George Ticknor, Life, letters and journals of George Ticknor
George Hillard, Ed.

To Hon. E. Everett.

Berlin, September 20, 1856.

my dear Everett,—. . . I have been in Leipzig three times, and established an agency there. Dr. Felix Flugel, Vice-Consul of the United States, is our agent and Mr. Bates's, and he has associated with himself Dr. Piltz, editor of the last edition of the ‘Conversations-Lexicon,’ and Mr. Paul Fromel, who is connected with Brockhaus's great establishment. The two first are known to Mr. Jewett, but I was not aware of this fact till after we were nearly through with our arrangements, for I took Dr. Flugel, who alone is responsible to us, on the advice of Dr. Pertz, the admirable head of the great library here in Berlin . . . .

On Mr. Bates's account I have myself bought, in Brussels and Berlin, a little short of two thousand volumes, and I enclose you a list of them, which I have roughly copied from the bills. . . . . I have, however, bought none but by the advice and in the presence of Mr. Ruelens in Brussels, of whom I wrote you amply, and in the presence of Dr. Karl Brandes, Custos of the library here, who, like Mr. Ruelens, buys books for his library all over Europe . . . . . I am now in Berlin for the second time, on the affairs of the Library, and the purchases I have made here are, I think, quite as good as those I made at Brussels . . . . Dr. Pertz was a student in Gottingen when we were studying there, and knew all about us through Rufstein, who wrote to you lately, and who is now one of the first men in the Kingdom of Hanover, being the head of its ecclesiastical establishment, and every way a most respectable person. Dr. Pertz was made librarian of the King's library, Hanover, (which is his native place,) after the death of our old friend Feder. . . . . . English is as much the language of his family as German, and being, besides, a true, sympathizing, faithful German of the old sort, there is nothing he has not been willing to do for me, out of regard for America¹ and the Lyells, and nothing in reason that he will not do for our Library hereafter, or cause to be done by his assistants, two or three of whom have been at my disposition for the last week.. . . .

I beg you to commend me to the Trustees, when you meet, and tell them that I hope their zeal for the interests of the Library will not abate. I do not intend that mine shall.

Yours always sincerely,

Geo. Ticknor.