Important German philosopher who established the school of phenomenology (1859–1938). Collection of four ALSs in German, signed “Vater [Papa],” three of which are written as lengthy postscripts to letters written by his wife Malvine, signed by her as “Mama,” with Husserl’s writing totaling about seven pages, 8.5 x 11, dated 1935. A series of untranslated letters to his son Gerhart Husserl, mainly on the formation of a Husserl-Archives in Prague and discussing some essays by Burkhart which he found quite interesting. Also includes nine ALSs by his wife, seven carbon copies of letters by Gerhart Husserl, and letters from Ludwig Landgrebe, Hans Lassner, and Ernst Utiz. In overall fine condition.
Suppressed by the anti-Jewish laws passed in Nazi Germany beginning in 1933 and reaching old age, Husserl began to consider his legacy and look for a place to house his manuscripts. Czechoslovakia, with Husserl's former mentor Tomas Masaryk as its founder and first president, presented a potential safe haven for the archive. It was also an appropriate choice, as the Czech intellectual community was attempting to organize a similar collection of the papers of Franz Brentano, one of Husserl's teachers. He went to Prague in 1935 to lecture and pave the way for the archive, but he hesitated to commit to the idea because of the nation's close proximity to land-hungry Nazi Germany and the project never materialized before his death. Almost immediately after the philosopher passed away, a student learned that the Nazis intended to burn the entirety of Husserl's papers and conspired with his widow, Malvine, to safeguard the valuable collection and smuggle it into neutral territory. They successfully moved Husserl's personal papers and library—an amazingly comprehensive archive of over 40,000 pages of his writings and his personal philosophical library of over 4,000 books and pamphlets—into Leuven, Belgium, where it remains today. Pre-certified John Reznikoff/PSA/DNA.
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