[HERBERT Zbigniew]. A collection of 10 letters and postcards from 1970-1977, sent from Los Angeles, Knoppen,...

[HERBERT Zbigniew]. Collection of 10 letters and postcards from 1970-1977, sent from Los Angeles, Knoppen, Vienna, the Netherlands and Berlin.
Except in one case handwritten letters. One typed letter with a handwritten signature. Three letters on "California State College, Los Angeles" letter paper. Herbert addresses the addressee mostly "Dear Old Man", also "My Dear Criminal", "Dear Brother". The poet briefly informs about his current activities, prepares for Najder's visit to the USA, for a meeting in Warsaw, asks for his opinion on translations of Herbert's poems into English. Sample excerpts from the correspondence: "Somehow we are flying. I try to drown out the pain of existence by working in the garden. I'm just going to buy land"; "I just returned from a party [...], where the ancient question arose that Poles are anti-Semites. I gave a long speech emotional rather than logical (poor language tends to pathos) and now I am empty"; "I just dobbed my students and buried them in a large mass grave at the foot [!] of the mountain"; "You must know that despite all differences in worldview I am at your disposal. If you wish I can come at any time, alone or with my death hussars"; "I have seen the excellent film Amer. Foreman [!] 'One Flew over the Kuckoo's [!] Nest'. About me i.e. about crazies and psychics"; "I am treating myself intensely and it makes me very tired, my paws are shaking, my head is like Papa Idi Amin's nightstand - but I don't give up"; "I don't lose my spirit - as much as I can I console myself with Vermeer (not to be mixed up with Vermouth). I saw a huge retrospective of painting of the interwar years. The best surrealists and Neue Sachlichkeit."
On one of the cards, dated "Easter 1975," Herbert made a collage, adding a silhouette of a hare among the trees to a photo of his face. He signed the correspondence on the back "Zbigniew Hare." Under another letter he put the signature "Zbigniew Sclerosis".
Letters without envelopes. Very good condition.
Z. Herbert (1924-1998) - poet, essayist, playwright, author of radio plays, serious contender for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Knight of the Order of the White Eagle. Contrary to what we read in "Who's Who in Poland" (War. 1989), he was not a recipient of the International Lenin Prize.