edge of the reverse side with a small hinge mark; small clip in the lower right corner.
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Davies, Fanny, British pianist (1861-1934).
Autograph letter signed. Probably London, 22 Oct. (no year).
8vo. 3 pp. on bifolium. Probably to the musicologist Max Seiffert (1868-1948): "Thank you very much for your kind letter, & keeping the Saal for me, I very much appreciate it. Now will you let Herr Gutmann know or shall I write & inform him? [...]".
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Goodson, Katharine, britische Pianistin (1872-1958).
Eigenh. Brief mit U. London, 16. VII. 1904.
3 SS. 8vo. An Ludwig Bösendorfer (1835-1919): "Hoffentlich haben Sie mich nicht ganz vergessen! Nächstes Jahr (Febr. 1915) möchte ich wieder in Wien spielen, da ich, seit zwei Jahren, (Dez. 1902) nicht da war. Ich möchte, natürlich, einen Klavier Abend in Ihrem schönen Saal geben und werde mich unendlich freuen, noch einmal auf Ihren prachtvollen Klavieren zu spielen […]".
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Mackenzie, Alexander Campbell, Komponist und Dirigent (1847-1935).
Eigenh. Brief mit U. London, 6. XI. 1910.
2½ SS. 8vo. An den Musiker Richard Wickenhausser (1867-1936): "Von unserm Freund v. Eisner-Eisenhof lerne ich das Sie mit freundlichster Zuvorkommenheit mir den sehr grossen Dienst erweisen Ihren famosen Chor in nahe Bekanntschaft mit meinem Sonnengott zu bringen; und ferner, es mir erlauben werden die Aufführung im Januar zu leiten. Für diese höchst geschätzten Bewilligungen bitte ich, als Kollege und (hoffe ich) bescheidener Komponist des Stückes, meinen allerherzlichsten Dank Ihnen darzubieten. Möge nur das spätere Resultat diese - meinetwegen unternommenen - künstlerischen Bemühungen, zum Theil, rechtfertigen: und zur Zufriedenheit allerdenen welche ich die bevorstehende Aufführung zu verdanken habe, gereichen. Jedenfalls weist Ihre so freigegebene Hülfe in diese Richtung […]". - Mackenzie wurde 1888 zum Direktor der Royal Academy of Music berufen und hatte diese wichtige Position im englischen Musikleben, in der er nicht nur als Komponist, sondern auch als Lehrer und Dirigent wirkte, bis 1924 inne. - Auf Briefpapier mit gedr. Briefkopf der Royal Academy of Music.
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Neukomm, Sigismund von, conductor and composer (1778-1858).
Autograph musical manuscript signed. London, 30 May 1833.
8vo. 11 pp. Sewn. "Mad. Moscheles zum freundlichen Andenken [for Madame Moscheles in fond memory] / On the birth and Christening of Felix Moscheles the words by Barry Cornwall (B. W. Procter) the music by the Cher Sig. Neukomm […]".
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Parish Alvars, Elias, British harpist and composer (1808-1849).
Autograph letter signed. N. p., [April 1842].
4to. 1/3 p. Written under an offer for a gothic harp which was sent him by Kistner (Den Haag, 31 March 1842): "Cher Monsieur Kistner, Comme il a toujours été question pendant mon séjour à Leipsic d'acheter une harpe pour le theatre et les concerts Philharmoniques - Je desire vous informer qu'il y a ici un excellent instrument et à très bon marché et je sais que la Direction des Concerts ne doit pas manquer un occassion qui s'offre si rarement d'acquérir une Harpe à double mouvement à un prix si modique".
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Irving, Henry, British actor (1838-1905).
Portrait signed and dedicated. No place, 1893.
165:107 mm. "With all good wishes". - Irving became the first actor to be awarded a knighthood, indicating full acceptance into the higher circles of British society.
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Kean, Charles, British actor (1811-1868).
Letter signed. No place, 2 Feb. 1838.
8vo. 1 page. "Mr. Kean regrets extremely that it is not in his power to accede to Mr. Grosskopf's request as the nature of Mr. Kean's engagement at Drury Lane theatre does not grant him the privilege of placing a name on the free list of that establishment […]".
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Armstrong, William George, britischer Industrieller (1810-1900).
