Auction Date:2013 Dec 11 @ 18:00 (UTC-05:00 : EST/CDT)
Location:5 Rt 101A Suite 5, Amherst, New Hampshire, 03031, United States
ALS - Autograph Letter Signed
ANS - Autograph Note Signed
AQS - Autograph Quotation Signed
AMQS - Autograph Musical Quotation Signed
DS - Document Signed
FDC - First Day Cover
Inscribed - “Personalized”
ISP - Inscribed Signed Photograph
LS - Letter Signed
SP - Signed Photograph
TLS - Typed Letter Signed
ALS in French, signed “Aug Rodin,” two pages on two adjoining sheets, 5 x 6.5, November 27, 1905. Letter written in the hand of Rainer Maria Rilke to the wife of French Symbolist poet and art critic Gustave Kahn, regretfully declining an invitation received while he was away, and offering praise of her husband’s work. In fine condition, with a bit of scattered light soiling, mainly to bottom blank portion.
By 1900, Rodin had solidified his position as the preeminent French sculptor of his day, earning roughly 200,000 francs a year from his work and attracting countless followers, including a young Rainer Maria Rilke. Venturing to Paris in 1902 in hopes of writing a monograph on the artist, Rilke found an unlikely mentor in Rodin, who showed him a new perspective that would dramatically transform his poetic style, resulting in the innovative and highly visual ‘thing-poems’ for which he is still remembered. To help the writer financially, Rodin hired him in 1905 for some secretarial work, in which capacity he penned this letter. Beyond his essay on Rodin, Rilke also wrote The Book of Hours during this time, along with a series of letters to 19-year-old Franz Xaver Kappus—ten of which would later become the famous Letters to a Young Poet. Beautifully penned in Rilke’s hand during the formative years of his literary life, and holding the signature of one of the most influential artists of all time, this is an extraordinarily desirable piece.
Auction Location:
5 Rt 101A Suite 5, Amherst, New Hampshire, 03031, United States
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