The Bodleian Libraries has recently announced its joint purchase of an important collection of letters from the late author Franz Kafka, one of the most influential writers of the 20th century and fathers of literary modernism.
The collection contains over 100 letters, postcards and picture postcards, and constitutes almost all the surviving correspondence that Kafka sent to Ottla, his youngest sister and the family member to whom he was closest.
It also contains letters from Dora Diamant, Kafka\’s last lover and Robert Klopstock, his doctor and friend.
The letters had previously been on deposit at the Bodleian, but remained property of Kafka\’s descendants, having been preserved by Ottla\’s daughters in Czechoslovakia after her death in Auschwitz in 1943.
The Bodleian has bought the ‘Letters to Ottla\’ archive in conjunction with the Deutsches Literaturarchiv in Marbach (the German Literary Archive). This is widely regarded as the first purchase of its type.
The collaboration aims to go beyond the actual purchase and to extend to a partnership, with a program of exchanges for academics and exhibitions, as well as other research activities related to Kafka and beyond.
Richard Ovenden, associate director of the Bodleian Libraries, said, \”We are delighted that the two institutions that already preserve the majority of Kafka\’s material can now work together with this innovative arrangement: instead of competing, we are collaborating.\”
Professor Ritchie Robertson, of St. John\’s College, and an expert on Kafka and Jewish-German literature, told Cherwell, \”This purchase is excellent news. Kafka\’s letters to his sister Ottla are an important biographical source not only for Kafka himself but also for Ottla, an unusual and courageous woman and an example of female emancipation.\”
He also stressed that, \”The co-operation between the Bodleian and the major German archive is immensely welcome and will benefit Oxford\’s energetic and active German department.\”
The purchase has proved good news for students as well as for academics. One St Peter\’s student studying Kafka commented, \”The opportunity to view this original material is unique and will ultimately be extremely beneficial to all Oxford students studying German.\”
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