Levi informs Davidovic that Ist das ein Mensch? will not be published in East Germany and that he will not be able to have a copy of Das periodische System sent to him; he remedies this by sending him a copy of the Czech translation.
just a quick word of reply to your letter of October 25; thank you heartily for your help in finding the right title for my last book.[2] With today’s mail I received a very kind, but very embarrassed letter, from Aufbau Verlag, in DDR: «after many hexitations», they have decided to renounce to the re-publication of Ist das ein Mensch? on account of a single phrase of the book, containing a severe judgement against the political prisoners: at least, this is the «official» motivation.[3]
In the same letter they apologize for not sending to you Das periodische System which is long sold out;[4] but I have «aufgetrieben» a copy of the Chekh translation,[5] and I have mailed a copy of it to you separately this very morrow; perhaps not all the chapters will be of your interest, but I hope Vanadium will.
Sincerely yours
19/11/’84[1]
Caro Mendi,
solo una breve parola di risposta alla tua lettera del 25 ottobre; grazie di cuore per il tuo aiuto nel trovare il giusto titolo per il mio ultimo libro.[2] Con la posta di oggi ho ricevuto una lettera molto gentile, ma molto imbarazzata, dalla Aufbau Verlag, nella DDR: «dopo molte esitazioni», hanno deciso di rinunciare alla ripubblicazione di Se questo è un uomo a causa di un’unica frase del libro, che contiene un giudizio severo sui prigionieri politici: almeno, questa è la motivazione «ufficiale».[3]
Nella stessa lettera si scusano per non averti mandato Il sistema periodico, che è esaurito da tempo; ma io ho «scovato» una copia dellatraduzione ceca, e stamattina stessa te l’ho spedita separatamente; forse non tutti i capitoli saranno di tuo interesse, ma spero che lo sarà Vanadio.
Tuo
19/11/’84[1]
Dear Mendi,
just a quick word of reply to your letter of October 25; thank you heartily for your help in finding the right title for my last book.[2] With today’s mail I received a very kind, but very embarrassed letter, from Aufbau Verlag, in DDR: «after many hexitations», they have decided to renounce to the re-publication of Ist das ein Mensch? on account of a single phrase of the book, containing a severe judgement against the political prisoners: at least, this is the «official» motivation.[3]
In the same letter they apologize for not sending to you Das periodische System which is long sold out;[4] but I have «aufgetrieben» a copy of the Chekh translation,[5] and I have mailed a copy of it to you separately this very morrow; perhaps not all the chapters will be of your interest, but I hope Vanadium will.
Sincerely yours
19/11/’84[1]
Dear Mendi,
just a quick word of reply to your letter of October 25; thank you heartily for your help in finding the right title for my last book.[2] With today’s mail I received a very kind, but very embarrassed letter, from Aufbau Verlag, in DDR: «after many hexitations», they have decided to renounce to the re-publication of Ist das ein Mensch? on account of a single phrase of the book, containing a severe judgement against the political prisoners: at least, this is the «official» motivation.[3]
In the same letter they apologize for not sending to you Das periodische System which is long sold out;[4] but I have «aufgetrieben» a copy of the Chekh translation,[5] and I have mailed a copy of it to you separately this very morrow; perhaps not all the chapters will be of your interest, but I hope Vanadium will.
Sincerely yours
19/11/’84[1]
Caro Mendi,
solo una breve parola di risposta alla tua lettera del 25 ottobre; grazie di cuore per il tuo aiuto nel trovare il giusto titolo per il mio ultimo libro.[2] Con la posta di oggi ho ricevuto una lettera molto gentile, ma molto imbarazzata, dalla Aufbau Verlag, nella DDR: «dopo molte esitazioni», hanno deciso di rinunciare alla ripubblicazione di Se questo è un uomo a causa di un’unica frase del libro, che contiene un giudizio severo sui prigionieri politici: almeno, questa è la motivazione «ufficiale».[3]
Nella stessa lettera si scusano per non averti mandato Il sistema periodico, che è esaurito da tempo; ma io ho «scovato» una copia dellatraduzione ceca, e stamattina stessa te l’ho spedita separatamente; forse non tutti i capitoli saranno di tuo interesse, ma spero che lo sarà Vanadio.
Tuo
19/11/’84[1]
Dear Mendi,
just a quick word of reply to your letter of October 25; thank you heartily for your help in finding the right title for my last book.[2] With today’s mail I received a very kind, but very embarrassed letter, from Aufbau Verlag, in DDR: «after many hexitations», they have decided to renounce to the re-publication of Ist das ein Mensch? on account of a single phrase of the book, containing a severe judgement against the political prisoners: at least, this is the «official» motivation.[3]
In the same letter they apologize for not sending to you Das periodische System which is long sold out;[4] but I have «aufgetrieben» a copy of the Chekh translation,[5] and I have mailed a copy of it to you separately this very morrow; perhaps not all the chapters will be of your interest, but I hope Vanadium will.
Sincerely yours
Info
Notes
Tag
Sender: Primo Levi
Addressee: Emil Davidovič
Date of Drafting: 1984-11-19
Place of Writing: Turin
Description:carbon copy on onionskin paper of a typewritten letter, mm150x210.
Archive: Archivio privato di Primo Levi, Turin
Series: Corrispondenza, Corrispondenti particolari, fascicolo 22, sottofascicolo 1, f. 20.
Folio: 1, front only
DOI:
1Most likely, the date was added by hand to the original; a trace of it remains on the carbon copy.
2Levi brought the translator Barbara Kleiner up to date in a letter dated October 29, 1984: “Dear Mrs. Kleiner, today, after a long wait, I received a reply from a friend of mine, a fellow deportee who today is the ‘Landesrabbiner’ in Dortmund. ‘Die einfachste, gängigste und ich glaube auch die richtigste Übersetzung dieses Ausspruches ist ‘Wenn nicht jetzt, wann denn?’... which is almost identical to what you proposed.” The text of the rough draft is written by hand on the back of the typewritten letter to Barbara Kleiner dated September 10, 1984 (cf. letter 196, n. 6) and is very likely a draft. The document is held at the Private Archive of Primo Levi.
3On November 8, Joachim Meinert, a translator and editor at the publishing house Aufbau, sent Levi the news that the publishers had decided to forego publication of If This Is a Man in the DDR. The reviewers, in particular, adduced as a reason the presence of negative judgments of the political prisoners (letter 221). The publication project had taken shape in early 1980 (letter 215). This also involved the former deportee and author Fred Wander, who had been tasked with writing a foreword (letter 207); in that period, he was also corresponding with Primo Levi. On the refusal to publish If This Is a Man in the DDR, see the Insight “If This Is a Man” and “The Truce” in the DDR: An Attempt at Reconstruction.
5The Czech version of The Periodic Table was published with the title Prvky života in 1981 in Prague by the publisher Odeon, with a translation by Hana Benešovà and an afterword by Vladim Hořkỳ.
