Arthur Koestler was a Hungarian-British author and journalist. He was born in Budapest, 5 September 1905, and, apart from his early school years, was educated in Austria. In 1931 Koestler joined the Communist Party of Germany until, disillusioned by Stalinism, he resigned in 1938. In 1940 he published his novel Darkness at Noon, an anti-totalitarian work that gained him international fame. Over the next 43 years, from his residence in Britain, Koestler espoused many political causes, and wrote novels, memoirs, biographies and numerous essays. In 1968 he was awarded the Sonning Prize 'for [his] outstanding contribution to European culture' and in 1972 he was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). In 1976 he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and in 1979 with terminal leukaemia. In 1983 he and his wife killed themselves at their home in London, 1 March 1983.
Content Description
Correspondence between Arthur Koestler and publisher Victor Gollancz and others, 1941-1990. Specifically the small collections refer to letters relating to: Spanish Testament; Scum of the Earth; and Reflections on Hanging. The original file covers are retained.In addition to the following material, the file relating to Spanish Testament includes...
Scope and Contents
Three signed letters from Arthur Koestler to Kenneth Cohen, one of which contains a copy of a letter from Koestler to a woman named "Anita". The letters sent to Cohen relate mainly to this "Anita" and her situation after the selling of her coffee shop, to Koestler's trip in Austria in 1969, and to this book The Scum of the Earth. The letter to Anita relates to the sale of her coffee shop, to the RUSI Journal, to the preface of the Danube...
Content Description
This fonds includes seven letters of Anders Naessil: five from Arthur Koestler to A. Naessil, one from A. Naessil to Newsweek magazine, and one from Marie Whiteside, Editor of Newsweek to A. Naessil.
Letter from Koestler to Naessil replying to a previous letter, mentioning Naessil's book on Hemingway, Sartre, and a Nobel banquet that Koestler attended. Dated 21 June 1980.
Letter from...
Scope and Contents
Consists of inscribed and annotated books from Koestler's library, along with English-language editions and translations of his work into many languages; and Koestler's manuscripts and papers from 1940 to March 1983. Also contains correspondence with or about members of Koestler's family; personal material including diaries, address books, medical files and other personal documents; literary manuscripts including interviews, broadcasts and speeches; correspondence with specific people;...
Scope and Contents
The collection is composed of the following: Boxes 1-11:
Drafts, copies of drafts, annotated drafts, and copy cut and copy edited material
Box 12:
News cuttings on the deaths of the Koestlers
Discarded folios
...
Content Description
This typescript letter from Arthur Koestler was sent to Dr Thomas Kovari (Kövári Tamás) who had escaped from Hungary in 1956. The letter to 'Dear Mr. Koevari' - indirectly described by Koestler as a fan - was written from the Berghotel 'Böglerhof', Alpbach, in the Tyrol, Austria, on 2 July 1959. It is signed in Koestler's hand. Koestler thanks Mr. Koevari for the trouble he has taken to point out a passage... a 'howler'.Although the title referred to is un-named, it is ...
