Lot 220
SEBALD (W.G.) An important archive of autograph letters, postcards, first editions with inscriptions, etc. (quantity)
29 March 2023, 13:00 BST
London, KnightsbridgeSold for £30,540 inc. premium
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SEBALD (W.G.)
An important archive of autograph letters, pictorial postcards, first editions with presentation inscriptions, and other related materials, from the estate of W. G. Sebald's close friend Peter Jordan, comprising:
AUTOGRAPH LETTERS
Eight autograph letters signed ("Max") to Peter, or Peter and Dorothy Jordan, the earliest (22 February 1987) thanking Peter for sending the memoirs of "your grand-father & your parents [which] make very moving reading" (subsequently used by Sebald as the basis of the Max Ferber/Max Aurach section of The Emigrants), and at length writing about Germany's collective amnesia towards memories of the war and treatment of the Jews, "... most Germans have never wanted to realise what is was that they, collectively, have done or permitted to be done... [and] that there is no way in which the suffering we caused can ever be made good again..."), and "They literally could not afford to understand. Had they understood, it would have meant their self-destruction..."; (20 August 1992), "I have just come back (foot-sore) from a long walk through Suffolk. All the way down the coast from Lowestoft to Aldeburgh..." (on which was based The Rings of Saturn), mentioning a visit to the poet Michael Hamburger, the pressure of work ("... relentless these past few months & my nerves are beginning to get frayed..."), problems with the publication of Die Ausgewanderten and technical difficulties of incorporating text and pictures ("...I am waiting, with some trepidation, the results"), and his thoughts on the title and choice of cover illustration to be used on the Dutch edition; (12 February 1993), signed "Maks" (Russian spelling), thanking Peter for his "fascinating tales from Russia... Russia always seems to have been beyond comprehension", noting that during his visit to the GDR in the seventies "It felt like having travelled backward in a time machine... I often think it is the very stuff of memory", followed by a lengthy discussion of his recently published Die Ausgewanderten ("The Emigrants"), "I don't know either what I should think of the book I have written... interest in it seems to be increasing", that for the main characters ... their history determined their outlook & possibly also that of the narrator. There is, I imagine, an element of elective affinity...", and public readings ("... sometimes people in the audience who seem disappointed that I am not on the verge of suicide..."), and confirming that the book's character Ambros Adelwarth was based on a real person, as were the "outlandish details in his story... related to me by aunts, & uncles in the states", and mentioning Nabokov's 'Speak Memory' on which Sebald drew for the chapter on Max Aurach; (18 December 1994) on the situation of his teaching life ("The University terms seem to use up one's last reserves... We have had a really hard year. Three colleagues... have died, brain tumor, sheer exhaustion & suicide respectively..."), and expectations of the new Vice-Chancellor ("No doubt she will bring her fabled hatchet along & wreak further havoc... Well, we shall see."), and commenting on his own writing "... progressing at snail's pace... I am having to do almost each page over & over again & have the gravest doubts now about the whole enterprise..." [presumably referring to the writing of Die Ringe des Saturn, published in 1995]; (26 ?September 1995) enclosing a copy of Die Ringe des Saturn, noting "I was & still am quite unsure about it", that the English edition of The Emigrants is due for release in the following year, and his back is troubling him "... particularly now that the term has started & one races around like a bluebottle in a jar"; (30 September 1998) reporting that progress on work is slow ("... I have been grinding away here to no great avail. But if I persevere, I may get over this bad patch...), and enclosing a list of 11 books (including works by Joseph Roth, Thomas Bernhard, Elias Canetti, Alexander Kluge, Jean Amery, etc.) "for your forays into the G.I. Library. All rather different things"; (20 December 2000) apologising for not writing sooner, due to "having to do a great deal of journeying as I have embarked on research for another book. Mostly... to the area where I grew up, where i have come across some very strange tales..", and mentioning the forthcoming publication of Austerlitz "... associated with the themes of The Emigrants. The title is "Austerlitz, after the main character!", and that is "vaguely considering locking myself in the South of France for a while next May..."; (14 April 2001) replying to Peter's comments on Austerlitz, "... I am sorry about the lack of paragraphs. It's an oddity of mine, I know, & I often get taken up about it...", and reminiscing about a dynamiter he had once come across "blasting out elm stumps (as my grandfather used to do) but was short of this left hand... In lieu he had a steel hook with which he operated very deftly....", 16 pages, ink on paper, 3 on paper headed "The Old Rectory, Upgate....", 2 headed "UEA Norwich. School of Modern Languages...", 1987-2001
