JOSEPH "JOSKA" SZIGETI - AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED 04/18/1945 - HFSID 49493

JOSEPH SZIGETI
Signed autograph letter (1945) to author Frances Winwar, who was editing drafts of his memoirs
Autograph Letter signed: "Joska", 2 pages, 6x9 (front and verso). No place, 1945 April 18. To "Dear Frances", in full: "Excuse me this time again for dumping this into your lap. I still have a lot to write but I tried to write first of all the concluding chapter, believing that all the rest will come much easier then. Please be ruthless with these pages as they're important - a sort of summing-up, and I am afraid it is too visible that my 'mess-edge' fut tiré par les cheveux somewhat! [French idiom meaning his message was somewhat far-fetched] Watch out for any looseness of thinking when I try to establish some parallel between language & music & 'reaching out' for audiences & language 'reaching out' beyond national borders & so on. Isn't narcissistic exhibitionism a pleonasm? Thank you a thousand times! I'll be writing you soon about being home again, the garden, my summer plans etc. Wanda sends you her love. Friendly thoughts. Yours ever". Hungarian virtuoso violinist Joseph Szigeti (1892-1973) debuted as a child prodigy, touring and recording until his retirement in 1960. Known as "the scholarly violinist," he championed works by contemporary composers, including his lifelong friend Bela Bartok. Szigeti and his wife Wanda (Ostrowska) Szigeti lived mostly in the US from 1939 to 1960, returning thereafter to Switzerland. Szigeti's memoirs, With Strings Attached, obviously a work in progress when he wrote this letter, were published in 1947. Szigeti on the Violin appeared in 1969. This letter was addressed to Frances Winwar (1900-1985), a Sicilian-born author living in New York, who wrote several biographies, mostly of 19th century English literary figures. She was evidently assisting Szigeti with his own manuscript. Normal mailing folds. ½" tear at left edge 2½" from bottom. ½" tear at bottom edge just right of center. Lightly creased and toned. Otherwise, fine condition.