Title: Rainer Maria Rilke letters to Karl and Elisabeth von der Heydt, 1905-1921
ID: 01/02/02/POST-1650 MS 0662
Creator: Rilke, Rainer Maria (1875-1926)
Extent: 112.0 Items
Arrangement: The collection is arranged chronologically, with undated items placed at the end.
Date Acquired: 02/01/1950
Languages: German [ger]
This collection contains letters and postcards that author Rainer Maria Rilke sent to Berlin banker Karl von der Heydt and his wife Elisabeth in the early 1900s. In his letters, Rilke discusses art and artists, his family, financial matters, travel plans, and other topics.
This collection contains 108 letters and postcards, as well as 4 undated fragments, that Rainer Maria Rilke sent to his friends Karl and Elisabeth von der Heydt between 1905 and 1921. Rilke discusses both art in general and the work of specific artists, including himself and his wife Clara, Karl von der Heydt, and French sculptor Auguste Rodin. Other topics include Rilke's financial matters, Rilke's and the von der Heydts' vacations and travel plans, Rilke's daughter Ruth, and the von der Heydts' daughters Gisela and Gerda-Dorothea. Rilke also writes about politics, especially in his later letters, and about his experiences in the military during World War I.
Link to catalog record: https://i-share-uiu.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01CARLI_UIU/gpjosq/alma99609140012205899
Access Restrictions:
The collection is open for research.
Use Restrictions:
This collection is the physical property of the Rare Book & Manuscript Library. Intellectual property rights, including copyright, may reside with the materials' creator(s) or their heirs.
The Rare Book & Manuscript Library's reproduction and publication policies are available here. The library welcomes requests for reproductions made from works in our collections, though restrictions may apply to certain materials. Please contact the library with any questions.
Related Materials:
The Rare Book & Manuscript Library also houses the Gerhard Mayer Collection of Publications by or about Rainer Maria Rilke.
Related Publications:
Rehder, Helmut. "Poet and Patron: Rilke and Karl von der Heydt." Symposium 6 (1952): 100-110.
Schnack, Ingeborg and Renate Scharffenberg. Rainer Maria Rilke: Die Briefe an Karl und Elisabeth von der Heydt 1905-1922. Frankfurt am Main: Insel, 1986. Print.
Preferred Citation:
Rainer Maria Rilke letters to Karl and Elisabeth von der Heydt, Rare Book & Manuscript Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Processing Information:
All of the letters are numbered sequentially (and in rough chronological order) in pencil in an unknown hand; they have been rearranged into chronological order.
Undated and partially dated letters are provided with estimated dates based on contextual information from other letters, known dates of holidays, and dates given in Schnack and Scharffenberg, Rainer Maria Rilke: Die Briefe an Karl und Elisabeth von der Heydt 1905-1922. Letters that could not be confidently dated are placed at the end of the collection.