POSTCARDS
Five autograph pictorial postcards (a Paul Klee painting, pair of skis, views) signed by Sebald ("Max") to Peter, or Peter and Dorothy Jordan, thanking him for sending "the postcards. I can probably do something with the Sepia one. Hope the text has arrived!" [presumably relating to pictures to be included in, and proofs of Die Ausgewanderten], publication of Rings of Saturn ("The Saturn book is out now in English but the publishers haven't send me any copies yet..."), mentioning a planned visit to Prague "for a project I have in mind. Kafka did indeed move around a good deal in Prague...", the reprinting of his article on "Kafta and the cinema", a visit to Mariánské Lázně in the Czech Republic ("...Part of this town still don't quite seem of this world...", and possibility of taking up skiing again when retired ("... Another four years before I'll be set free"), 8vo, dated 15 October 1991-31 March 2000
AUTHOR'S PRESENTATION COPIES
Nach der Natur [After Nature], inscribed "For Peter and Dorothy with all best wishes Max, January 1989", Nordlingen, Franz Greno, 1989; Schwindel. Gefühle [Vertigo], inscribed "For Peter & Dorothy - herzlich - Max", Frankfurt, Eichborn, 1990; Umheimliche Heimat. Essays zur österreichischen Literatur, Salzburg, Residenz, [1991]; Die Ausgewanderten [The Emigrants], inscribed "For Peter with Gratitude, Max 17 IX 1992", Frankfurt, Eichborn, 1992; Die Ringe der Saturn [Rings of Saturn], inscribed "For Peter with best wishes & gratefully always Max", Frankfurt, Eichborn, 1995; Logis in einem Landhaus, inscribed "For Peter always Max", Munich, Carl Hanser, [1998], FIRST EDITIONS, publisher's cloth or boards, the first, third and sixth mentioned in dust-jackets
OTHER BOOKS
Die Beschreibung des Unglücks: Zur österreichischen Literatur von Stifter bis Handke, FIRST EDITION OF THE AUTHOR'S FIRST BOOK, Salzburg, Residenz, 1985; The Rings of Saturn, 1998; Austerlitz, 2001; After Nature, 2 copies, 2002; On the Natural History of Destruction, publisher's compliment slip loosely inserted, Campo Santo, publisher's compliment slip inserted with note "Dear Peter and Dorothy Jordan/Ute [Sebald] very much wanted you to have a copy of Campo Santo", 2005; Unrecounted [with J.P. Tripp], publisher's compliment slip with note to the Jordans loosely inserted, 2004, first editions in English, dust-jackets, Harvill
PORTRAIT OF SEBALD
"Max" [bust length portrait of Sebald] by Jan Peter Tripp, LIMITED TO 13 PROOF COPIES ONLY, etching on paper, framed and glazed, 200 x 140mm., captioned and dated in margin "'Max', 11/13 h.c. Tripp"; with accompanying one-page autograph letter signed by Tripp to the Jordans, mentioning that "When i talked recently to Ute [Sebald] about my small etching edition of "Max" (13 proofs only), a portrait I did just before his terrible death, she gave me your address...", 19 May 2002
ADDITIONAL ARCHIVAL MATERIALS
Miscellaneous materials, including 3 envelopes addressed to Peter Jordan by Sebald, newspaper reviews and articles, email transcriptions of interviews between Peter Jordan and researchers relating to their relationship, facsimile copies of Sebald's corrected typescripts for the "Paul Bereyter" and "Max Ferber" chapters of "The Emigrants", and other ephemera, all loose in box file, captioned "Max" in red ink on spine (quantity)
AUTOGRAPH LETTERS
Eight autograph letters signed ("Max") to Peter, or Peter and Dorothy Jordan, the earliest (22 February 1987) thanking Peter for sending the memoirs of "your grand-father & your parents [which] make very moving reading" (subsequently used by Sebald as the basis of the Max Ferber/Max Aurach section of The Emigrants), and at length writing about Germany's collective amnesia towards memories of the war and treatment of the Jews, "... most Germans have never wanted to realise what is was that they, collectively, have done or permitted to be done... [and] that there is no way in which the suffering we caused can ever be made good again..."), and "They literally could not afford to understand. Had they understood, it would have meant their self-destruction..."; (20 August 