Kurt Wagenseil 1904-1988: XI. Briefwechsel James Laughlin 1947-1957 (special correspondences)

XI. Briefe aus der Houghton Library (Harvard), MS Am 2077 New Directions Publishing Corp. records (James Laughlin, 1947-57):

25.11.47: "As I have learnt from my friend, Mr. Henry Miller in Big Sur, your director, Mr. Laughin, is on his way to Europe and is going to see me here very soon. Mr. Miller had also mentioned to me that you were going to send me copies of some of the books that have been published by you, as we want to publish some of them in Germany with the Rowohlt-Verlag, Hamburg-Stuttgart, and have also found means to make payments to abroad. [...] I have sent you some German books which I thought very interesting for American readers, and wanted you to decide, if you were interested in the American book rights [mit rotem Stift am Rand: "at a glance - No!"]: But probably Mr. Laughlin wants to discuss the question personally with me. With many thanks for your kind co-operation [...] P.S. Could you please give me the address of Pablo Neruda in Santiago?" [roter Stift: "?"]

26.06.48: "[...] I shall sent you your books at once, also the Jünger book, from Zurich. But first I must thank you for the charming little book of your poems which you kindly send me from Milan and which I like very much indeed and appreciate immensely. It was very sweet of you to send it to me. I liked THAT OTHER WORLD especially much, and shall let you have my German version of it soon. I had myself a similar experience. [/] I forgot to tell you, to see eventually my nephew, Gregor Wagenseil, 32, Via Cardinale Maurizio in case you should go to Turin. He is my American sister-in-law's son, and a nice and intelligent boy who speaks Italian as well as English & German. He might be helpful to you. [...] P.S. Please address the N.D. books for the German exhibition to Miss Willa Percival [/] European Quartermaster Depot [/] APO 169 [/] She has written to you about it; she is absolutly reliable, I know her through Henry Miller, and will bring down the books in her car as soon as she will have received them."

20.09.48: Kurt hat länger nichts von James gehört. Er hofft, dass das Buch "Afrikanische Spiele" von Ernst Jünger angekommen sei. Er habe inzwischen Kopien der anderen Jünger-Werke für Laughlin auftreiben können, und empfiehlt zusätzlich andere seltene Bücherausgaben, die gelistet werden: Hölderlins "Hyperion", Baudelaires "Fleurs du Mal", Balzacs "Das Mädchen mit den Goldaugen", Gerhart Hauptmanns "Griechischer Frühling", die "Letters by Lord Chesterfield" und "Prayer book of Emperor Maximilian". "[2] [...] Now our life here have much changed (to the better). It in not quite so beastly anymore, as it was before we got this new mark currency. Now most of the things are available, and it is amazing the beautiful books you can find now, but so far only very few people have any money and can afford to buy books. Rowohlt e.g. seems quite broke, and unfortunately has put back all our plans and all the translations I have done for him, till next year [...] Please don't forget me, also don't forget our plan of the exhibition. Is there any hope of your coming over to Europe in fall or winter? I hope you can decide to come."

[09.11.48: Antwort von James Laughlin]

07.02.49: "it sounds incredible, but your letter of Nov.9th reached me only today: [...]. I am here in England since the 1st of November, staying with friends, and actually with my wife in Sussex, but we are all going back to Starnberg, Germany, in the first week of March, [...]. It was great fun for me to see my old friends again after so many years, and I found them all practically unchanged. I had a very gay and happy time while I was in England and it meant an enormous change after Germany. But even there the situation have changed miraculously to the better, after the currency reform, and especially since I am away in the last four months. [...] I have written to Rowohlt various times, and though he also assured me in his enormous interest in Henry Miller's books, he seems not to do anything about them. He is a very lethargic man. I think I should advice you to transfer our Miller projects to Kurt Desch Verlag in Munich: he is also much more active. [...] [2] I have a very bad conscience regarding Henry Miller who was always so extremely good and kind to me, and I have not written him since I am here. [...]"

