Correspondence with Alma Mahler, Franz Werfel, and Adolf Klarmann, 1940-1946.

Format:

Other

Author/Creator:

Fuchs, Hanna.

Contributor:

Fuchs-Robetin, Herbert.

Kearton, Cherry, 1871-1940.

Language:

English

German

Physical Description:

30 items (39 leaves)

Contained In:

Mahler-Werfel Papers. Folders 341-342.

Place of Publication:

1940-1946.

Language Note:

In German and English.

Biography/History:

Hanna Fuchs-Robetin (1894-1964) was Franz Werfel's sister; she married the Prague businessman Herbert Fuchs-Robetin (1886-1949) in 1917. Hanna and Herbert had 2 children, Franz (b. 1918) and Dorothea (b. 1921) Fuchs-Robetin. Cherry Kearton was a representative at Jarrolds Publishers and an addressee of a draft telegram from Werfel.

Summary:

Aside from 2 letters written from Vichy, the Fuchs-Robetins write from England and, after 1946, from New York. The letters often discuss family matters, including concern for the parents of Hanna and Franz, while the latter were still in Marseille and trying to emigrate to the U.S., and the death of their father, Rudolf Werfel, in 1941. Later, the Fuchs-Robetins report on the progress of their own efforts to emigrate to the U.S. Throughout the correspondence Hanna and Herbert frequently mention reading works of Franz Werfel and offer their reflections; similarly they comment enthusiastically on Alma Mahler's memoir about Gustav Mahler (Erinnerungen und Briefe) in 1940. While the Fuchs-Robetins were living in England, Franz Werfel authorized Herbert to act as a business manager for him in matters pertaining to the publication of his works there. Herbert dedicates himself to these tasks with great devotion and reports in detail on negotiations with publishers and on the sales of Werfel's works in Britain. (The publisher Hamish Hamilton is frequently mentioned; in undated draft telegrams Werfel addresses Cherry Kearton and refers to him as a friend at Jarrolds Publishers.) In 1945 Herbert reports on the successful opening performance of Werfel's play Jacobowsky and the Colonel in London. Hanna and Herbert refer to their children in the letters by their nicknames, "Munzo" (Franz) and "Dodo" (Dorothea). The correspondence with Adolf Klarmann, in 1946, mostly concerns the conveyance of manuscripts of Werfel to Klarmann, in particular the autobiographical piece entitled "Erguss und Beichte."

Notes:

Includes drafts of 3 telegrams from Franz Werfel, 1 of which is addressed to Cherry Kearton at Jarrolds Publishers; and 9 letters from Herbert Fuchs-Robetin, as well as 4 letters written jointly by Herbert und Hanna.