О литературе Переводы Стихотворения Публицистика Письма А. Якобсон о себе Дневники Звукозаписи
О А.Якобсоне 2-ая школа Посвящения Фотографии PEN Club Отклики Обновления Объявления






David Carver



ПИСЬМО АНАТОЛИЮ ЯКОБСОНУ1)





Registered Post

12th March, 1973

Dear Mr. Yakobson,

Late on Friday afternoon I learned that you and your family are being invited to the United States for a lecture tour in conjunction with the publication later this month by Chekhov Press of your book The End of Tragedy (Konets Tragedii). Forthwith I dispatched this cable to your Moscow address:

PROFESSOR MAURICE CRANSTON AND I NOMINATING YOU FOR OVERSEAS MEMBERSHIP ENGLISH CENTRE INTERNATIONAL P.E.N. ON BASIS OF SCHOLARSHIP AND WRITING OF KONETS TRAGEDII PLUS QUALITY YOUR TRANSLATIONS STOP AIRMAILING APPLICATION FORM TO YOU STOP WE WILL SPONSOR YOUR MEMBERSHIP PAYMENT STOP WE UNDERSTAND UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA INVITES YOU WIFE AND SON TO UNITED STATES FOR LECTURES THERE AND AT SLAVONIC LITERATURE DEPARTMENTS OTHER UNIVERSITIES STOP ENGLISH P.E.N. CENTRE WARMLY INVITES YOU AND FAMILY STAY LONDON EN ROUTE AMERICA TO DISCUSS WORKS OF ALEXANDER BLOK OF AKHMATOVA AND OF OTHERS WITH OUR ORGANISATION OF WRITERS. DAVID CARVER GENERAL SECRETARY ENGLISH CENTRE AND INTERNATIONAL P.E.N.

It was too late before the start of the weekend to contact colleagues other than Professor Cranston before cabling you. Had we known earlier last week about the possibility of your family's visiting London, I am certain other members such as V.S.Pritchett, Stephen Spender, Muriel Spark, Iris Murdoch, Veronioca Vedgwood would have wished to add their names both as sponsoring your becoming an overseas member and as inviting you to meet us in London.

The high scholarly and literary quality of The End of Tragedy has been hailed by our colleagues who have read it in manuscript, who also comment very favourably on your translation of Lorca, your "Brief Notes on Contemporary Poetry" in Phoneix,2) and your "On Translating Shakespeare's Sonnet Number 66" Masterstvo Perevoda. Therefore of course all of us in the English P.E.N. Centre will be eager to meet you to discuss your work and that of the poets about whom you have written.

I now enclose the application form necessary for us to issue you overseas membership. I send more, in case of errors in filling up, but only one copy need be returned by you. As my cable indicated, there is no need for you to bother sending the membership fee from abroad. I will take care of this payment and you can adjust it with me when you are here.

In returning the filled-up application form please write to us about your plans. Perhaps you and your family could arrange to visit Britain on your return journey from America, rather than on your way there? If these arrangements would allow you more time here, and perhaps also to visit other European countries, the latter would seem preferable. International P.E.N. has a Centre in nearly every European country, and I am sure all of them would be eager to welcome a visit from you.

With all best wishes,

Yours sincerely,

David Carver
General Secretary

Mr. Anatoly Alexandrovich Yakobson,
Perekopskaya Ulitsa 17,
Korpus 5,
Kvartira 385,
Moscow U.S.S.R.




1) Документ из архива Эдварда Клайна
2) Указанной публикации А.Якобсона не существовало (Прим. Г.Суперфина)