Eigenh. Brief mit U. O. O. u. D.
1 ½ SS. auf Doppelblatt. 8vo. Mit eh. Adresse (Faltbrief). An einen Herrn W. Blanchard in London: "Sir, I called this morning at Md. Mitchells shop & left word that I was in town & would be glad to render any assistance in trying the Hydro electric Machine coming from Newcastle. I believe it will arrive on Monday […]". - Armstrong konstruierte 1840 mit einem hydroelektrischen Generator seine erste Maschine.
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Cruikshank, George, engl. Karikaturist (1792-1878).
Eigenh. Manuskript mit U. ("Geo Cshk"). O. O. u. D., ca. 1840.
2 SS. 8vo. Zwei Briefentwürfe mit Korrekturen, darunter einer an den Schriftsteller John Ruskin (1819-1900), dem er u. a. von Arbeitsverpflichtungen berichtet. Im Text findet sich die Skizze eines Heißluftballons (ca. 55:35 mm). Die Entwicklung der Ballonfahrt wurde im 19. Jahrhundert v. a. in Großbritannien vorangetrieben und faszinierte Cruikshank, der sie häufiger thematisierte (u. a.: "Lofty Projects" (1825), "Sketches by Boz" (Dickens, 1836), "Air-um Scare-um Travelling" (1843) und "Table-Book" (1845)". - Leichte Randläsuren.
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Grote, George and Harriet, English scholars (1794-1871 and 1792-1878)
Correspondence collection of 23 ALS (14 by George Grote, 9 by Harriet Grote). London, East Burnham, Guildford, 1841-1868.
67 pp., mostly small 8vo. English with occasional Greek interspersions. Professionally laid into a handsome 4to album, mid-20th-c. half morocco with double gilt cover fillets and giltstamped spine. Interesting collection of letters by one of Victorian London's most prominent married couples. George Grote, of German descent, was the leading classical historian of his age. His ten-volume "History of Greece" (1846-56, PMM 321) was translated into French and German, and established across Europe the shape of Greek history that still prevails in popular accounts of the ancient world. Grote was also a member of the Ricardo/Bentham/Mill circle, and a radical MP who helped found the University of London. His wife, Harriet Lewin, was a high-spirited, brilliant girl as well as a formidable early feminist, known as "the queen of the radicals" and "the cleverest woman in London". They married in 1820. Of her and her husband, Sydney Smith once remarked: "I like them both. I like him - he's so lady-like. And I like her - she's such a perfect gentleman." - Of the fourteen letters by George Grote, twelve are to the educational writer William E. Hickson (1803-70), editor of the "Westminster Review". They contain Grote's opinions on various political issues, and his reasons for not seeking re-election as an MP; they also refer to his ongoing research for his "History of Greece", to his letters from Switzerland published in 1847, and to other projects: "If I find in Plato + Aristotle any matters calculated to throw light on your question about the [lógos], I will make them known to you. But I doubt your supposition of the earlier existence of Neo-Platonism among Greeks. You speak of 'temples of Theos where Platonism prevailed, + where the divine Logos was worshipped under the name of [Chrestos] before our historical Christ' - If any such existed, I apprehend they must have been among Alexandrine Jews or Hellenised Jews elsewhere - not among Greeks [...] I possess a work in German of very considerable learning, which maintains the same views - Gförer's Philo Judaeus [...] The whole spirit of your book is instructive [...] It is neither pro-Christian, nor anti-Christian - which is the proper spirit for an historian [...]". There is an undated letter to the Review's subeditor, George Luxford, regarding the publication of a letter from Auguste Comte, and one dated 5 Oct. 1864 to the sculptress Susan Durant, who not only created the marble medallion of Grote that now hangs in University College, but also had been his lover. The affair had come to a head in September 1864; although he broke off the romantic attachment when Harriet threatened separation after 44 years of marriage, the Grotes obviously continued to meet Miss Durant socially and professionally: "I hope you have carried on the business of life, with your usual energy + good spirits, since I saw you last: it seems to me an age, and I am very glad to indulge the hope of seeing you again on Friday [...] we presume that [...] we can find you at your studio at two o'clock [...] Madame wishes very much to see the master's drawings for Wolsey Chapel". - Of the nine letters by Harriet Grote, six are also to Hickson: "Your requests count among those which it is next to impossible to refuse - you put, not a pistol, but a principle 'to my head' + bid me 'stand + deliver'! Well, you must have the siller - I send you a £5 note for your good purposes, but must add my settled conviction that the movement has passed away; that a period of collapse and inaction is destined to occupy the remainder of this decade, + that our sympathies with one another are all which remain [...] Literature affords a wholesome relief to minds wounded by the experience of political disappointment [...]" (10 July 1843, with mention of her father's passing at age 90). Hickson may well have found her correspondence more fun to read than that of George: "her lively, opinionated, gossipy, humorous letters, which apparently resembled her conversation, [were] filled with original and pungent expressions" (ODNB).
