Barthold Fles (February 7, 1902 – December 19, 1989) was a Dutch-American literary agent, author, translator, editor and publisher.Bleiler EF: The Guide to Supernatural Fiction, page 189. Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press, 1983. Among his many clients were Elias Canetti, Raymond Loewy, Heinrich Mann, Joseph Roth, Felix Salten, Ignazio Silone, Bruno Walter and Arnold Zweig.
Early life and education Barthold Fles was born in Amsterdam into an assimilating Jewish family. His father, Louis Fles, was a successful businessman and an activist against religion. Barthold had a tense relationship with his father, who wanted him into his business, while the young Fles was mostly interested in reading. Barthold read in Dutch, German, English, and French, anytime and at a tremendous pace. He studied business at a vocational school and found employment at De Lange publishers.
In 1923 he left for the United States. In New York Fles found temporary employment as a violinist, painting apartments, selling vacuum cleaners and working for publishers.
Literary agency In 1933, he established a literary agency in Manhattan, New York. Initially many of his clients were German refugees and other foreign authors.Rietra M: "Muß man dann immer postwendend Geld senden um überhaubt mit Ihnen verkehren zu können? Joseph Roth und Barthold Fles in Briefen", in Onderdelinden S: "Interbellum un Exil", page 199. Rodopi Publishers, 1991.Ester, H: "Correspondentie Heinrich Mann-Barthold Fles: Soms waait er een gure wind uit de brieven, dan kan er geen groet vanaf" , Trouw, September 30, 1993 He organized evenings for these authors in New York, in order to get them acquainted with the American book market.Groth, M: "The Road to New York: The Emigration of Berlin Journalists, 1933-1945", page 248. K. G. Saur, 1988. From the 1940s onwards most of his clientele was from the United States.Cazden, R: "German Exile Literature in America, 1933-1950", page 147. American Library Association, 1970.
Fles was a special figure in the lives of many of his clients. He kept closely in touch, encouraged his authors to concentrate on their art, and arranged fellowships with literary funds. Still, some clients moved on to larger agencies, or were later represented by publishing houses, lawyers, or by themselves, often after long relationships. An exception was Anaïs Nin who left him soon after she joined his client circle, citing unorganized business conduct as a reason.Nin A: Fire. Harvest ,1996. . "Bonjour, friend, and good-bye, literary agent", she wrote to him. In biographical notes on Fles, however, she stated that he had refused to take on her boyfriend Henry Miller. Miller himself also had hard feelings, calling Fles dishonest and part of the publishing establishment. Fles was influential during several decades in getting blacklisted authors published.
Barthold Fles wrote two juvenile books: Slavonic rhapsody: the life of Antonín Dvořák (1948) under the pseudonym Jan van Straaten (Van Straaten being his mother's maiden name) and East Germany (1973). He also wrote introductions to compilations and many articles and translated several books from German to English. Among the translations was another children's book, Bambi's Children by Felix Salten.Lewis Buell E: A Fine Sequel to That Modern Classic, "Bambi" . The New York Times December 3, 1939: BR105. His non-fictional writings and his translations received considerable praise, except for his book on Germany. This book was clearly outside his (music and literature) expertise and sealed his writing for publication, set aside an intro to More by Dell Shannon (1982), by his prolific client Elizabeth Linington.Shannon, D (Linington, E): "More by Shannon". Doubleday, 1982.
Personal and legacy In 1936 Barthold married Ruth Grünwald, a dancer at the Metropolitan Opera who had been just one year in the United States. Ruth assisted Barthold at his literary agency. Later she left him.
In 1986, at the age of 84, Fles closed his agency. Subsequently, he returned to his native Netherlands,"Agent Barthold Fles to retire to artists' colony near Amsterdam." Publishers Weekly 228 (Nov. 29, 1985): p. 14 where he spent his last three years in Laren's Rosa Spier home for retired artists."Barthold Fles (Obituary)". Publishers Weekly 237 (Jan 12, 1990): 19. At Rosa Spier he was approached by Madeleine Rietra, a Dutch expert on German literature, who posthumously published his letter exchange with clients Joseph Roth (bookchapter in 1991) and Heinrich Mann (book in 1993),Heinrich Mann: "Briefwechsel mit Barthold Fles". Aufbau, 1993. along with commentaries and biographical notes.
Barthold Fles, a diabetic for several decades, died on December 19, 1989, aged 87.
