Dato: 9. juli 1867
Fra: Anne S Bushby   Til: H.C. Andersen
Sprog: engelsk.

Dover, 9th July, 1867.

Dear Herr Andersen,

I fear that you will think me very negligent in not having sooner written you about the volume af Eventyr you kindly sent me for translation about 18 months ago. You sent me, at the same time, a letter to be given to Mr. Bentley. I transmitted your letter to him, and then called on him respecting the translation af your tales. He agreed to publish them, and I immediately began their translation. I could not answer your letter then, because you had gane to Holland, France, and Spain, if not Portugal, and had given me no address.

But as soon as my translation was finished, I took it to Mr. Bentley, and left it with him to be printed. I had a long and serious illness after that, and was not able either to go to Mr. Bentley, or to write to him, but, of course, I expected your tales would be published, for he even advertized them. Not finding this the case, when I was a little better, I went to Mr. Bentley, who said your tales were not enough to make a volume of a good size, such as he could publish. He would lose money by them, if he published so small a volume. He spoke of bringing out your tales in a periodical a magazine called "Temple Bar", which he had bought. I told him he must settle that with you, for I could not take upon myself to dispose of your tales, except as a volume. Ater a long delay, I heard from Bentley that the Tales would not suit "Temple Bar". Then I offered to translate your beautiful and very fanciful story "De Vises Steen" to add to the size of the volume. He agreed, and I translated it, and sent the Manuscript to him.

About that time my eye-sight became very bad, and I was obliged to go to a celebrated Oculist - Dr. Mooran - at Düsseldorff, who had before removed a cataract from my eye, and he found it necessary to perform a very severe operation on one of my eyes, af ter which I was kept for 6 weeks in a darkened room at a hotel at Düsseldorff, and not allowed to read or write for a long time, after I returned to England. I wrote however to Mr. Bentley that I hoped he would at last bring out your tales as a Christmas book, but received no answer from him.

Early in last December a great calamity fell upon us, in the death of my husband, poor Mr. Bushby, who was taken from us after a very short illness. Your kindness of heart will make you understand that after this heavy bereavement, I was not able to attend to literary matters for some time, and another severe illness also delayed my applying again to Mr. Bentley. But at length I have got the translation in MS back from him. I am very sorry that the tales have not been published, but you must perceive, dear Mr. Andersen, that it is nor my fault. I have done all I could, but I could not make Mr. Bentley bring them out, if he did not choose to do so.

I see in a late number of the Athenæum mentioned with praise some tales of yours entitled "Out of the Heart", translated by one H. W. Dulcken, and published by Routledge & Sons, London. I do not know if these are new or old tales, but I shall buy them when I go back to town. I should like to offer the tales returned after so long a period by Mr. Bentley, to Mr. Routledge for a Christmas Gift book - and unless you forbid it, I will do so when I go back to London about the 20th of this month.

If you do me the favor to write to me, pray kindly address your letter to No. 3, Halkin Street, Grosvenor Place, London. It will be sent to me wherever I may be.

I hope that you are quite well, and that you me for Mr. Bentley's fault. The old gentleman, I regret to say, is failing much.

My daughters unite with me in kind remembrances to you, and

Believe me, dear Mr. Andersen,

Your sincere friend and admirer,

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