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COLLECTION Identifier: MS Ger 297

Henry Sagan correspondence regarding Rainer Maria Rilke papers

Overview

Correspondence between Henry Sagan and the brothers Raimund and Ludwig Thurn und Taxis, among others, regarding Sagan's collection of Rilke papers.

Dates

  • Creation: 1957-1959

Language of Materials

Collection materials are in German and English.

Conditions Governing Access

There are no restrictions on physical access to this material.

Extent

.3 linear feet (1 box)

Consists of 24 autograph manuscript and typescript letters. Also includes typescript inventories of Sagan's collections as received by Ludwig Thurn und Taxis, as well as bank and postage receipts.

Biographical / Historical

Dr. Henry Sagan was a major 20th-century collector of manuscripts of the poet Rainer Maria Rilke. The correspondence in this collection documents the "repartriation" of certain works by Rilke associated with the princely Thurn and Taxis family and their seat at Castle Duino, Trieste.

Note: Names of the Thurn und Taxis brothers are given in various versions in the correspondence and elsewhere. For example, Prince Raimund, when writing in German, signs himself "Prinz Raimund von Thurn u. Taxis"; in English, "Prince Raymond of Thurn and Taxis". This branch of the family was naturalized in Italy in 1923; hence the most authoritative version of his name is "Raimundo Alexander Maria Louis Lamoral, Principe della Torre e Tasso, Duca di Castel Duino". His younger brother, Ludwig, signs himself "Louis Torre Tasso".

Arrangement

Arranged chronologically.

Physical Location

b

Immediate Source of Acquisition

83M-71. Gift of Magda Tizsa, 130 Woodchester Drive, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts 02167; received: 1984 June 1.

Related Materials

Related Rilke manuscripts collected by Sagan are held by the special collections department of the University of Kansas' Kenneth Spencer Research Library.

Processing Information

Processed by: Michael W. Austin

Title
Sagan, Henry. Henry Sagan correspondence regarding Rainer Maria Rilke papers, 1957-1959: Guide.
Author
Houghton Library, Harvard College Library
Description rules
dacs
Language of description
und
EAD ID
hou02129

Repository Details

Part of the Houghton Library Repository

Houghton Library is Harvard College's principal repository for rare books and manuscripts, archives, and more. Houghton Library's collections represent the scope of human experience from ancient Egypt to twenty-first century Cambridge. With strengths primarily in North American and European history, literature, and culture, collections range in media from printed books and handwritten manuscripts to maps, drawings and paintings, prints, posters, photographs, film and audio recordings, and digital media, as well as costumes, theater props, and a wide range of other objects. Houghton Library has historically focused on collecting the written record of European and Eurocentric North American culture, yet it holds a large and diverse number of primary sources valuable for research on the languages, culture and history of indigenous peoples of the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.

Houghton Library’s Reading Room is free and open to all who wish to use the library’s collections.

Contact:
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