Lot 225
Collection of Letters, Postcards and Paper Items from the Archive of Nadja Taussig - About 70 Letters from Max Brod and Dozens of Letters from Jewish-German Intellectuals
About 230 letters, postcards and paper items, from the archive of Nadja Taussig, manager of a literary salon for newcomers from Germany; sister in law of the author Max Brod. Tel-Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa, Zurich, Bad Gastein and other places, 1910s to 1980s (most items from 1940s-1960s). German, a few items in English and Hebrew.
Nadja Taussig was born in Konigsberg in 1905. In the early 1930s she fled from Germany to Tel-Aviv, and in 1941 she opened in her home a literary salon for German Jews, led by the author Max Brod. For nearly fifty years German-Jewish authors, intellectuals and personalities gathered in her salon and led discussions and a cultural life in the German language. In 1987, following the activities of her salon, Taussig was awarded an Honorary Decoration by the German Government.
The present collection includes:
* About 70 letters and seven postcards, most of them are written by hand and a few are typewritten, sent to Taussig by Max Brod in the late 1950s and during the 1960s. Mentioned in the letters are encounters with personalities and authors, speeches and lectured delivered by Brod, a public reading of his works and other topics. In some of the letters appear passages written by Esther Hoffe, Brod's secretary and the heiress of his estate.
* Nine postcards sent to Max Brod by public figures and acquaintances, among them S. Shalom, Joachim Stutschewsky, Vittorio Weinberg and others.
* About 95 letters and postcards, most of them are handwritten and a few are typewritten, sent mainly to Nadja Taussig and her husband Ernst, from Acquaintances and various public figures, among them: Arnold Zweig, S. Shalom, Shalom Ben Horin, Ludwig Schwerin (illustrated letter), Meir Avner, Gershon Stern, German ambassadors Niels Hansen and Klaus Schutz, and more.
* About 40 paper items, among them: a draft of a poem, typewritten with handwritten corrections, signed in print: Max Brod; a dozen printed invitations to Brod's 80th birthday with an illustration by Ludwig Schwerin; sketch for an invitation to Brod's 75th birthday, drawn on a card with Brod's portrait (apparently by Ludwig Schwerin); invitations to literary evenings, printed speeches, greeting cards and other items which document the salon's activities.
Enclosed: newspaper cuttings with essays about Brod, Taussig and the literary Salon.
Size and condition vary. Good overall condition.