12.03.49: Über Bücher-Sendungen. "I have sent about fifty precious books to my friend in Ascona, Anita Einsiedel, like that and not a single one was lost. [...] I would be only too pleased to meet you, but unfortunately I shall not go to Switzerland before May, when my old friend, Harold Nicolson, is going to give a lecture in Zurich. But if you have a spare moment, get in touch with Peter Schifferli, Susenbergstrasse 63, Zurich, Verlag der Arche: mentioning my name. [...] Is there any chance of your going to here or to England? [...] I have sent you also a copy of a story by Anaïs Nin, translated by myself and published by Rowohlt recently. Rowohlt is a great disappointment for me, and I much prefer to work for Schifferli in Zurich. [...]"

[21.04.49: Antwort von James Laughlin]

14.07.53 ("Thürheimstr. 16, Planegg"): "I had always hoped that you would come back to Munich some day and that I should then have a chance to see you again. Munich is entirely changed now from what you saw, when you were here in the inflation, and there are lots of amusing places and things to see. You should really decide to come back some time in the summer or so. I have recently translated an article on Dr. Conant for your magazine 'Perspektiven' to be published in this July copy, and this is really the reason why I want to write you. I am enclosing a very clever article on 'Perspektiven' [Georg Gerater: 'Kulturmillionen'; Anfang: 'Zwanzig Millionen Dollar, liess ich mir sagen, wurden ausgeworfen, um die Zeitschrift Perspektiven, das jüngste Erzeugnis der amerikanischen Kulturpropaganda zu starten'] (apart from those I have already sent you) and you can see from them that we all agree that 'Perspektiven', as it is now, is not the right thing and means really nothing at all to the European people. I am afraid that there is practically nobody, intellectuels as well as all other people, who would not agree with me. All the stuff that is published in 'Perspektiven' means simply nothing to European readers and does not bring America a bit nearer. I think you should make a change in the staff and take more German editors who are experienced enough especially those like the Berliner Illustrierte people (I have been myself in this illustrated paper which is in the line of LIFE) who understand better the mentality and interest of Europeans. [...] Do you know that I have translated various books by our friend Henry Miller for Rowohlt? The two, 'Cancer' and 'Capricorn', were already published in beautiful editions (see enclosure), and the others follow soon. Could you send me a copy of the NEW RUSSIAN STORIES that you published recently? They would interest me very much indeed. [2] I do hope you don't take amiss my frankness about 'Perspektiven', but I thought it a necessary act of friendship to let you know. [...] P.S. You have probably heard that Herr Hey in Gauting has died last year (?) P.P.S. Our house in Starnberg had to be sold in the meantime, to be turned into a sanatorium, and we are living halfway from Munich now. If you come here next, I want you to introduce to various charming friends of mine, and also to 'Alastair', a very famous and interesting man, you will like to meet. He is a wunderful illustrator and should have an enormous success in America. He is really in some way unique and c'est quelqu'un!"

10.04.57 ("Munich, Kindler Verlag"): "I feel very much ashamed of myself not having written to you long before and thanked you for the book you have so kindly sent me. It was most interesting for me and please forgive my belated thanks. I have often remembered your visit in Munich and always hoped, you would come back some day to see your old friends there. [...] I am in the foreign book department of a very well-known Munich publisher [...]. I am often read about your own so admirable and fascinating publications, always new, interesting and sparkling with ideas. I am still translating our dear old friend Henry Miller for Rowohlt - lately his story 'A devil in Paradise'. I would be very happy to hear from you - and still more to see you."