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Hall, Basil, britischer Forschungsreisender (1788-1844).
Eigenh. Brief mit U. O. O., 28. III. 1840.
1 S. auf gefalt. Doppelblatt. 12mo. An einen namentlich nicht genannten Adressaten: "Dear Sir, will you be so good as to show my children your magnificent collection of shawls? […]". - Basil Hall trat 1802 als Midshipman in die britische Marine, kommandierte 1816 das einer Gesandtschaft nach China beigegebene Schiff Lyra, mit dem er auch die Ryukyu-Inseln besuchte, über die seine Veröffentlichungen die ersten ausführlichen Nachrichten brachte.
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Macaulay, Thomas Babington, British historian and statesman (1800-1859).
Autograph letter signed ("TBMacaulay"). (London), Albany, 27. VIII. 1846.
8vo. 4 pp. on bifolium. To an unidentified German recipient who had asked Macaulay to intercede on behalf of a literary friend: "My knowledge of German literature is very small. I now and then spend an hour with Schiller and Goethe. But I am ashamed to say that I do not know their successors even by name. I am quite willing to believe that you have formed a correct judgement both of your friend's poetry and of the treatment which he has experienced. But I do not think that he would at present have much chance of obtaining employment in the public service. As to myself, I have no patronage, except indeed a few small places in Chelsea Hospital. None of these places is vacant; nor would any of them suit a foreigner and an accomplished man of letters. The clerkships in the pay office are not in my gift, but in the gift of the Board of Treasury. For many reasons it seems to me that your friend would do well to aim rather at private than at public employment [...]".
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Meitner, Lise, Austrian physicist (1878-1968).
Autograph letter (draft) and autogr. manuscript (draft). No place and date, but after 1946.
4to. Altogether (1+1 =) 2 pp. on 1 f. Draft letter written to the German and later British physical chemist and physicist Sir Francis Simon: "Many thanks for your letter which was very useful for me. As an expert member of the Fellowship Committee of the International Federation of University Women I have to examine the work of the applicants as far as they are related to physics. Of course, as Miss Hunts publication is not yet declassified I can not form any personal opinion of her. But from your letter written to me as well as from your and Dr. Kurtis testimonials attached to Miss Hunts application I infer that Miss Hunt can be recommended as a very suitable candidate for the fellowship for which she has applied [...]". - The manuscript deals with the photoelectric effect which was correctly described by Einstein in 1905 as the result of light energy being carried in discrete quantized packets. In 1914, Robert Millikan's experiment confirmed Einstein's law on photoelectric effect; Einstein was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1921 for 'his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect', and Millikan was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1923 for 'his work on the elementary charge of electricity and on the photoelectric effect'. - Slight damage to edges; punched holes to one margin (slightly touching a few letters).
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Paget, James, Chirurg und Pathologe (1814-1899).
Eigenh. Brief mit U. London, 10. X. 1889.
