Otto Frank TLS to the Publishers of Daughter Anne Frank's Diary

FRANK, OTTO.  Typed Letter Signed, "Otto Frank", 1 p., in English, on cream onion skin paper, Birsfelden, June 19, 1963, to the Portuguese publishers of his daughter's universally acclaimed and widely translated "Diary." Accompanied by the Portuguese translation of this letter, 1 p., on green onion skin paper, unsigned. Staple at top left, double hole-punched at left side. Expected light folds, else near fine. 5.75" x 8.25."

Frank's letter, in full, "I thank you for your kind letter of June 7 and for sending me the 6 copies of the "Tales" as a present. / I was sorry to hear that the sale of the book was disappointing, though you did so much to stimulate it. / As to your question about other countries I can tell you that the Italian edition was a big success and the English publisher just wrote to me that his edition which came out in November has been sold out.  The Dutch and German editions did not sell well, but there the publishers did not make much efforts."

1,000 copies of "The Diary of Anne Frank" translated into Portuguese yielded Otto Frank a one-time payment of 8,500 Portuguese escudos, or $168.34 in American currency in 1979. The latter sum converted into 2020 currency values is roughly $600, or 60 cents a book.

Otto Heinrich Frank was the sole survivor of his 4-person family, comprised of wife Edith (1900-1945), daughter Margot (1926-1945), and Anne. The Franks, along with four others, hid in a secret annex located in the back upper stories of an Amsterdam business between July 1942 and August 1944. The Franks were discovered, arrested, and sent to Auschwitz in September 1944. Edith died of starvation at Auschwitz in January 1945; her two daughters died of typhus in February or March 1945 at Bergen-Belsen. Otto was released after the Soviets liberated Auschwitz in late January 1945.

Anne's writings had been collected and preserved by Otto's coworker Miep Gies, who had sheltered the families in the annex. Otto had initially transcribed Anne's diaries in order to give them to family members but was eventually persuaded to seek publication. The final manuscript was a combination of two versions of the diaries Anne wrote, with Otto's edits and redactions. The book was first published in Dutch on June 25, 1947 as "The Secret Annex: Diary Letters from June 14, 1942 to August 1, 1944."

In early January 1958, the Portuguese publishing firm of Livros do Brazil, Ltd. wrote notifying Otto of their first 3,000 limited edition printing of "The Diary of Anne Frank." The book's popularity was such that it had already been published in German and French in 1950, and then in English (for both the US and UK markets) in 1952. The Portuguese publishers had been eager to acquire the publication, and worked closely with Otto Frank during the process. Livros do Brazil, Ltd. collaborated with Frank over the next twenty years, as they sought to publish similar and complementary works about Anne Frank and the Jewish war experience.

Anne Frank's "Tales from a Secret Annex" was originally published in the Netherlands in 1949, and appeared in an expanded edition in 1960.

"The Diary of Anne Frank" received both critical and popular acclaim. As of 2015, the book has been translated into over 60 different languages. Both its literary and historical importance cannot be overlooked. Dutch historian Jan Romein put it this way: "To me, however, this apparently inconsequential diary by a child... stammered out in a child's voice, embodies all the hideousness of fascism, more so than all the evidence at Nuremberg put together."

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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