LITERATURE - Stefan Zweig (Vienna 1881 - Petropolis 1942) - Two extraordinary autograph letters

Stefan Zweig (Vienna 1881 - Petropolis 1942)Two extraordinary autograph letters signed, without date but datable to the end of 1938 or the beginning of 1939, addressed to Arturo Toscanini and his wife Carla regarding a meeting with Sigmund Freud. Towards the end of Freud's life, he and Zweig were both living in exile in London. Zweig regularly visited Freud in Hampstead, and on one occasion in July 1938 he brought another great admirer with him: Salvador Dalí. While Freud and Zweig talked, Dalí sketched a portrait of Freud. Zweig's interest in psychology and the teachings of Sigmund Freud led to his most characteristic work, the subtle portrayal of character. Zweig's essays include studies of Honoré de Balzac, Charles Dickens, and Fyodor Dostoevsky. In the first letter, personally addressed to Arturo Toscanini, he first communicates that he listened to a concert conducted by the latter on the radio, with great pleasure: "Quale perfezione! Mi ricordo sempre le parole del gran pittore giapponese Hohusai che diceva che a settantanni cominciava a comprendere l'arte et a cent'anni faceva il suo meglio". He then invites his friend to visit Sigmund Freud in London. "Ho paura che sia l'ultima occasione per Lei di aver visto uno dei immortali di nostra epoca". 2 pp. in octavo, on headed paper. In the second, addressed to "Signora Toscanini”, he arranges for a meeting in London with Arturo Toscanini "per un lunch". He also asks her to send him a ticket for two people for the rehearsals of a concert "perché io non voglio mancare queste ore indimenticabile". 2 pp. in octavo, in Italian, on headed paper. Note from another hand. Zweig wrote the preface to Toscanini's biography written by Paul Stefan in 1935.