Paul Amann Collection
Scope and Content Note
The collection is arranged in three series. The main topics and themes of the Paul Amann Collection are covered in the first two series, Personal and Manuscripts.
Series I: Personal, is divided into two subseries, General and Correspondence. Subseries 1: General provides an overview of the life of Paul Amann through official documents and numerous notebooks and fragments. His notes dealt with a variety of personal and academic topics. Subseries 2: Correspondence contains personal and business records as well as Amann's correspondence regarding his work as a translator. The correspondence includes among many others letters to and from Thomas Mann, Romain Rolland and Hermann Hesse. There is also the correspondence with Amann's literary acquaintances, and letters with regards to his publications, his translations and literary news. It should be noted that the bulk of the material consists of private correspondence between family and friends.
Series II: Manuscripts holds fictional short stories, novels, poetry and plays. Non-fiction manuscripts in the series deal largely with the so-called German Question and the literary work of Goethe. A small percentage of his translations is also represented in Series II.
Series III is of lesser research value, as it consists of material which was authored by third parties.
Paul Amann exchanged letters with Thomas Mann over nearly five decades. Some of these letters are archived in this collection. The complete set of letters is published in the work Briefe an Paul Amann 1915-1952. The book is available in the Leo Baeck Institute Library (PT 2625 A44 A3).
Dates
- Creation: 1911-1972
Creator
- Amann, Paul, 1884-1958 (Person)
Language of Materials
The collection is in German, English and French.
Access Restrictions
Open to researchers.
Access Information
Readers may access the collection by visiting the Lillian Goldman Reading Room at the Center for Jewish History. We recommend reserving the collection in advance; please visit the LBI Online Catalog and click on the "Request" button.
Use Restrictions
There may be some restrictions on the use of the collection. For more information, contact:
Leo Baeck Institute, Center for Jewish History, 15 West 16th Street, New York, NY 10011
email: lbaeck@lbi.cjh.org
Biographical Note
Paul Amann, born in Prague in 1884, studied German and Romance languages, as well as philosophy, at Karl-Ferdinand-University in Prague, and then at the University of Vienna. He graduated in 1907 as a doctor of philosophy. After his studies he taught in Reichenberg (Liberec, Czech Republic) and Prossnitz (Prostejov, Czech Republic). In 1910 he accepted a position as a teacher at a Gymnasium in Vienna. In 1924 he married Dora Iranyi, a concert singer. From 1911 to 1938, Amann taught at the Gymnasium in Vienna; during World War I, he served in the Austro-Hungarian army. Paul Amann was the author of fiction and non-fiction works and a translator. He translated the works of Romain Rolland, Henry de Montherlant, and other English or French authors into German. He also wrote, in French, a well-received bibliography of the work of Goethe. For that book he was designated as an Officier d`Academie by the government of France in 1937.
After the occupation of Austria by the Nazis, Amann immigrated to Paris (1939) and then, following the Nazi seizure of France, to Montpellier in September of 1941. When the war ended in 1945, he immigrated to the United States. During the following years, he taught at various colleges in New York State. He died in Fairfield, Connecticut in 1958.
Extent
4 Linear Feet
Abstract
The collection of author and translator Paul Amann (Prague, 1884 – Connecticut, 1958) contains both personal and professional correspondence and manuscripts. The manuscripts include novels, essays and short stories as well as nonfiction works, translations and one folder of poetry. The collection also contains personal papers and a folder of material from third parties.
Arrangement
The collection has three series arranged in the following manner:
Microfilm
Collection is available on seven reels of microfilm:
- Reel 1: 1/1-1/8
- Reel 2: 1/9-1/26
- Reel 3: 1/27-2/7
- Reel 4: 2/8-2/19
- Reel 5: 2/20-2/24
- Reel 6: 2/25-3/22
- Reel 7: 3/23-4/17
Separated Material
The following items were removed to the Memoir Collection (ME 740): Essays, notes and diary fragments on Amann's experiences in a detention camp in Sables d'Olonne in Brittany, 1940; Memoirs from the First World War, entitled "Oberst von Lukas"; Notes on the Nazi occupation of Vienna, entitled "Von der Haesslichkeit der Menschenmenge"; Reminiscences of Amann's acquaintances, including Romain Rolland and Stefan Zweig. Some drafts remain in the collection.
Subject
- Amann, Paul, 1884-1958 (Person)
- Bergman, Samuel Hugo, 1883-1975 (Person)
- Duhamel, Georges, 1884-1966 (Person)
- Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von, 1749-1832 (Person)
- Hesse, Hermann, 1877-1962 (Person)
- Mann, Thomas, 1875-1955 (Person)
- Montherlant, Henry de, 1896-1972 (Person)
- Rolland, Romain, 1866-1944 (Person)
Genre / Form
Occupation
Topical
- Title
- Guide to the Papers of Paul Amann (1884-1958) 1911-1972 AR 3305/MF 771
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Processed by Sven Bossmann and Michael Simonson
- Date
- © 2007
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Description is in English.
- Edition statement
- This version was derived from PaulAmann.xml
Revision Statements
- 2010-03-23 : encoding of linking to digital objects from finding aid was changed from <extref> to <dao> through dao_conv.xsl
Repository Details
Part of the Leo Baeck Institute Repository
