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 Auction 69 - Part I -Rare and Important Items
December 3, 2019
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Collection of Letters Handwritten and Signed by

Rabindranath Tagore, Luareate of the Nobel Prize in
Literature – Sent to the Palestinian Traveler Shlomit Flaum
– Letters about Palestine and Zionism, the Jewish People,
the Fate of the World, and other
Opening: $20,000 Estimate: $40,000 - $60,000 Sold for: $35,000
Including buyer's premium

Twenty-two letters and three poems, sent by Indian Poet Rabindranath Tagore to the
Palestinian traveler Shlomit Frida Flaum. Santiniketan (India) and elsewhere, early
1920s to early 1940s. English (a few items in Bengali).
Shlomit Frieda Flaum, who is considered the first Jewish woman traveler, was born
in 1893 in Kovno (Kaunas), Lithuania, a descendant of Rabbi Shlomo Luria. In 1911,
she immigrated to Palestine by herself and for ten years wandered between its
various cities, documenting them in her diaries and sketching their sights. In 1921,
she decided she wanted to explore overseas countries as well and travelled to the
USA. In New York she met the poet Rabindranath Tagore for the first time. After their
meeting, she wrote in her diary: "From now on we shall not walk blindly". Tagore
showed much interest in Flaum's story, her Jewish nationality and Zionist views,
and invited her to visit the Ashram he founded in western Bengal, Santiniketan. A
year later, Flaum arrived at Santiniketan, extending her stay for two years. During
this period, the most important and influential of her life, Flaum became Tagore's
closest student and a strong friendship developed between the two, a friendship
that continued until Tagore's death.
Offered is a collection of handwritten and typewritten letters, which Tagore had sent
Flaum over the course of about twenty years. In the letters, Tagore refers to Shlomit
as "Shanti" (a word that in Hindi means "peace", chosen as an approximate
translation of the Hebrew name "Shlomit") and they reflect Tagore's spiritual world,
the changes that occurred in the world during this period and his great rapport with
Flaum.
The early letters in the collection are mostly handwritten and they often address the
time Flaum had stayed in Tagore's Ashram, Santiniketan. In a letter from October
1923, Tagore writes: I have great affection for you and we are all so thankful for your
generous contribution […] I doubt very much if your place here will ever be
adequately filled". In another letter from the same year, he writes: "You have
brought love to the shrine of our ideal […] brought it from across the sea, across
difference of race and culture, keeping it fresh and sweet". In other letters from this
period, Tagore shows much interest in Palestine and Zionism, thanks Flaum for the
books she had sent him on these subjects and even expresses his intention to visit
Palestine: "I wish my hurry to the South America engagement had not prevented me
from visiting Palestine and forming my association with those of you who are
struggling for a great chance" (1925).
The later letters in the collection are mostly typewritten and often address the
situation in the world, the war ahead, and Tagore's old age. In a letter from 1938,
Tagore writes: "If you have not received any reply to your last letter, blame my age or
my Secretary but you have to spare me. Nor should you forget that my poor pen has
claims to some rest after its so very faithful service extending over nearly three
fourths of an entire century". In an interesting letter from 1936, Tagore addresses the
1936-1939 Arab revolt in Palestine at length: "It has pained me very deeply to read of
the bloody conflicts between the Jews and the Arabs in Palestine. Of course, I was
somewhat prepared for it […] we who know of the communal troubles in India, can
easily picture the situation – the utter cruelty and senselessness of such mad inter-
racial conflicts. And yet where is the way out? Don’t you feel this postwar world of
ours is still more gross and brutal than it used to be? We almost seem to be going
back to the medieval ages when greatest atrocities were daily being committed in
the name of religion and civilization. I despair the future". In one of the last letters in
the collection, written after the outbreak of World War II, Tagore writes: "Thank you
for your good wishes for the new year. Today we all have one common wish, that this
tortured world may be soon reclaimed from the fever of insanity in which it is
caught. I tremble to think of the future if the year 1940 ends as it has begun, with
slaughter on every side, with history being made in terms only of outrage and
violence. It is good to know that Palestine is quieter and that you all are doing well.
Give my best wishes to Prof. Einstein and Prof. Geiger, if they are still there".
A number of the letters are written on Tagore's official stationery, with a paper label
of his initials mounted on some.
Alongside the letters, the collection includes three handwritten poems (possibly
enclosed with the letters or given to Flaum as souvenirs): poem no. 70 from the
Fruit-Gathering cycle, with Tagore's handwritten signature; a long two-part poem,
handwritten and signed by Tagore (this poem appeared in a letter Tagore had sent
the Mahatma Gandhi in 1919, dealing with pacifism); and a long poem (three pages)
in Bengali.
Enclosed: a telegram Tagore had sent Flaum in 1928; six letters sent to Flaum by
Tagore's son and his wife, Rathindranath and Pratima Tagore; one letter by Tagore's
personal secretary (announcing that Tagore fell ill and almost died during the night);
five envelopes in which the letters were sent.
Size and condition vary. Good overall condition.
The poet Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) was born in Calcutta to one of the most
influential families in Bengal. His father, Debendranath Tagore, a philosopher and
religious leader of the Brahmin caste (the priest caste, constituting the upper class
of Indian society), spent most his time travelling and away from his children. Tagore
and his brothers were raised mostly by servants, absorbing extensive western
cultural influences as well as traditional ones (most of the brothers eventually
became writers, poets and intellectuals). At the age of 17, Tagore was sent to
England to study law and after returning to his country, started publishing poems,
plays and stories. His works had a profound impact within his own country;
however, he remained unknown around the world until his first book, Gitanjali (Song
Offerings), was translated into English. The 103 poems in Gitanjali, all of them
translated by Tagore himself, introduced Tagore's work to the West and had a great
impact on the literary world. In the introduction he wrote to Gitanjali, poet William
Butler Yeats (a Nobel Prize laureate himself) wrote: "These lyrics – which are in the
original, my Indians tell me, full of subtlety of rhythm, of untranslatable delicacies of
colour, of metrical invention, display in their thought a world I have dreamed of all
my live long". Following the publishing of the book, Tagore was awarded in 1913 the
Nobel Prize in Literature.
Alongside his literary work, Tagore was known for his social-political activity, and
especially for his contribution to the Indian Independence Movement, the title of its
leader – Mahatma (Great Soul) – being coined by him. After India won its
independence, his poem "Jana Gana Mana" was chosen as its official national
anthem. Less known were his sympathy for the Zionist Movement, which Tagore
believed was "one of the bases of worldwide peace and justice", and his respect for
the Jewish People, which he believed were meant to bridge East and West.
The relationship between Tagore and Flaum was documented in two books
authored by Flaum: "Wandering Daughter of Israel" (Hebrew. Jerusalem, 1935) and
"Rabindranath Tagore" (Hebrew. Jerusalem, 1946). Some of the present letters were
translated by Flaum and published in the books while some, presumably, have
never been published.
Provenance: The Uzi Agassi Collection.

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