AMANN (Paul). - Lot 10

AMANN (Paul). Born in Prague. 1884–1958. Austrian writer and translator. During World War II, he emigrated to France, then to the United States. In 1915, he corresponded with the great Thomas Mann. Typed letter signed “Paul Amann” to “To Pierre Abraham, Dear Friend.” No place, no date; 1 page, square quarto. Amann thanks his correspondent for sending his “beautiful essays” but regrets not having enough free time to … find the quiet necessary to read and reread them properly. But the mere presence of your booklets on my desk has revived the excellent memories your articles in *Europe* have left me.... He hopes one day to see a multi-volume edition of all of Abraham’s articles. As for himself, he has sent … all the publishers a thick volume (500 pages!) on the philosophy of history, and today I received the first (polite—oh, so polite!) letter of rejection. Let’s hope at least one of them falls for this obese beauty! Please don’t talk to me, I beg you, about intermittent friendship. Is there time for deep affection, for this life that alone is worth living? You must have sensed that my wife and I spent, at your home and at your dear wife’s, those hours that bind us together forever. As for being eccentric and awkward in our manners—well, that’s just how we Germans are, with two ideas stuck in our heads. Only in France does one know how to be as charming as you are, even while devoting oneself to the most serious studies!...