1890.03.27 English

Handwritten letter from Rasmus Malling-Hansen[1]

 

 

             THE ROYAL INSTITUTE

 

             FOR THE DEAF-MUTE         

              IN COPENHAGEN  Ø

 

 

 

March 27, 1890

 

 

 

To the Editor, Mr Bayer[2]

 

 

 

                                               Dear Sir  !

 

 

 

            Please use the enclosed 10 kroner for refunding of the postal expense.  Thank you very much for the repeat shipment to abroad, - I just hope it is not too late; the “topicality” of this issue will soon pass; and for the scientists the issue continues to be on Christmas holiday!

 

 

I did not take initiative to the inclusion of the V.p. article  in “Nationalt” (= National-tidende[3]); I suppose it was the editorial office, on their own account, maybe by initiative of the journalist Edgar Collin[4]with whom I spoke quite some time ago about  the unfortunate attitude of the press – and in particular “Nationaltidende” – in relation to the vp - cause. I shall ask him. Very best regards

 

 

I am now very busy, having started again to work on the foundations (??) of the”Vp”.

 

 

I do wish that the unfortunate quarrel between V.p. friends would end.

 

 

Yours sincerely,

 

 

R Malling-Hansen

 

 

 

[1] SA: This letter was first published with other foonotes, but thanks to new discoveries, the meaning of the letter has become more evident, so we had to rewrite our comments.

[2]  SA: In the monthly magazine ”Volapük”, published in 1889 and 1890, the readers are informed that the periodical of the Copenhagen Association of Volapük, ”Volapükabled dänik”, will discontinue publication. As a replacement,there will be  - as a supplement to ”Volapük – a monthly magazine, entitled ”Timaplenäd volapük plo Dän e Novegän”, to be edited by a Mr J.Bayer, a law student . He is very likely to be identical to Mr Jens Bayer (1865-1955), an authorised translator and enterpretor as well as a head of department.

[3] SA: There must have been an article in the ”Nationaltidende” about Volapük, the artificial language invented in 1879 by Johan Martin Schleyer. RMH became an ardent protagonist for this ”world language”, but the issue was much disputed in Denmark, and the papers were the scene of an extended public controversy at the time. The Volapük proselytes frequently used the short form Vp to indicate ”Volapük”, and we must assume that RMH is using this designation in the same way. It appears later in the letter that there was also strife among the advocates of Volapük.

4 RMH had an extensive correspondence with the journalist Edgar Collins throughout the 1880s. Among other things, Collins wrote the history of the lodge of which RMH was a member from 1877 until his death in 1890, “Zorobabel and Frederik of the Crowned Hope”. Probably Edgar Collin was also a member of this lodge - in an earlier letter RMH calles him "brother".