Frӧhlich is pleased that Levi has begun to write in English. He announces that he will be in Turin on April 5 or 6, 1964.
Hans Jürgen Fröhlich 2 Hamburg 22 Uhlenhorster Weg 17
Signor Primo Levi Torino Corso Re Umberto 75
Hamburg, den 16.3.64
Lieber und verehrter Doktor Levi,
ich danke Ihnen recht herzlich für Ihren Brief vom 29.II. Sie verzeihen, wenn ich Ihnen in meiner Sprache antworte. Aber per Englisch können wir uns, glaube ich, recht gut verständigen, und ich würde mich freuen, wenn Sie in Zukunft diese Sprache als unsere Korrespondenz-Sprache beibehielten.
Am 5. oder 6. April, vielleicht auch beide Tage, werde ich voraussichtlich in Turin sein. Es wäre schön, wenn wir uns dann einmal sprechen könnten. Es gibt sicher vieles, worüber wir uns unterhalten müssen. Ganz besonders interessiert mich Ihr neuer Plan, von dem ich über den Wegner-Verlag erfahren habe.[1]
Am 24. März reise ich hier ab. Ich wäre Ihnen sehr dankbar, wenn Sie mir umgehend antworten würden. Sollte ich Ihren Brief vor meiner Abreise nicht mehr erhalten, versuche ich eben, sie zu erreichen, eventuell per Telefon.
Ich freue mich sehr und bin
mit den besten Grüssen
Ihr
Hans Jürgen Fröhlich 2 Hamburg 22 Uhlenhorster Weg 17
Signor Primo Levi Torino Corso Re Umberto 75
Amburgo, 16/3/64
Caro e stimato dottor Levi,
La ringrazio di cuore per la Sua lettera del 29 febbraio. Mi perdonerà se Le rispondo nella mia lingua. Credo però che potremmo intenderci piuttosto bene in inglese e sarei lieto se in futuro volesse mantenere questacome lingua dei nostri scambi epistolari.
Prevedo di essere a Torino il 5 o il 6 aprile, forse entrambi i giorni. Sarebbe bello se riuscissimo a vederci. Abbiamo di sicuro tante cose di cui parlare. In particolare sono molto interessato al Suo nuovo progetto, di cui ho saputo tramite la casa editrice Wegner.[1]
Partirò da qui il 24 marzo. Le sarei molto grato se potesse rispondermi a stretto giro. Se non dovessi ricevere una Sua lettera prima della partenza, proverò a contattarLa io, eventualmente per telefono.
Non vedo l’ora e le mando
i miei migliori saluti,
Suo
Hans Jürgen Fröhlich 2 Hamburg 22 Uhlenhorster Weg 17
Mr. Primo Levi Torino Corso Re Umberto 75
Hamburg, March 16, 1964
Dear and esteemed Mr. Levi,
Thank you so very much for your letter of February 29. You will forgive me for replying in my language. But we can communicate quite well in English, I think, and I would be pleased if you stuck with it as our language for written correspondence going forward.
I expect to be in Turin on April 5 or 6, maybe even both days. It would be lovely if we could speak then. There surely is a lot we have to talk about. I am especially interested in your new project, of which I have heard about through Wegner Verlag.[1]
I leave here on March 24. I would be most grateful for your prompt reply. If I do not get a letter from you before my departure, I will try reaching out to you, by telephone if need be.
I look forward to it, and remain,
With my best regards,
Yours,
Hans Jürgen Fröhlich 2 Hamburg 22 Uhlenhorster Weg 17
Signor Primo Levi Torino Corso Re Umberto 75
Hamburg, den 16.3.64
Lieber und verehrter Doktor Levi,
ich danke Ihnen recht herzlich für Ihren Brief vom 29.II. Sie verzeihen, wenn ich Ihnen in meiner Sprache antworte. Aber per Englisch können wir uns, glaube ich, recht gut verständigen, und ich würde mich freuen, wenn Sie in Zukunft diese Sprache als unsere Korrespondenz-Sprache beibehielten.
