ALS, one page, 5.75 x 9, Hotel Bosotto, Madras letterhead, no date. In full: “Dear Doc, Have a stiff dose of fever. Come along in the car (and bring some aspirins if you have any!)” Flynn has addressed the reverse “Dr. H. Erben, Y.M.C.A.” In fine condition, with slight mirroring of text from premature folding. Flynn met Dr. Hermann F. Erben, a specialist in tropical medicine, in April 1933 in Salamaua, New Guinea when they both travelled on the SS Friderun. They sailed from there to Hong Kong and having become friends, decided to travel to Europe together. A published documentary on the two men's friendship by Josef Fergerl 'A Friendship of Two Adventurers 1933 - 1940', based on Erman's diaries, mentions Flynn's susceptibility to fever, and the earliest letter in this collection sent to Erben from Hotel Bosotto in Madras, suggests a practical note to their friendship. Dr. Erben is famously rumored to have recruited Errol Flynn as a spy for the Gestapo. This allegation was made in Charles Higham's 1980 biography of Flynn, Errol Flynn - The Untold Story. Flynn made reference to Erben in his own autobiography (though he gave him the pseudonym Gerrit Koets). PSA/DNA COA and R&R COA.