1992), "I have just come back (foot-sore) from a long walk through Suffolk. All the way down the coast from Lowestoft to Aldeburgh..." (on which was based The Rings of Saturn), mentioning a visit to the poet Michael Hamburger, the pressure of work ("... relentless these past few months & my nerves are beginning to get frayed..."), problems with the publication of Die Ausgewanderten and technical difficulties of incorporating text and pictures ("...I am waiting, with some trepidation, the results"), and his thoughts on the title and choice of cover illustration to be used on the Dutch edition; (12 February 1993), signed "Maks" (Russian spelling), thanking Peter for his "fascinating tales from Russia... Russia always seems to have been beyond comprehension", noting that during his visit to the GDR in the seventies "It felt like having travelled backward in a time machine... I often think it is the very stuff of memory", followed by a lengthy discussion of his recently published Die Ausgewanderten ("The Emigrants"), "I don't know either what I should think of the book I have written... interest in it seems to be increasing", that for the main characters ... their history determined their outlook & possibly also that of the narrator. There is, I imagine, an element of elective affinity...", and public readings ("... sometimes people in the audience who seem disappointed that I am not on the verge of suicide..."), and confirming that the book's character Ambros Adelwarth was based on a real person, as were the "outlandish details in his story... related to me by aunts, & uncles in the states", and mentioning Nabokov's 'Speak Memory' on which Sebald drew for the chapter on Max Aurach; (18 December 1994) on the situation of his teaching life ("The University terms seem to use up one's last reserves... We have had a really hard year. Three colleagues... have died, brain tumor, sheer exhaustion & suicide respectively..."), and expectations of the new Vice-Chancellor ("No doubt she will bring her fabled hatchet along & wreak further havoc... Well, we shall see."), and commenting on his own writing "... progressing at snail's pace... I am having to do almost each page over & over again & have the gravest doubts now about the whole enterprise..." [presumably referring to the writing of Die Ringe des Saturn, published in 1995]; (26 ?September 1995) enclosing a copy of Die Ringe des Saturn, noting "I was & still am quite unsure about it", that the English edition of The Emigrants is due for release in the following year, and his back is troubling him "... particularly now that the term has started & one races around like a bluebottle in a jar"; (30 September 1998) reporting that progress on work is slow ("... I have been grinding away here to no great avail. But if I persevere, I may get over this bad patch...), and enclosing a list of 11 books (including works by Joseph Roth, Thomas Bernhard, Elias Canetti, Alexander Kluge, Jean Amery, etc.) "for your forays into the G.I. Library. All rather different things"; (20 December 2000) apologising for not writing sooner, due to "having to do a great deal of journeying as I have embarked on research for another book. Mostly... to the area where I grew up, where i have come across some very strange tales..", and mentioning the forthcoming publication of Austerlitz "... associated with the themes of The Emigrants. The title is "Austerlitz, after the main character!", and that is "vaguely considering locking myself in the South of France for a while next May..."; (14 April 2001) replying to Peter's comments on Austerlitz, "... I am sorry about the lack of paragraphs. It's an oddity of mine, I know, & I often get taken up about it...", and reminiscing about a dynamiter he had once come across "blasting out elm stumps (as my grandfather used to do) but was short of this left hand... In lieu he had a steel hook with which he operated very deftly....", 16 pages, ink on paper, 3 on paper headed "The Old Rectory, Upgate....", 2 headed "UEA Norwich. School of Modern Languages...", 1987-2001
POSTCARDS
Five autograph pictorial postcards (a Paul Klee painting, pair of skis, views) signed by Sebald ("Max") to Peter, or Peter and Dorothy Jordan, thanking him for sending "the postcards. I can probably do something with the Sepia one. Hope the text has arrived!" [presumably relating to pictures to be included in, and proofs of Die Ausgewanderten], publication of Rings of Saturn ("The Saturn book is out now in English but the publishers haven't send me any copies yet..."), mentioning a planned visit to Prague "for a project I have in mind. Kafka did indeed move around a good deal in Prague...", the reprinting of his article on "Kafta and the cinema", a visit to Mariánské Lázně in the Czech Republic ("...Part of this town still don't quite seem of this world...", and possibility of taking up skiing again when retired ("... Another four years before I'll be set free"), 8vo, dated 15 October 1991-31 March 2000
