ID 1108945
Lot 146 | Boris Pasternak (1890-1960)
Estimate value
£ 2 000 – 3 000
Autograph letter signed (‘B. Pasternak’) to his English publishers and Stefan Szymanski, Moscow, July 1945
In English and Russian. Four pages, 203 x 311mm, bifolium, a number of sentences and words cancelled.
Expressing heartfelt thanks to his English publishers: ‘If I knew English as I need it, I would write volumes and volumes to express my emotions’. Pasternak lists a number of individuals, thanking them for their contributions and assistance, including Mr. and Mrs. Read, the latter ‘whose name heads the noble group, so dear to me’ and Mr. Lindsay Simmonds for his ‘kindness, editing my book with so great an outlay of care and elegance’. He laments over the earlier ‘stupid pretensions of a late beginner, uncontinued and left without completions in a hard and distorted time, look so insignificant’. Exclaiming, ‘But let us not despair!’, he continues ‘Things that I hope to write at a better time will amend and justify the pitiful picture that makes me ashamed for the splendid light you unmeritedly throw on it’. Pasternak concludes with ‘Endless, endless thanks to you, dear friends!...Be happy and do not forget your affectionate’.
In Russian, to Stefan Szymanski, thanking the recipient and his wife ‘for everything you have done for me’ and congratulating Szymanski’s recent articles in Transformation, ‘a tremendous joy which infused courage into me has been the emergence of personalism on your horizon’. Commenting on his poor knowledge of English by declaring his English letter ‘barbarian mumbo jumbo’, he thanks Szymanski as ‘your introduction is very profound and captivatingly written but it exceeds the requirements of the subject matter which with such comprehensive and detailed analysis should have been infinitely grander in meaning and scale’. Concluding, ‘Do not take to heart the fact that all of this stuff of mine is so ugly and dwarfish. I have a project ahead of me – broader and simpler. You will see. But it is still too early to discuss it’.
Szymanski was a Polish-born publicist and translator, and a prominent member of the ‘escapist’, or ‘personalists’, literary movement in England. The group published the almanac Transformations and generally treated Pasternak with admiration, this both surprised and delighted the poet, who considered himself to be half-forgotten.
Address of auction |
CHRISTIE'S 8 King Street, St. James's SW1Y 6QT London United Kingdom | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Preview |
| |||||
Phone | +44 (0)20 7839 9060 | |||||
Buyer Premium | see on Website | |||||
Conditions of purchase | Conditions of purchase |
More from Creator
Related terms
Frequently asked questions
First of all, you should register to be able to purchase at auction. After confirming your email address, enter your personal information in your user profile, such as your first name, last name, and mail address. Choose a lot from the upcoming auction and the maximum amount you want to place on it. After confirmation of your choice, we will send your application by e-mail to the appropriate auction house. If the auction house accepts a request, it will participate in the auction. You can view the current status of a bid at any time in your personal account in the "Bids" section.
Auctions are performed by auction houses and each of the auction houses describes their terms of auction. You can see the texts in the section "Auction information".
The results of the auction are published within a few days after the end of the auction. In the top menu of the site, find the tab "Auctions". Click on it and you will be on the auction catalog page, where you can easily find the category "Results". After opening it, select the desired auction from the list, enter and view the current status of the interested lot.
The information about the auction winners is confidential. The auction winner will receive a direct notification from the auction house responsible with instructions for further action: an invoice for payment and the manner in which the goods will be received.
Each of the auction houses has its own payment policy for the won lots. All auction houses accept bank transfers, most of them accept credit card payments. In the near future you will find detailed information for each case in the section "Auction information" on the page of the auction catalog and the lot.
Shipment of the won lot depends on its size. Small items can be delivered by post. Larger lots are sent by courier. Employees of the auction houses will offer you a wide range to choose from.
No. The archive serves as a reference for the study of auction prices, photographs and descriptions of works of art.