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Lot 77
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Anne Frank's Diary; Otto Frank: "To-day I am sending you a new American edition of the Diary containing also all the other writings of Anne, so that you can make your choice"
Anne Frank's Diary; Otto Frank: "To-day I am sending you a new American edition of the Diary containing also all the other writings of Anne, so that you can make your choice"
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Description:

Frank Otto


Anne Frank's "Tales" to be Published in Portuguese; Otto Frank: "To-day I am sending you a new American edition of the Diary containing also all the other writings of Anne, so that you can make your choice"

 

Two letters exchanged between Otto Frank, father of teenaged German Jewish diarist Anne Frank, and Portuguese publishers, comprised of 2pp in English, and 2pp of Portuguese translation. The correspondence was exchanged between Basle, Switzerland and Lisbon, Portugal in mid-November 1959. The second letter is signed by Frank as "Otto Frank" near bottom right. In near fine condition, with expected light paper folds and a few wrinkles to the green onionskin paper. Both letters are double hole-punched and stapled. 6.25" x 8.25".

 

1. A bilingual contemporary clerical copy of the original November 12, 1959 letter sent from Livros de Brasil, Ltd. agents to Otto Frank, originally enclosing three royalty checks. The profits were from the 2,000-copy reprint of the Portuguese translation of The Diary of Anne Frank.

 

"With our respectful compliments, we have pleasure in sending you enclosed, three cheques of Banco Espirito Santo e Comercial de Lisboa…for the amount of US$280,43 in payment of a new reprint of 2,000 copies of 'O Diario de Anne Frank', at the selling price Esc.45$00 each."

 

Livros de Brasil, Ltd. had launched their first 3,000 limited edition printing of The Diary of Anne Frank in early January 1958. The same year, Ernest Schabel's Anne Frank: A Portrait of Courage (New York: Harcourt Brace, 1958) responded to the public's demand for more biographical information about Anne Frank. Schnabel interviewed over 40 people who had known Anne or been mentioned in her diary. The resulting portrait proved the diarist actually existed, as some detractors had doubted the diary's authenticity.

 

2. An original November 16, 1959 letter that Frank wrote to publishers, signed as "Otto Frank" at bottom right. In the letter, Otto discusses their mutual interest in publishing Portuguese-language translations of some of Anne's "Tales," or short stories. Otto had fixed ideas about Anne's work being published in separate volumes.

 

"To-day I am sending you a new American edition of the Diary containing also all the other writings of Anne, so that you can make your choice. I would appreciate very much if you would return the book later, when it is not needed any more, as I have very few copies. So if you are decided to publish these tales, kindly let me know and inform Lawrence Smith as my agent...P.S. Though they printed the tales etc. together with the Diary in one volume in USA. I am not in favour [sic] of doing so. France had done it too, but published now a separate volume. So did Norway and Holland and Italy will do it too."

 

Anne Frank's Tales from a Secret Annex was originally published in the Netherlands in 1949, and appeared in an expanded edition in 1960.

 

Otto Heinrich Frank (1889-1980) was the sole survivor of his 4-person family, comprised of wife Edith (1900-1945), daughter Margot (1926-1945), and Anne (1929-1945). Between July 1942 and August 1944, the Franks and four others hid in a secret annex located in the back upper stories of the Amsterdam business where Otto worked. The Franks were discovered, arrested, and sent to Auschwitz in September 1944. Edith died of starvation at Auschwitz in January 1945; her two daughters died of typhus in February or March 1945 at Bergen-Belsen. Otto was released after the Soviets liberated Auschwitz in late January 1945.

 

Anne's writings had been collected and preserved by Otto's coworker Miep Gies, who had sheltered the families in the annex. Otto had initially transcribed Anne's diaries in order to give them to family members, but was eventually persuaded to seek publication. The final manuscript was a combination of two versions of the diaries Anne wrote, with Otto's edits and redactions. The book was first published in Dutch on June 25, 1947 as The Secret Annex: Diary Letters from June 14, 1942 to August 1, 1944.

 

The Diary's popularity was such that it had already been published in German and French in 1950, and then in English (for both the US and UK markets) in 1952. The Portuguese publishers had been eager to acquire the rights to the publication, and worked closely with Otto Frank during the process. Livros do Brasil, Ltd. collaborated with Otto over the next twenty years, seeking to publish similar and complementary works about Anne Frank and the Jewish war experience.

 

The book's publishing success in multiple languages led to an adapted stage play, which premiered at Cort Theater in New York City on October 5, 1955. The play, while not a strict reproduction of the book, won both the Pulitzer for Theater and the Tony Award. In turn, Hollywood set out to produce a film version, which premiered on March 18, 1959 and would go on to win three Oscars.

 

The Diary of Anne Frank received both critical and popular acclaim. As of 2015, the book has been translated into over 60 different languages. Both its literary and historical importance cannot be overlooked. Dutch historian Jan Romein put it this way: "To me, however, this apparently inconsequential diary by a child... stammered out in a child's voice, embodies all the hideousness of fascism, more so than all the evidence at Nuremberg put together."

 

These letters testify to Otto Frank's lifelong commitment to publishing his daughter's writings. To him, they served as a celebration of her life; to humanity, they serve as a warning.

 

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