Letter from Oskar Kokoschka to J.P. Hodin

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[Translation/transcription]

Villeneuve

1 October 1972

My dear Master,

It was a pleasure to have seen you both again. Your suggestion to publish a book about me like the one about Munch makes me very happy. I'm already curious to see what comes of it!

I'm less pleased about the endless delays to my biography, because many people in America - especially young people! - are expecting it and a new translation certainly won't be any better than the one in my corrected manuscript, which also contains some important changes and additions that I've made, which have to be taken into account. So the editing shouldn't involve anything more than minor improvements to the syntax, which could be done quite quickly by an Englishman who can still write English. Immediate publication is also an imperative for me because of the coming international crises.

I want to remain on the best possible terms with Thomas because I loved his father.

Please tell Dr Baer that he should insert the images as he sees fit. I myself no longer have the book. The line drawing of a helmet, which I sent in to Wolfensberger yesterday, is to be printed on the dust jacket. The lithograph of the helmet is for the first page in the book. The last page in the book should be the lithograph of Andromache mourning over the corpse of Hector. Dr Baer can worry about it all he likes. I send him my kind regards.

Love and best wishes to both of you. You mustn't go to so many conferences - meeting intellectuals won't make you any healthier. We're going to see some Burgundian art for ten days on 6 October. That would do those intellectuals the world of good.

So long and all best,

Your old OK

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