[ Anmerkungen. annotations. remarques ]

(1) James Laughlin (30.10.1914-12.11.1997) war ein amerikanischer Dichter und Gründer von New Directions Publishing (z.B. 1951 "Siddharta"); "[w]ith funding from the Ford Foundation and with the assistance of poet and editor Hayden Carruth, Laughlin founded a nonprofit called "Intercultural Publications" that sought to publish a quarterly journal of American arts and letters, Perspectives U.S.A., in Europe. Sixteen issues of the journal eventually appeared. Although Laughlin wished to continue the journal, the Ford Foundation cut off funding, asserting that Perspectives had limited impact and that its money would be better spent on the more effective Congress for Cultural Freedom. Following the dissolution of Intercultural Publications, Laughlin became deeply involved in the activities of the Asia Society" (WP, 26.06.2022); "[b]y then Laughlin himself was losing interest in Perspectives, and he'd used part of the Ford Foundation money to travel in Burma, Japan, and India. The plan was to create an offshoot of Perspectives that would focus on the contemporary art and literature of those nations, but Laughlin was also scouting for potential New Directions authors. He found them, too, and in subsequent years the firm put out titles translated from Sanskrit, Bengali, Hindi, and Burmese, and signed Yukio Mishima as a New Directions author. New Directions had long published books by Western authors influenced by Asian literature such as Thomas Merton and Pound and Hesse and Kenneth Rexroth, but in the late 1950s the firm's books made Asian writing and ideas much more available to American readers" (Greg Barnhisel: "The Man Who Made American Modernism and Modernism American", Humanities, Januar/February 2016, Volume 37, Number 1).

In Kurt Wagenseils Bibliothek vorhanden sind James Laughlin: "Spearhead. 10 years experimental writing in America", Norfork: New Directions 1947; "A small Book of Poems", Milan 1948; sowie die Ausgaben "New Directions" No. 9 und 10 (1946, 1948).

(2) Hans-Henning von Voigt, auch Hans-Henning Baron von Voigt-Alastair, Pseudonym Alastair (20.10.1887-30.10.1969) war ein deutscher Künstler, Zeichner, Illustrator, Übersetzer und Schriftsteller.

(3) Die Adresse 29 Wilton Place London (Brief auf blauem Papier vom 7. Februar 1949) gehört zu James Knapp-Fisher (laut Briefen Kurts aus dem Dez. 1948 an das Verlagshaus Alfred A. Knopf).

Zu den ersten drei Teilen der "New Term German Texts" heißt es im Journal of Education, Bd. 64, London: W. Stewart & Company 1932, S. 443: "Sidgwick & Jackson's new series of German texts combines advantages of cheapness, clear print, and a limp cover. They resemble the French texts of the same firm, and will prove very popular in schools where economy is essential. German is becoming more popular after its long eclipse, and this series arrives at the right moment".

(4) Von dem Verlag Sidgwick & Jackson besaß Kurt acht Bücher, Rupert Brooke: "Selected Poems" (1913), Margaret & Robert Bottrell: "College English Verse" (1945), Norman Douglas: "Footnote on Capri" (1952), Hector Bolitho: "The Glorious Oyster" (1960, Übers. durch Kurt 1966), Ralph Hevins: "J. Paul Getty. The richest American" (1961), Rudolf Vrba & Alan Bestic: "I cannot forgive" (1963), Robert C.W. Ettinger: "The Prospect of Immorality" (1965), Oliver Warner: "The Life of Sir Charles Lambe. Admiral of the Fleet" (1969). Von Douglas und Bolitho daneben weitere Bücher, von letzterem dabei "A Biographer's Notebook" (New York: Longmans, Green 1950) mit Widmung "To my oldest friend in Germany Kurt by Hector", weitere Widmung bei "A Summer in Germany" (London: Wolff 1963; schildert zwei Monate 1962); "Henry Hector Bolitho [28.05.1897-12.09.1974] was a New Zealand writer, novelist and biographer, who had 59 books published. Widely travelled, he spent most of his career in England", "also travelled in Africa, Canada, America, and Germany in 1923-4, finally settling in Britain where he was to remain for the rest of his life", "[i]n his forties, Bolitho shared his life and his home with John Simpson. Hector described John as his 'secretary', which was then a common euphemism for gay partner" (WP 11.09.22; s.a. Manuscript Collection MS-00439, Harry Ransom Center, Austin, Texas). Im Simplicissimus, 1938, 11. Heft, S. 126f. erschien bereits "Der Albatros" als Übersetzung von Hans B. Wagenseil.