Am 5. oder 6. April, vielleicht auch beide Tage, werde ich voraussichtlich in Turin sein. Es wäre schön, wenn wir uns dann einmal sprechen könnten. Es gibt sicher vieles, worüber wir uns unterhalten müssen. Ganz besonders interessiert mich Ihr neuer Plan, von dem ich über den Wegner-Verlag erfahren habe.[1]
Am 24. März reise ich hier ab. Ich wäre Ihnen sehr dankbar, wenn Sie mir umgehend antworten würden. Sollte ich Ihren Brief vor meiner Abreise nicht mehr erhalten, versuche ich eben, sie zu erreichen, eventuell per Telefon.
Ich freue mich sehr und bin
mit den besten Grüssen
Ihr
Hans Jürgen Fröhlich 2 Hamburg 22 Uhlenhorster Weg 17
Signor Primo Levi Torino Corso Re Umberto 75
Amburgo, 16/3/64
Caro e stimato dottor Levi,
La ringrazio di cuore per la Sua lettera del 29 febbraio. Mi perdonerà se Le rispondo nella mia lingua. Credo però che potremmo intenderci piuttosto bene in inglese e sarei lieto se in futuro volesse mantenere questacome lingua dei nostri scambi epistolari.
Prevedo di essere a Torino il 5 o il 6 aprile, forse entrambi i giorni. Sarebbe bello se riuscissimo a vederci. Abbiamo di sicuro tante cose di cui parlare. In particolare sono molto interessato al Suo nuovo progetto, di cui ho saputo tramite la casa editrice Wegner.[1]
Partirò da qui il 24 marzo. Le sarei molto grato se potesse rispondermi a stretto giro. Se non dovessi ricevere una Sua lettera prima della partenza, proverò a contattarLa io, eventualmente per telefono.
Non vedo l’ora e le mando
i miei migliori saluti,
Suo
Hans Jürgen Fröhlich 2 Hamburg 22 Uhlenhorster Weg 17
Mr. Primo Levi Torino Corso Re Umberto 75
Hamburg, March 16, 1964
Dear and esteemed Mr. Levi,
Thank you so very much for your letter of February 29. You will forgive me for replying in my language. But we can communicate quite well in English, I think, and I would be pleased if you stuck with it as our language for written correspondence going forward.
I expect to be in Turin on April 5 or 6, maybe even both days. It would be lovely if we could speak then. There surely is a lot we have to talk about. I am especially interested in your new project, of which I have heard about through Wegner Verlag.[1]
I leave here on March 24. I would be most grateful for your prompt reply. If I do not get a letter from you before my departure, I will try reaching out to you, by telephone if need be.
I look forward to it, and remain,
With my best regards,
Yours,
Info
Notes
Tag
Sender: Hans Jürgen Fröhlich
Addressee: Primo Levi
Date of Drafting: 1964-03-16
Place of Writing: Hamburg
Description: carbon copy on onionskin paper of typewritten letter.
Archive: Deutsches Literaturarchiv, Marbach
Series: Levi, Primo Frӧhlich, Hans J. 1962-1985; o.D.
Folio: 1, front only
DOI:
1
It is unclear to what project Frӧhlich is referring, but it might be the idea of gathering the science-fiction short stories on which Levi was working, some of which had already been published in newspapers and magazines. On January 29, 1964, a short article appeared on the third page of the daily Il Giorno, in the column “Che cosa fanno” (“What they are doing”): “Primo Levi may gather in book form a series of ‘psychological science fiction’ short stories he is writing.” It is therefore possible that this is how the publisher Wegner learned about it. As to his intention of publishing a book of short stories already in 1964, a few months later (on April 10, 1964) Levi wrote to Riedt: “It is still very early for the science fiction short stories: there are too few of them, and they are too different from the two books. Einaudi has rightly recommended that I write some more and wait a year or two” (Il carteggio con Heinz Riedt, cit., p. 157).
