Levi is glad that Fröhlich enjoyed “Il Greco” (“The Greek”) and that he wants to preview it on the radio. The draft of La tregua (The Truce) is at a good point. He would be happy to receive the theatrical piece Fröhlich has written and propose it to Einaudi.
20/7/‘62[1]
Lieber Herr Frӧlich,
besten Dank für Ihr Schreiben von 16/7.[2]
Es freut mich sehr dass „Il Greco“ Ihre Interesse, und angeblich die des Norddeutschen Rundfunkgetroffen hat.[3] Es geht mit meinem Buch langsam aber planmässig, ein Kapitel[4] pro Monat; etwa drei Viertel sind schon niedergeschrieben; es handelt sich aber zweifellos um ein opus minus.[5]
Ich bitte Sie, sowieso (entweder für die Saison angenommen oder nicht) Ihr Theaterstück mir zu senden, ich werde es an Einaudi präsentieren. Ich weiss freilich nicht, ob es lang genug ist um für sich allein in Form eines Bandes zu erscheinen; eventuell, falls Sie um sonstige ähnliche Stücke verfügen, senden Sie sie ebenfalls mit.
Ich grüsse Sie sehr herzlich
Primo Levi
20/7/’62[1]
Caro Signor Frӧlich,
La ringrazio molto per la Sua lettera del 16/7.[2]
Sono molto contento che «Il Greco» abbia suscitato il Suo interesse e, presumo, quello della Norddeutscher Rundfunk.[3]Il mio lavoro procede lentamente ma da programma, un capitolo al mese;[4] circa tre quarti sono già su carta; senza dubbio si tratta però di un opus minus.[5]
La prego di inviarmi comunque la Sua opera (accettata o meno per la stagione), così la sottoporrò a Einaudi. Non so però se sia abbastanza lunga da potersi pubblicare in un volume a sé stante; eventualmente, se ha altre opere dello stesso tipo, mi mandi anche quelle.
I miei più cordiali saluti,
Primo Levi
July 20, 1962[1]
Dear Mr. Frӧlich,
Many thanks for your letter of July 16.[2]
I am pleased to learn that “Il Greco” piqued your interest, and presumably the interest of Norddeutscher Rundfunk[3]as well. My book is coming along slowly yet according to schedule, one chapter per month;[4] I have already written down about three quarters of it, although it is undoubtedly one of my shorter works.[5]
Please, in any case (whether it has been accepted for the coming season or not) send me your theatrical piece; I will propose it to Einaudi. Obviously I do not know whether it is long enough to be published on its own, so if you happen to have other, similar pieces, go ahead and send those as well.
I send my warmest regards,
Primo Levi
20/7/‘62[1]
Lieber Herr Frӧlich,
besten Dank für Ihr Schreiben von 16/7.[2]
Es freut mich sehr dass „Il Greco“ Ihre Interesse, und angeblich die des Norddeutschen Rundfunkgetroffen hat.[3] Es geht mit meinem Buch langsam aber planmässig, ein Kapitel[4] pro Monat; etwa drei Viertel sind schon niedergeschrieben; es handelt sich aber zweifellos um ein opus minus.[5]
Ich bitte Sie, sowieso (entweder für die Saison angenommen oder nicht) Ihr Theaterstück mir zu senden, ich werde es an Einaudi präsentieren. Ich weiss freilich nicht, ob es lang genug ist um für sich allein in Form eines Bandes zu erscheinen; eventuell, falls Sie um sonstige ähnliche Stücke verfügen, senden Sie sie ebenfalls mit.
Ich grüsse Sie sehr herzlich
Primo Levi
20/7/’62[1]
Caro Signor Frӧlich,
La ringrazio molto per la Sua lettera del 16/7.[2]
Sono molto contento che «Il Greco» abbia suscitato il Suo interesse e, presumo, quello della Norddeutscher Rundfunk.[3]Il mio lavoro procede lentamente ma da programma, un capitolo al mese;[4] circa tre quarti sono già su carta; senza dubbio si tratta però di un opus minus.[5]
La prego di inviarmi comunque la Sua opera (accettata o meno per la stagione), così la sottoporrò a Einaudi. Non so però se sia abbastanza lunga da potersi pubblicare in un volume a sé stante; eventualmente, se ha altre opere dello stesso tipo, mi mandi anche quelle.
I miei più cordiali saluti,
Primo Levi
July 20, 1962[1]
Dear Mr. Frӧlich,
Many thanks for your letter of July 16.[2]
I am pleased to learn that “Il Greco” piqued your interest, and presumably the interest of Norddeutscher Rundfunk[3]as well. My book is coming along slowly yet according to schedule, one chapter per month;[4] I have already written down about three quarters of it, although it is undoubtedly one of my shorter works.[5]
Please, in any case (whether it has been accepted for the coming season or not) send me your theatrical piece; I will propose it to Einaudi. Obviously I do not know whether it is long enough to be published on its own, so if you happen to have other, similar pieces, go ahead and send those as well.
I send my warmest regards,
Primo Levi
Info
Notes
Tag
Sender: Primo Levi
Addressee: Hans Jürgen Fröhlich
Date of Drafting: 1962-07-20
Place of Writing: Hamburg
Description: typewritten postcard with insertions, signature, and date handwritten in blue ballpoint pen, 147x100mm. The address is typed on the back: “Herrn / H.J. Frӧlich / Hamburg 22 /Uhlenhorsterweg 17 /(Germania - B.R.D)”; B.R.D is retraced by hand in blue ballpoint pen. A stamp and a postmark dated 22.VII.1962 are also present. Levi’s private archive contains a draft of this postcard handwritten in blue ballpoint pen on a sheet of recovered paper, mm210x195, which presents a few variations. Given the interest of the document, this draft has been included among the scanned documents, highlighting the most significant variations. On the back is an excerpt of a draft of the translation of the university manual by Henry Gilman, Chimica organica superiore, which Levi prepared with Giorgio Anglesio during the second half of the 1950s. With an introduction by Giovanni Battista Bonino, the manual was published in four volumes between 1955 and 1960, the first three volumes by Edizioni Scientifiche Einaudi (1955, 1956, and 1958), the fourth in 1960 by Boringhieri. Both trademarks belonged to Paolo Boringhieri, who in 1951 had acquired part of Einaudi’s scientific catalogue and printed it under the trademark “Edizioni Scientifiche Einaudi,” which became independent on April 1, 1957 (however, in 1958, the third volume of the manual was still published by ESE).
Archive: Deutsches Literaturarchiv, Marbach
Series: Levi, Primo Frӧhlich, Hans J. 1962-1985; o.D.
Folio: 1, front and back
DOI:
1
The date is handwritten in blue ballpoint pen.
2
Frӧhlich’s letter dated July 16, 1962 has not been found.
3
With a handwritten intervention (a circle and a line), Levi moves the auxiliary “hat,” which was initially between “’Il Greco’” and “Ihre Interesse,” to the end the sentence; for this reason, he also adds a comma by hand after “Rundfunk”.
4
In Levi’s handwritten draft, between “Kapitel” (“Chapter”) and “pro Monat” (“per month”), there is written: “von ungefähr 3000-4000 Wörter” (“of around 3000-4000 words”).
5
“opus minus” is underlined. In Levi’s handwritten draft, there is written: “Es handelt sich aber, zweifellos, um eine Opera minore (wie heisst das auf Deutsch?)” (“It is however, without doubt, a minor work (what is it that called in German?)”.