In "A Summer in Germany", 1963, S. 73f.: "I could not resist the great exodus so I arranged to go over to Tutzing, by the Starnbergersee, to visit Kurt Wagenseil one of my oldest friends in Germany. The driver of the car was a startling surprise: he talked, and waved his hands so much, that I had to ask him to keep them on the wheel. He said, 'I am sorry, but I have been an actor.' Out came photographs of himself to prove it. Then, 'But now I drive a car so that I may make money to be able to write stories. I have been to America and Sweden, but I always come back. I sent one of my stories to be psychoanalysed, and the man said that I am a schizophrenic.' We came to the Starnbergersee. There was snow on the distant mountains; snow in June. Then to Kurt's elegant house and the rare pleasure of crossing a German threshold. I said that I was sentimental about Munich. But this is only half true, for I am not sentimental about old friends, if, during a gap of years, they have become someone else. There is the possibility that one has also become someone else. The sifting of old dust in such meetings can be sad and artificial. So I was pleased to find Kurt a companion of night clubs and the hilarity of long ago grown up, married, with two sons, but also with his courage and his life fulfilled. He lost every object during the bombing and had to begin again. He gathered new furniture and pictures about him and became a translator of English books. He translates Orwell, Henry Miller, and Somerset Maugham. He enjoys his links with us, through the printed word. We ate strawberry cake, went for a drive around the lake, and then returned to Kurt's house for cold supper. He told us a story, of a mean and dotty millionairess in Tutzing, who despised her husband and beat him so much that the police came. The wretched husband said, 'Go away: I like it.' When he died he was withered and decrepit. The undertaker came and told the millionairess what the burial would cost; and he added, 'That includes four pall bearers at four marks cach.' The millionairess answered, 'We need only two pall bearers, as my husband is so small.' My dislike of the morbid pleasures of beer houses deepens: it reached rock bottom when we drove back from Tutzing and went to the Hofbräuhaus for a good-night drink. Why this tavern should be famous, I don't know. We walked through the puddle of tipsy drinkers and out again, to drive to the fresh air of Schwabing the Chelsea of Munich. There is talk of brawls here, but we found none; only clean young Germans drinking wine and anxious to talk. The subject of Henry Moore came up again and one of them told me that there are at least twenty of his sculptures in Germany-one of them at the entrance to the Haus der Kunst, the art gallery of which Hitler laid the foundation stone in 1933. It is significant that the mallet broke in his hand."

(5) Paul Hey (19.10.1867 in München - 14.10.1952 in Gauting) war ein deutscher Maler, Grafiker, Zeichner und Illustrator; "Um 1900 zeichnete Paul Hey für den Münchener Verleger Ottmar Zieher Ansichtskarten [...] Er gilt als Maler des deutschen Gemüts. Moderne und Technik bleiben aus seinem Werk ausgeblendet. [...] Große Bekanntheit erzielte Paul Hey mit seinen Illustrationen für die Deutschen Märchen als Serie von Zigarettenbildern im Auftrag von Reemtsma. Das Sammelalbum erschien 1939 mit rund 100 gemalten Illustrationen. Es enthielt die abgedruckten Märchen und war mit einem Preis von einer Reichsmark für jedermann erschwinglich. Die Bilder zu den Märchen gab es jeweils beim Kauf einer Schachtel Zigaretten. 1940 erschienen Andersens Märchen im Stuttgarter Thienemanns-Verlag mit vier Farbtafeln und zahlreichen von Paul Hey gezeichneten Illustrationen" (WP 11.09.22).

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