Auction 84 - Jewish and Israeli History, Culture and Art
Including: Items from the Estate of Ruth Dayan, Old Master Works, Israeli Art and Numismatics
Leah Goldberg – Collection of Postcards and Letters from Her Trips to Europe – Brief Impressions of Paris, Copenhagen, and Zurich – "Had I been a poet, I would have written a poem about this time… but… all I'm writing is a postcard"
Opening: $200
Sold for: $300
Including buyer's premium
Six letters and postcards handwritten by Leah Goldberg. Paris, Zurich, Klosters (Switzerland), and Copenhagen (one possibly from Israel). 1950s-1960s. Hebrew.
1-4. Four postcards with author Leah Goldberg's brief descriptions of her impressions of European cities, addressed to Ephraim and Gentila Broido. Zurich (1953): "Had I been a poet, I would have written a poem about this time in Zurich, as the lights over the bridges are turned on and the swan floats on the water, and all the church bells are ringing. But… all I'm writing is a postcard." Copenhagen (1960): "Every day at noon, I leave the reading room to smoke a cigarette and detest all the tourists who come here in droves […] other than them there's no one here to hate." Paris (1963): "The rain has ended (for the third time today) and the sun lights up the street – which is plenty ugly – where I'm staying. The French all eat 'a large breakfast' and there's total silence all around." Klosters (Klosters-Serneus, Switzerland, 1950s): "Hello from the rain, from the fog, from the mountains, and from us" (this postcard also signed by the philosopher Nathan Rotenstreich and his wife Dina). 5. Letter from Paris addressed to Ephraim Broido, with a reference to a visit to the theater: "I saw Ionesco's Tableaux [sic], a play I thoroughly enjoyed. It's a return to the circus in the loveliest way. After that there was 'The Maids' by Jean Genet and they yelled like they do in Habima [Theatre in Tel Aviv] and [that] I didn't enjoy very much" (1963). 6. Short letter to the "Molad" editorial board on the subject of the publication of a poem or piece of prose in the journal (place and date not indicated).
Postcards: Approx. 10X15 cm. Letters: [2] and [1] pp., approx. 21 cm. Good condition. Minor blemishes. Few stains and creases. Punch holes to letters and to one postcard (minor damage to writing in one letter). Small handwritten notation in a different hand to two of the postcards.
Enclosed: Copy of letter (typewritten) from Ephraim Broido to Goldberg.
Provenance: "Molad" Archives.
Autographs
Autographs