Rare Kafka Letters Bought by the Bodleian Library (Oxford) and the Marbach Literary Archive

The Berlin based auction house J. A. Stargardt cancelled its upcoming sale of rare autograph letters written by Franz Kafka to his sister Ottilie in the years 1909 to 1924. The important series of 45 letters, 32 postcards and 34 picture postcards contains almost all the surviving letters and postcards that Kafka sent to his sister Ottilie, who was known as Ottla – the youngest of his three sisters, and the family member to whom he was closest. The auction was scheduled for April 19, 2011 in Berlin, a richly illustrated catalogue with a preface by Hans-Gerd Koch had been published.

Now J.A. Stargardt announces that the auction house has found an agreement with two institutions which held the worldwide greatest Franz Kafka collections. The Bodleian Library (Oxford) and the German Literary Archive (Marbach) buy the unique collection thanks to the generous financial support of German funds, the Land Baden-Württemberg and the publishers Georg von Holtzbrinck and MacMillan. In the future the Kafka collection will be kept at the Marbach Literary Archive.

>>> J.A. Stargardt

>>> Official press release of the German Literary Archive (Marbach)

>>> J.A. Stargardt - Franz Kafka: Letters to Ottla

>>> J.A. Stargardt (Berlin) - Rare Book and Autograph Dealers Since 1830