Thomas MANN entrusts the translation of “Tristan” and “Désordre”.

Thomas MANN (1875-1955)

Typed letter signed to the publisher Pierre Quint.

Two large octavo pages in German, on letterhead.

Munich. November 19, 1926.

Thomas Mann struggles with French translations of his works.

“Dear Mr. Quint, Thank you very much for your detailed letter. I leave you “Désordre” and “Tristan” as well as the engraving by Liebermann representing me which seems successful to me and which also appears in the German edition of my works. The short autobiography is contained in the volume “Rede und Antwort” which you can obtain directly from the publisher under the title “Im Spiegel”. You will receive the desired bibliography in the coming days, as soon as it has been compiled, as well as a handwritten sheet. Concerning Madame Gilles' translation, I am a little reassured to know that you consider her French perfect. Maybe we shouldn't judge her on a small job (…). I agree that before deciding anything, we need to check the existing translations and I want to do that (…) If I understand you correctly, you do not want the translation of the rest of Ms. Gilles' biography. I had written to him, at the same time as to you, about errors and uncertainties. I also sent her the literal translation for comparison and she said she was willing to correct the errors. Perhaps it will now be possible to improve this. In any case, I ask you not to warn me in the event of refusal, but rather to refer to your own judgment. I think it would only be to the benefit of the translation if you did it yourself, but I leave that to your discretion...”