A very literary letter from H.C. Andersen, then 34 years old and on the rise to international stardom. The letter bears witness to Andersen’s tremendous productivity and artistic contemplation: ”[…] jeg vil heller have frie Hænder og kunde udarbeide hvad jeg selv ansaae for bedst og da naturligvis meest interesserede mig [...]”. (ENG: […] I would rather be free and able to produce what I consider to be important, and which I naturally find the most interesting […]).

In the letter we also hear of future literary projects: ”[...] Igaar var Professor Ursin hos mig, vi aftale da at jeg skulde levere tolv Digte til Aarets Maaneder [...]. Foruden disse og hvad jeg sender i Dag, vil jeg forpligte mig til at levere et Eventyr og et Par andre smaa Stykker, samt, naar man udtrykkelig ønsker det, maaskee ogsaa en lille Novelle, da jeg har Ideen til en saadan, Scenen bliver i Sverrig og jeg vil see at give nogle Billeder af dette Lands Natur, ligesom jeg i Improvisatoren har givet Italiens og i O. T. og Spillemanden Danmarks […].” (ENG: Yesterday, I was visited by Professor Ursin and we agreed that I should provide twelve poems for the twelve months of the year […]. Apart from these, and what I will send off today, I will commit myself to producing one fairytale and a couple of different minor works, as well as, when expressly desired, perhaps a short story, since I have an idea for this. The stage will be set in Sweden, and I will include some illustrations of the nature of this country, just as I did of Italy’s in Improvisatoren and of Denmark’s in O. T. and Spillemanden.)

The poem Paaskesangen, which to Andersen’s disappointment had not received much attention when it was published three years earlier, is also mentioned in the letter: ”[…] men dette [digtet] var ikke kjendt som det burde og Digtet selv forekommer mig saa særdeles passende for Folkebogen at jeg ikke tager i Betænkning at sende Dem det, som om det var ganske nyt. [...". (ENG: […] but this [the poem] was not as well-known as it should be, and the poem itself strikes me as highly appropriate for Folkebogen, which is why I will not hesitate in sending it to you as if it was perfectly new).