Jacob Gould Schurman an Vaihinger, Berlin, 6.3.1926, 2 S., Ts. mit eU (in schwarzer Tinte), Briefkopf (Prägung) links Wappen der Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika (Vorderseite, mit Adler), rechts Schriftzug EMBASSY OF THE | UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
, Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Bremen, Aut. XXIII, 5 sBerlin, March 6, 1926My dear Herr Geheimrat:I am in receipt of your letter of the first instant and thank you for your cordial invitation to me to be your guest in case I should be able to act on your suggestion of visiting the Leipzig Fair. It is not practicable for me to leave Berlin at the present time, and I may add that I visited the Leipzig Fair last autumn, when I was the guest of the authorities there.
I have also received the two pamphlets you were good enough to send me, which I have placed on my table for reading at the earliest possible date. They look very attractive, especially the short autobiography.
As regards the negotiations with the Metropolitan Museum of Art, my conjecture is that if the Museum authorities are interested in your proposal, they would send an expert to see the Goethe portraits in question. I scarcely imagine they would put much confidence in the artistic knowledge or practical judgment of American officials nor could these officials, under their instructions, take any responsible part in the negotiations. I do not think the Museum has an important Germanic collection, though I have not been in close touch with it and may be mistaken. On the other hand, there is a Germanic Museum at Harvard University, but I fear that this Museum would not have funds sufficient to buy the Goethe portraits. So far as money is concerned, undoubtedly the Metropolitan Museum in New York is in a better position to make purchases than any other institution of the kind in America.
With renewed thanks for your very kind an hospitable invitation, I remain, Very sincerely yours
Jacob Gould Schurmanpamphletsmit Bleistift unterstrichen, am Rd. mit Bleistift: ?the two pamphletsnicht ermittelt; meint aus dem Folgenden womöglich u. a. Vaihinger: Wie die Philosophie des Als Ob entstand. In: Die Philosophie der Gegenwart in Selbstdarstellungen Bd. 2. Erich Adickes, Clemens Baeumker, Jonas Cohn, Hans Cornelius, Karl Groos, Alois Höfler, Ernst Troeltsch, Hans Vaihinger. Mit einer Einführung hg. v. Raymund Schmidt. Leipzig: Felix Meiner 1921, S. 174–203, den entsprechenden Sonderdruck (vgl. die Bibliographie) oder Vaihinger: [Selbstauskunft]. In: Hermann A. L. Degener (Hg.): Wer ist’s? Zeitgenossenlexikon. Leipzig 1922, S. 1599–1600.negotiations with the Metropolitan Museum of Artnicht ermittelt; Vaihinger hatte um die Jahrhundertwende mehrere Porträts Johann Wolfgang Goethes besessen, vgl. ders.: Ein Goethe-Porträt. In: Illustrirte Zeitung Leipzig, Nr. 2982 vom 23.8.1900, S. 290. Digitalisat: [https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_vXY5AQAAMAAJ/page/n273/mode/2up] (30.6.2021).woulddarunter Kustode: send; links daneben: Herrn | Professor Dr. Hans Vaihinger, | Halle a. S., | Reichardstr. 15.expertdarüber mit Bleistift: Erfahrenensend an expertnach Seitenwechsel am Kopf des neuen Blattes Nummerierung: – 2 – (die Rückseite des ersten Blattes ist unbeschrieben)officialsdarüber mit Bleistift: BeamtenHarvard University,mit Bleistift unterstrichen, am Rd. Bleistiftkringelpurchasesdarüber mit Bleistift: Ankäufe