Lot 207: Carl Jung

TLS in German, signed "C. G. Jung," one page, 8.25 x 11.5, personal letterhead, March 17, 1947. Letter to Dr. Georgette Boner in Zurich. In part (translated): "I will read the book in my spring vacation in Locarno and have already admired the splendid illustrations in it. In particular, I am also surprised with what empathy you have drawn in the Chinese style. The Chinese legend is something I value extremely highly, it pervades not only with wisdom, but also with an instinctive, deep psychology, which grows out naturally from the earth. It's just wonderful to see how the Chinese have entrusted their soul like her flower garden and the women's feet crippled and otherwise indulged in all sorts of atrocities. But it is said, too, that the Aztecs, [despite] their awful bloodthirsty religion's sake, were the gentlest and most childlike people. And vice versa we with our sweet Christianity!" In fine condition. Accompanied by an unsigned postcard photo of Jung.Jung frequently discussed religion in his works and used different traditions as frameworks to decipher the inner workings of the mind, and was unafraid to draw upon Eastern influences. He wrote a number of books and articles about the subject, including commentaries on the Tibetan Book of the Dead, yoga, and Eastern meditation. He also contributed forewords to books on Zen Buddhism, Holy Men of India, and the I Ching. In his introduction to the I Ching, he comments on the philosophical system it puts forth and its important differences from Western assumptions of the human mind. The book he is writing about must be Arthur Waley's translation of Monkey, which Boner illustrated; this was an abridged version of the sixteenth century Chinese novel Journey to the West, considered one of the 'Four Great Classical Novels' of Chinese literature. An exceptional letter regarding the considerable influence of Chinese tradition on Jung's intellectual theories.

TLS