1878.06.16 English
Letter typed on paper strip/tape:[1]
R.I.DM.[2] JUNE 16, 1878. – MY DEAR B R O T H E R. OUR MOST HEARTFELT THANKS TO YOU AND YOUR DEAR WIFE FOR YOUR LOVELY LETTERS. THE TODDLERS WERE UTTERLY PLEASED WITH THE LETTER, AS WELL AS WITH THE PROSPECTS OF MEETING THE TWO OF YOU HERE SOON. I AM NO LONGER ALONE IN THE MATTER OF THE WRITING BALL. DIRECTOR RITZAU[3] AND I HAVE MADE WHAT I CONSIDER A VERY GOOD AGREEMENT, ACCORDING TO WHICH HE CATERS FOR THE ENTIRE COMMERCIAL MANAGEMENT OF THE ISSUE AND ALSO INVESTS SOME MONEY. UNTIL THE DAY WHEN THE WRITING BALL DEBT HAS BEEN PAID BACK, HE ONLY RECEIVES A THIRD OF THE INCOME, BUT AT THAT POINT WE WILL SHARE FIFTY-FIFTY. – AS YOU SEE, THE PAPER STRIP MACHINE CAN ALSO PRODUCE BLACK PRINT. IT PRODUCES BLUE PRINT AS WELL – AND I AM TESTING SEVERAL OTHER COLOURS. WARMEST REGARDS TO BOTH OF YOU FROM YOUR DEEPLY DEVOTED BROTHER. R. MALLING HANSEN.
[1] SA: Another letter typed on paper strip/tape and directed to the brother Johan Frederik Hansen and wife
[2] CB: The Royal Institute for the Deaf-Mute
[3] CB: Erik Ritzau (1839-1903) was a close friend of RMH – and is included in the famous painting of the card-players. In 1866 he founded the Ritzau News Agency, Denmark’s first and biggest – still existing – telegram and news agency, bringing news from all over the world to the Danish newspapers. I have heard of this cooperation before, but we don’t know how much energy Ritzau put into the marketing – and we have seen that it did not lead to any decisive positive change in the development of the writing ball. It is indeed very interesting that RMH mentions the debt related to the writing ball, implying that there must have been a sort of balance sheet, registering an accumulated deficit. However – as mentioned in the footnotes of many other RMH letters – we know NOTHING about the running of RMH’s business. Did he have a registered company? A proper account book? A bank account? A tax statement? Unfortunately we have no knowledge of these things whatsoever!!!
SA: From other sources, e.g. “The Royal Institute for the Deaf-Mute 1807-1907”, a work by C.Goos, we know that RMH was exceedingly poor at keeping order in his own finances as well as those of the institute. He had a bad habit of overspending. From a letter in 1888 written to E. Ritzau, in which RMH is deeply regretting that he is not able to repay a loan to Ritzau within the stipulated deadline, we also know that RMH had considerable private debts. He refers to this as the “load of debt”, which apparently he will never be able to clear.
CB: Two books have been written about the company and the man Ritzau – and I have both. In one of them, “News Communication throughout one Century” (only in Danish) from 1966 neither RMH nor the writing ball is mentioned with a single word. In the second book, “The Ritzau Agency through 125 Years” (only in Danish) by Helge Jensen, published in 1992, I have contributed a long chapter about RMH and the writing ball. However, the text does not mention that Ritzau was an agent of the writing ball and the tachygraph, nor is anything stated about the cooperation between the two men. Throughout the years I have numerous times approached the present direction of the agency, but I have been met with a total lack of interest. And – last time Ritzau ran a telegram about the writing ball – when one such specimen had been sold at an auction in London - the representative of Ritzau in London translated it as “Writing Globe sold at a record price”! Writing Globe! This naturally resulted in an indignant protest letter from me! However, they couldn’t care less.
- Old poster advertising for Ritzau Bureau
- Erik Ritzau, 1839-1903, painted by the Danish painter Otto Bache, 1839-1927. The original belongs to Anna Ritzau, a copy is hanging on the wall in Ritzau Bureau. The picture is digitally processed.
- RMH's writing balls at the World Exhibition in Paris 1878. Copyright: Private
