Item 53 - Letter from Mien Röntgen to R. C. Trevelyan

1 letter

v[an] Eeghenstraat 77. - She and Julius [her husband] thank Robert for sending his latest work ["The New Parsifal"]; there is of course much that is 'incomprehensible' for Julius in it, and she tries to translate as well as possible for him 'what concerns the English'. They think it is 'splendid... highly original and comical'; the introduction is also 'splendid' and Julius could understand that very well. They would very much like to see Robert for 'explications about some local satires', but the work is generally 'so cosmopolit [sic] on art' that she can easily follow his ideas. Julius does not know what Robert meant by giving the grail to Klingsor at the beginning; Mien asks whether it is intended to be thought of as another grail, not that of Amfortas. All ends 'so splendidly... so good-humoured-sarcastic'. The figure of P. Smith is 'so real, the very type of the modern rich young man, smitten by American money-illness' and with no artistic feeling at all. Julius wanted to write his thanks himself, but 'his English is too bad!'. She will give the book to her friends to read, and knows it will interest them.