S.Y. Agnon – Handwritten Letters, Eulogy for Salman Schocken, and Printed Draft of "My New Prayerbook"

S.Y. Agnon – Handwritten Letters, Eulogy for Salman Schocken, and Printed Draft of "My New Prayerbook"

Collection of items – including handwritten letters, a eulogy for Salman Schocken, and a story draft – sent by S.Y. (Shmuel Yosef) Agnon to authors, editors, and various persons of note. 1930s to 1960s. Hebrew.
The collection contains handwritten letters by Shmuel Yosef Agnon, addressed to Benjamin Tammuz, David Yellin, and Rabbi Kurt Wilhelm, all written in his inimitable style of language. The letters include poetry, written in rhyme, addressed to David Yellin; indignant grievances against acts of literary plagiarism ("All those who call themselves 'Agnon’ and are not members of my family"); a request for assistance in proofreading ("Save me from errors"); and various appeals regarding literary matters. Also in the collection is a eulogy – typewritten and signed by Agnon and sent by him to the newspaper "Haaretz" – for Salman Schocken; and a draft copy of Agnon’s story for children entitled "Sippur Na'eh MiSiddur Tefilati" ("My New Prayerbook", typewritten and sent by Agnon to the author Benjamin Tammuz for copyediting).
1. Brief letter handwritten by Agnon and addressed to David Yellin. Mostly in rhyme, in elegant Hebrew block script: "To the wise one distinguished by his virtue and his manner / [and by his] Poetry of the Sacred Tongue and the Law of the Living God / Who has brought me to the Garden of Parables and Riddles / And his fruit is immeasurably sweet to my palate / For this shall I thank [and praise] his name – Agnon S.Y. [1930s?]. [1] f.
2. Letter handwritten and signed by Agnon, on his official stationery; addressed to the Chief Rabbi of Stockholm, Dr. Kurt Wilhelm (1900-1965). In this letter, Agnon points out that the author Benjamin Tammuz is planning to visit Stockholm, and suggests that in exchange for the update Tammuz will provide him regarding the goings-on in the Land of Israel, the rabbi should serve Tammuz as a "spiritual guide to Stockholm and the entire Kingdom of Sweden." 1950. [1] f. Original addressed envelope enclosed.
3-4. Draft copy of a story for children entitled "Sippur Na'eh MiSiddur Tefilati" ("My New Prayerbook"), written by Agnon (first published in the 1930s); Typewritten, with erasures, corrections, and handwritten addenda (inserted in handwriting, probably by Benjamin Tammuz).
Also enclosed is a letter from Agnon to Benjamin Tammuz (typewritten and personally signed by Agnon): "I lost myself in the midst of all the tiny letters and amongst the numerous errors, and I therefore sat down and wrote most of the text using a typewriter, with which I am unfamiliar, and you, in your goodness, you who are versed in copyediting and accustomed to bearing the burden of authors, [be so kind as to] give yourself a bit of patience for the purpose of copyediting the article and [thus] save me from [those] errors!" 1955. 10 ff. + [1] f.
5. Letter handwritten and signed by Agnon, addressed to Benjamin Tammuz. The letter deals with various literary matters. 1958. [1] f. Original addressed envelope enclosed.
6. Letter handwritten and signed by Agnon: "Dear Doctor, I hereby present to you my story for the Rosh HaShanah issue [of the newspaper]. This story was already published in Haaretz a half a generation ago... I prepared this story for [the journal] 'Molad, ’ but seeing as I have no other story available, I am sending you this one. As for you, do as you please. I shall not view myself as having been insulted if either you or Mr. Schocken return the story to me..." (this letter was apparently addressed to Dr. Jacob Horowitz, editor of the literary supplement to the newspaper "Haaretz"). 1959. [3] ff. (cut out from envelopes).
7-8. Eulogy delivered by Agnon for Schlomo Salman Schocken ("The story of his life represents a shining example of the strength of the Jewish man"), typewritten (with a number of handwritten corrections and instructions for the printer), signed in pencil by Agnon. The eulogy was sent to the offices of the "Haaretz" newspaper; also enclosed is the letter sent by Agnon to Gershom Schocken, the newspaper’s publisher and editor-in-chief and son of Schlomo Salman (typewritten and hand-signed by Agnon). 1960. [3] ff. + [1] f.
9. Letter handwritten and signed by Agnon, addressed to Benjamin Tammuz. 1962. In this letter, Agnon expresses his frustration regarding the literary plagiarism to which his book "Yamim Nora’im" ("Days of Awe") is being subjected: "I meticulously gather whatever they pilfer from my book 'Yamim Nora’im, ' and commandeer as if deriving [them] from various sources, and play [the words] on their [own] fiddles, to serve their [own] agendas..." At the end of the letter, Agnon wearily bemoans that "my archives are already filled with [the works of] wise men and authors and with entire books such as 'Sefer HaMo’adim’ and the like. May the Lord never see fit to forgive them... nor any of those who call themselves 'Agnon’ and are not [members] of my family." [1] f. Original addressed envelope enclosed.
10. Letter handwritten and signed by Agnon, addressed to Benjamin Tammuz: "I’ve spent almost a [full] year searching for the address of [the author] Margaret Benaya. A thousand folks have promised me they would find [me] her address, but as is customary among our contemporaries, not one of them has fulfilled his promise. I would have liked to write to her about her book... [but would] you [be so kind as to] write my words to her [for me] [...] for after all, my handwriting is illegible." 1964. [3] ff. Original addressed envelope enclosed.
Size and condition vary. Overall good condition.

Schlomo Salman Schocken (1877-1959), founder of the Schocken Publishing House (Schoken Verlag) and publisher of "Haaretz" newspaper. One of the most influential figures in molding the character of Jewish/Hebrew culture in Israel. Throughout his life, he generously offered his sponsorship to some of the greatest minds shaping the renewal of the Hebrew cultural landscape. This sponsorship included such personalities as Gershom Scholem and Martin Buber. But by far the most beloved of his protégés was the author S.Y. Agnon; Schocken stood by him every step of the way, took care of him financially, and published his works.
Salman Schocken labored tirelessly to familiarize the entire world with Agnon’s writings; even prior to the outbreak of the Second World War, he organized a lobby whose goal was to advance Agnon’s candidacy for the Nobel Prize in Literature. The profound impact of Agnon’s novel "Tmol Shilshom" (1945) contributed significantly to these efforts. Once it was published, Schocken managed to get Rabbi Dr. Mordecai Ehrenpreis, Chief Rabbi of Stockholm, to join the lobby. Another key figure in the campaign to promote Agnon was Rabbi Dr. Kurt Wilhelm, a member of the Schocken Library staff who went on to succeed Ehrenpreis as Stockholm’s chief rabbi following the latter’s passing. Schocken tasked Wilhelm with the job of gathering all the required material and coordinating all the necessary efforts in preparation for the submission of Agnon’s candidacy. Wilhelm also made arrangements for Agnon to visit Sweden in 1951, announced his impending arrival in the Swedish media, and arranged meetings for Agnon with Swedish cultural figures, and with the leadership of the local Jewish community, all in the hope of raising awareness of Agnon’s greatness among the general public in Sweden. This flurry of promotional activity went hand-in-hand with efforts on the part of Salman Schocken (joined later by his son Gershom) to translate and circulate Agnon’s literature throughout the world, with special emphasis placed on Germany, the United States, and Sweden.
It took a number of years for all these efforts to bear fruit, with Shai Agnon being named Laureate of the Nobel Prize for Literature (which he shared with poet Nelly Sachs) in 1966, after Kurt Wilhelm and Shlomo Zalman Schocken had both passed away.