2¼ SS. auf Doppelblatt. 8vo. An seinen Neffen Charles Octavius Paget (1846-1909), zum Tod von dessen Schwester Elise: - "Dear Octie. It was, indeed, very sad news that I had to send; and the abruptness of a telegram must have made it very shocking. I have written to Edward and, no doubt, he has shown you my letter giving more particulars of Elise's illness & death than I could telegraph. Unhappily, I could not send any message from her: for I found her insensible and so she remained till she died. The funeral is to be tomorrow and Fred, whom I saw yesterday, will be there with us. The grave will be next to your Aunt Katie. It is very good of you to offer to send money, but there will be no need of it. I supplied as much as was wanted for the being brought to England, and Edmund has more than enough for all other things. Affectionately yours, James Paget. Let me say that I should have telegraphed to you but that I was not sure of your address". - Die vorwiegend in Spanien, Frankreich und Italien tätige Malerin Elise Paget (ca. 1846-89) war bekannt für ihre Portraits und Landschaften in Öl und Aquarell. Wie der Adressat und die im Brief erwähnten Brüder Fred und Edward war sie ein Kind von James Pagets älterem Bruder Frederick (1805-67), der sich in Wien niederließ und dort 1851 das "Erste Privilegienbureau" für Patentvertretungen eröffnete; zu den frühesten Kunden des Unternehmens zählten Thomas Edison, Henry Bessemer und George Pullmann. Charles Octavius wurde seines Vaters Nachfolger; er starb 1909 in Mürzzuschlag.
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Schopenhauer, Arthur, philosopher (1788-1860).
Autograph letter signed. Frankfurt am Main, 27 Feb. 1854.
4to. 1 p. on bifolium with integral address leaf. In German, to the grammar school teacher Carl Schütz (1805-93), who had sent Schopenhauer books with congratulations on his birthday: "Please accept my heartfelt thanks for your taking such an interest in my philosophy and even in my birthday, as well as for your much-appreciated gift. During the past few years I have been blessed with a number of such testimonies, often presented with quite similar sentiments, and they have invariably been a great joy and encouragement to me, as they vouchsafe to me the appeal which my teachings will witness in future times, even if I probably will not live to see them myself. Your translations from Sanskrit are of great interest to me, as is everything Indian, and I will devote myself to them very soon. Your two readers will also afford me much pleasure, as they contain many specimens of the more and most recent literature, about which I am little knowledgeable and glad if others choose the finest pieces for me. Sending you my fondest greetings and counting you among my own, I am [...]". Schütz's letter must have touched Schopenhauer deeply, for he communicated it to Julius Frauenstädt on 4 March 1854: "A homage of this kind is meaningful. He is a new disciple. Of course I responded in the most cordial terms." In his letter, Schütz had praised Schopenhauer as "the greatest of thinkers": "as the tired wayfarer feels invigorated by a cool bath and capable of new exertions, so do I feel uplifted and fortified when, having briefly conversed with you, I return to my everyday business." Schütz's letter (dated Bielefeld, 19 February 1854) is published in: Hübscher, Briefwechsel (1933), no. 492. It is kept at the Schopenhauer Archive at the Frankfurt University Library. - Traces of folds; some staining to address leaf. Published: Hübscher (1987), no. 318.
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Trollope, Thomas Adolphus, English writer (1810-1892).
Autograph letter signed. Rome, 2. VI. 1882.
2 ½ pp. on bifolium. 8vo. To an unidentified recipient: "I am very much obliged to you for giving me an opportunity of seeing the pamphlets you sent me. The things stated are truly horrible. I do not think Miss Colbe's pamphlets are calculated to help the cause with any body who is aware that a great controversy has arisen, they are so evidently unfair, onesided, and prejudiced […]". - Thomas Adolphus Trollope published several novels and over 60 works on travel, history and biography. He settled in Florence, where he spent many years and his house became the great gathering place for the Brownings, Dickens, George Eliot and many other English writers visiting Italy.
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Wells, Thomas Spencer, Leibarzt von Queen Victoria (1818-1897).
Eigenh. Brief mit U. Wohl London, 6. X. [1871].
1 S. auf Doppelblatt. 8vo. Mit eh. adr. Kuvert. An Dr. Levy: "Operation this afternoon at 2.30 at 5A Cork Street Burlington Gardens [...]". - Auf Briefpapier mit gepr. Adresse.
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Beck, Friedrich, Maler.
Eigenh. Bildpostkarte mit U. Wien, 31. XII. 1913.
1 S. Qu.-8vo. Beiliegend ein Brief und eine Bildpostkarte aus der Hand von Gattin Marie. Sendet Neujahrswünsche. - Die Bildpostkarten mit einem Tannenbaum im Schnee bzw. einer Ansicht der Ortseinfahrt von Salasdorf/Niederösterreich. - In altem Sammlungsumschlag.
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