AUTHOR'S PRESENTATION COPIES
Nach der Natur [After Nature], inscribed "For Peter and Dorothy with all best wishes Max, January 1989", Nordlingen, Franz Greno, 1989; Schwindel. Gefühle [Vertigo], inscribed "For Peter & Dorothy - herzlich - Max", Frankfurt, Eichborn, 1990; Umheimliche Heimat. Essays zur österreichischen Literatur, Salzburg, Residenz, [1991]; Die Ausgewanderten [The Emigrants], inscribed "For Peter with Gratitude, Max 17 IX 1992", Frankfurt, Eichborn, 1992; Die Ringe der Saturn [Rings of Saturn], inscribed "For Peter with best wishes & gratefully always Max", Frankfurt, Eichborn, 1995; Logis in einem Landhaus, inscribed "For Peter always Max", Munich, Carl Hanser, [1998], FIRST EDITIONS, publisher's cloth or boards, the first, third and sixth mentioned in dust-jackets
OTHER BOOKS
Die Beschreibung des Unglücks: Zur österreichischen Literatur von Stifter bis Handke, FIRST EDITION OF THE AUTHOR'S FIRST BOOK, Salzburg, Residenz, 1985; The Rings of Saturn, 1998; Austerlitz, 2001; After Nature, 2 copies, 2002; On the Natural History of Destruction, publisher's compliment slip loosely inserted, Campo Santo, publisher's compliment slip inserted with note "Dear Peter and Dorothy Jordan/Ute [Sebald] very much wanted you to have a copy of Campo Santo", 2005; Unrecounted [with J.P. Tripp], publisher's compliment slip with note to the Jordans loosely inserted, 2004, first editions in English, dust-jackets, Harvill
PORTRAIT OF SEBALD
"Max" [bust length portrait of Sebald] by Jan Peter Tripp, LIMITED TO 13 PROOF COPIES ONLY, etching on paper, framed and glazed, 200 x 140mm., captioned and dated in margin "'Max', 11/13 h.c. Tripp"; with accompanying one-page autograph letter signed by Tripp to the Jordans, mentioning that "When i talked recently to Ute [Sebald] about my small etching edition of "Max" (13 proofs only), a portrait I did just before his terrible death, she gave me your address...", 19 May 2002
ADDITIONAL ARCHIVAL MATERIALS
Miscellaneous materials, including 3 envelopes addressed to Peter Jordan by Sebald, newspaper reviews and articles, email transcriptions of interviews between Peter Jordan and researchers relating to their relationship, facsimile copies of Sebald's corrected typescripts for the "Paul Bereyter" and "Max Ferber" chapters of "The Emigrants", and other ephemera, all loose in box file, captioned "Max" in red ink on spine (quantity)
Footnotes
"THERE IS NO WAY IN WHICH THE SUFFERING WE CAUSED CAN EVER BE MADE GOOD AGAIN" - An important archive of personally inscribed presentation first editions, and autograph letters written by W.G. Sebald (1944-2001) to Peter Jordan, "the first Jewish refugee Max [Sebald] met - indeed the first Jew Max met, or came to know. Peter Jordan's house saved his life, but Peter Jordan's friendship - I'm sure, looking back - saved his soul..." (Carole Angier, Speak, Silence: In Search of W.G. Sebald, 2021).
Peter, and his wife Dorothy, were Sebald's landlords when he moved to Manchester in the 1960s. Aged fifteen Peter had escaped Germany in May 1939, his parents subsequently being transported from Munich and murdered in 1941. His life story, and that of his parents and relatives as told to Sebald were the direct inspiration for the character Max Ferber in The Emigrants, in which also "every Ferber photograph comes from Peter Jordan's family album". On publication of the first edition (in German) Sebald sent Peter a copy [included in this lot] "saying how much it meant to him to include his story, and how much he hoped Peter would approve of the result. Peter did approve..." (Angier). The enduring importance and warmth of Peter's friendship to Sebald is perhaps encapsulated in the fine etched portrait of him by the artist J.P. Tripp (co-author of the posthumously published Unrecounted), who sent it to Peter shortly after Sebald's death in 2001, evidently having been supplied his name and address by Sebald's widow, Ute.
The correspondence, spanning the years 1987-2001, includes insights into the writing of, his doubts about, and the reception of his major novels, mention of his literary heroes Kafka and Nabokov, struggles with his University life, "Sebaldian" anecdotes on skiing, overseas travel and persons met, with a powerful account of his theory on Germany's collective amnesia towards memories of the war and treatment of the Jews.
Provenance: Peter Jordan; by descent to the present oowner.
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