After he was diagnosed with tuberculosis in August of 1917, Franz Kafka moved to the Bohemian village of Zürau, where he kept a small and humble house with his sister, Ottla. Below, he writes best friend (and, of course, eventual … Continued
In 1932, Hart Crane traveled to Mexico on a Guggenheim Fellowship, intending to write a history of Mexico in verse that, ultimately, he’d barely have time to begin. Below, Crane writes to high-school friend Bill Wright, describing his experience at … Continued
Father James Flye was James Agee’s lifelong friends and mentor. “In writing to Father Flye, Agee is addressing not only a priest but the embodiment of his boyhood aspirations.” September 20, 1950, Hillsdale Dear Father, So Fall is beginning. Always … Continued
Below, a twenty-two-year-old Federico García Lorca writes a twenty-five-year-old Adriano del Valle, describing plans for future work. TO ADRIANO DEL VALLE September 19, 1920 My dear friend Adriano: I’m sure I must have acquired a terrible reputation as a bad … Continued
Albert Camus maintained a lifelong, intimate, and candid correspondence with French philosopher Jean Grenier. Camus had been Grenier’s student at the University of Algiers, and would dedicate his first book to Grenier. TO JEAN GRENIER September 18,1951, Paris Dear … Continued
In 1831, J.S. Mill introduced Thomas Carlyle to a young New Englander—then traveling abroad in London—by the name of Ralph Waldo Emerson. Jane Carlyle would refer to this first encounter with Emerson as “the visit of an angel”, while Thomas … Continued
Below, Evelyn Waugh responds to Anne Fremantle’s request for a blurb for Desert Calling, her biography of Charles de Foucauld. September 14, 1949, Gloucestershire Dear Anne T. Burns sent me your proofs & I read them with zest. I … Continued
In March of 1832, quite out of the blue, Polisih countess Ewelina Hańska drafted a brash, chiding (and ultimately very alluring) letter to Honoré de Balzac, signing it “L’Éstrangèr”. The letter sparked a fraught, impassioned, profoundly intimate relationship of nearly … Continued
Below, a broke, struggling Dostoyevsky pitches Crime and Punishment to the editor of a literary magazine. (NB: Today, we’re cheating a bit. The letter is dated, on the basis of available evidence, not to “12 September”, but rather to … Continued
In September of 1956, a newly married Mr. & Mrs. Ted Hughes traveled to Yorkshire, where they stayed for the month with Hughes’ mother and father. September 11, 1956, Yorkshire Dearest Mother, […] I never thought I could like any … Continued
