Auction 64 Jewish and Israeli History and Culture
Jan 22, 2019 (Your local time)
Israel
 8 Ramban St, Jerusalem.
The auction has ended

LOT 259:

Autograph Letter by Rachel the Poet – With Rachel's Translation of the Poem "City in the Heavens" by Jessie Sampter

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Sold for: $2,200
Start price:
$ 1,000
Auction house commission: 23%
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A letter handwritten by Rachel Bluwstein. Jerusalem, "15 Adar" [1924/1925].
Rachel writes in this letter about a visit to the Shimshi family (Yitzchak Ben-Zvi's family), about her life in Jerusalem and about the poet Jessie (Yesha) Ethel Sampter.
Rachel opens the letter telling about her life in Jerusalem which is "lonely and almost desolate" and tells that "all winter long" she did not do any translation. Further on, Rachel copies her translation of the poem "City in the Heavens" by Jessie Sampter and writes: "the author of the poem lives here, in Jerusalem. We meet often, but something holds me back. The reason for that might be that she is physically handicapped – a hunchback, and maybe one quality which I really hate – sentimentality. But the poems are nice".
Rachel the poet (Rachel Bluwstein Sela, 1890-1931), born in the Russian Empire, was one of the leading poets in Modern Hebrew poetry.
[1] leaf, folded (three written pages), 21 cm. Good condition. Folding marks and creases. A number of small tears at margins.

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