Outstanding culture historical letter collection

Outstanding letter collection

The collection of just under 270 Henrik Pontoppidan letters, which is now going under the hammer, is the most comprehensive collection of letters by the Danish Nobel Prize laureate ever to go up for auction. The letters were written during the period in which Henrik Pontoppidan (1857-1943) wrote some of his most important works, i.e. 1895 to 1909, when both “Lykke-Per” and “De Dødes Rige” were published. The letter collection not only shows Henrik Pontoppidan’s close contact with publisher Aage Hirschsprung, director of the small, exclusive, high-brow publishing house Det Schubothske Forlag, but also sheds new light on the hectic years when Pontoppidan really made his breakthrough as a writer, which underlines the collection’s major literary and culture historical weight. Pontoppidan was one of the most influential writers of The Modern Breakthrough, and he made his mark on the literary scene with his many novels, short stories, articles and discussion papers from the end of the 19th century until his death. He holds a significant place in literary history to this day.

Lykke-Per – “a really good book”

It is very much a highly professional and ambitious writer who emerges in the letters. But the letters also provide an insight into Pontoppidan’s more private thoughts. In 1898, while Pontoppidan is working on what would later become his most widely read novel, he modestly writes to Hirschsprung: “I am sitting reading the proofs of “Lykke-Peer” part two and discover to my surprise that it is a really good book.” Over time, however, his ambitions become more pronounced: “It is perhaps my only remaining ambition: that my pen should be able to feed me [...] Call it foolish pride – it is, however, a stimulus I cannot do without”. [22/10-1903]. Not surprisingly, Pontoppidan would go on to fully support himself from his writing, and his success was cemented during the years when he exchanged letters with Hirschsprung.

Arbiter of taste and proofreader

Proofreading is a central element to Pontoppidan’s work. He proofread his short stories and novels again and again, even those already published. A great many of the 270 letters contain suggestions and comments on his own publications, which may be crucial to the literary appreciation of his works. The letters also reveal just how important a role Pontoppidan played with regard to finding budding new writing talents. Among other things, Hirschsprung used him to review incoming manuscripts, and Pontoppidan was not shy of saying what he thought: “yet another of these tuberculosis tragedies, which lady writers render so useless by smearing them in nauseating eroticism.” But he could also be remarkably positive when he liked what he saw: “I believe that you […] underestimate the importance [Sophus] Claussen will one day have [...] No one knows when exactly he will write a book that is a great success [...]”. [16/5-1901]. In fact, the discussion of the literature of his day fills much of the letters, providing a unique literary insight into the prevailing literary taste and scene, and documenting Henrik Pontoppidan’s immense influence.

The perfect publisher

It was with good reason that Henrik Pontoppidan was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1917. His stories and use of language were captivating. The same applies to the letters to Hirschsprung. In them, Pontoppidan puts down in words the ideas and ideals that propelled him, and which are so instrumental to his writing: “If, from time to time, my feelings should “get the better of me” [...] when it comes to your and my own or our shared relationship to literature, you must remember that, in you, I wish to see “the ideal publisher” [...] I know, of course, that, in many ways, you are just that [...] but my idealism is simply incorrigible!” The exchanging of letters ceased in 1909, when – much to the disapproval of Pontoppidan – Det Schubothske Forlag was taken over by Gyldendal. With the last letter, dated February 1909, an era in Danish literature ends definitively. That same year, Pontoppidan’s ideal publisher Hirschsprung died, just 40 years old.

Several important letters

Aage Hirschsprung was a central figure in literary circles around 1900. He was in close contact with several of the literary aesthetes and publisher of writers such as Herman Bang and Nobel Prize winner Karl Gjellerup. Collections of letters by Bang and Gjellerup to Hirschsprung will also be going under the hammer on 3 April. View all the letter collections [here] or read more about the Bang-collection [here].

Preview and auction

The preview of the book auction takes place at our premises at Baltikavej 10, DK-2100 Copenhagen Ø from 10am-5pm on Thursday 31 March and 10am-3.30pm on Friday 1 April. As usual, the hammer falls online at bruun-rasmussen.dk on Sunday 3 April. But this time, the auction does not start until 5pm.

View the entire book auction here

Keep updated on the book auctions, sign up for our newsletter here