Lot 108
Mann, Thomas (1875-1955) German novelist; 1929 recipient of Nobel prize for literature. Autograph Letter Signed, 4 pp., 8¾"x5½", Munich, 1924 Apr. 24. Very fine; a couple of minor spots. In German (with translation) to German publisher Mr. (Samuel) Fischer, regarding the "Holitscher Affair." Arthur Holitscher, an Austrian author and friend of Mann's from his younger days, accused Mann of portraying him in a novella and using their friendship for professional expediency. Mann was known to depict people he knew, which often upset them. In part: "…Holitscher is completely in error….I applied all the literary art of my 26 years to the letter which Herr Spinell writes to the representative of 'Life'…this figure is thoroughly typical and non-intimate…the figure could not be more than an ideal stuffed and intensified mask, but no indiscrete portrait of a soul….only his vanity could be wounded….How could he have sent you 'Buddenbrooks' when I lay in the hospital, since you had the sole existing manuscript directly from me….What does the white-haired socialist and world traveler of today still have to do with that Tristan figure…." More content. The consignor has owned this letter since 1973.
Estimated Value $900 - 1,200.
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| Realized $1,668 |