Clients
Rankin BarbeeMargaret Bearden papers: Folder listing . Cedric Belfrage Don Berry Wilhelmina de Bois Robbie BranscumBranscum R: Cheater and Flitter Dick. Viking Press, 1983. Bertolt Brecht Elias Canetti Whittaker Chambers Fred CookFred CJ: Maverick: Fifty Years of Investigative Reporting, page 183. L. Sprague de Camp Maurits Dekker Ed Dolan Mary Dolim A. den Doolaard Albert Ehrenstein Otto Eisenschiml Carlos Embry Guy EndoreThe Book of the Sea , page vi.
Charles Finney Lion Feuchtwanger James HerndonHenry B. Maloney (1973): Goal making for English teaching, p. 14. Langston Hughes Dola de Jong Carl Jung Irmgard Keun Otto Klemperer Oskar Kokoschka Dean Koontz Ernst Krenek Joseph Wood KrutchFull text of "KPFK program folio" Margaret Larkin"Margaret Larkin, Writer, 67, Dead; Poet and Ex-Union Activist Aided Lewis on 'La Vida'." The New York Times May 11, 1967, page 47. Raymond LoewyRaymond Loewy Archives: "Accession 2251" , Hagley Museum and Library. Walter LowenfelsMiller H and Laughlin J: Selected Letters, page 2. W. W. Norton & Company, 1995. Elizabeth Linington Richard Lyttle
Erika Mann Heinrich Mann Klaus Mann Margaret Maron Walter MehringUllmann L and Rose PI: The Dispossessed: An Anatomy Of Exile, page 321. University of Massachusetts Press, 2004. Jessica Mitford Helen Markley Miller Rutherford Montgomery Gorham MunsonMunson G: The Writer's Workshop Companion, page v. Farrar, Straus and Young, 1951. Bud Murphy Hans Natonek Rose Naumann Anaïs Nin Hollister Noble"Greenbie v. Noble (Levet J.)." United States Patents Quarterly 1957: 115-124?. Iris Noble Leo Perutz
Lea Bayers Rapp Theodor Reik Jean Rikhoff Henriette Roland Holst Joseph Roth Jean Rouverol Felix Salten Richard Sharpe Ignazio Silone Henry Simon Stan SteinerStephen J. Herzog: Minority group politics, p. 281 and p. 322. Janet Stevenson Philip Stevenson Bruno Walter Jakob Wassermann Frank WatersWaters F: Of Time and Change: A Memoir, page 216 Kurt Weill Arnold ZweigSerke J: Böhmische Dörfer: Wanderungen durch eine verlassene literarische Landschaft, page 92. Zsolnay, 1987.
Publications
Books
Written 1948 - Antonín DvořákTypton G: "Review: Two Biographies ." Music Educators Journal 35 (6) (May-Jun, 1949): 46-47. 1973 - East GermanyJackson MM: "East Germany (Book Review)." School Library Journal 21(1): 103, 9/1974 1993 - Briefwechsel mit Barthold Fles, 1942-1949 (with Heinrich Mann; editor Madeleine Rietra)
Compiled 1948 - The best short stories from Collier's 1949 - Seven short novels from the Woman's Home Companion 1951 - The Saturday Evening Post western stories 1951 - The Saturday Evening Post Fantasy Stories
Translated 1939 - Ernst Krenek: Music here and nowBirge EB: "Music here and now (bookreview)." Music Educators Journal 26 (4): 48, Feb 1940. 1939 - Felix Salten: Bambi's children 1943 - Hans Natonek: In search of myselfGould J: America Through a Refugee's Eyes . The New York Times Nov 7, 1943: BR5.
Published These German Exilliteratur poetry books were published by Barthold Fles Verlag, New York 1941 - Max Herrmann-Neisse: Letzte Gedichte 1941 - Berthold Viertel: Fürchte dich nicht! Neue Gedichte 1942 - Hans Sahl: Der hellen Nächte, Gedichte Aus Frankreich 1942 - Max Hermann-Neisse: Mir bleibt mein Lied, Auswahl aus unveröffentlichten Gedichten (posthumous publication)
Articles Written 1928-09-15 - Chávez lights new music with old fires. Musical America 48 (22): 5 & 21.Oja CJ: Making Music Modern: New York in the 1920s. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000, page 445. . 1932-05-18 - The Price of Being Sensible. The Nation 134 (3489): 576. 1934-07-04 - Now as a Story Teller. The New Republic: 216. (book review of Kaleidoscope by Stefan Zweig) 1935-03-10 - In Holland Writers Favor the Exotic. The New York Times: BR 8 & ?. 1935-10-27 - Van Gogh Letters and Other Dutch Books. The New York Times: BR 8 & ?. 1935-12-24 - The Literary Scene In Holland. The New York Times: 61. 1935-11-02 - Rococo Italy in a Picaresque Novel. The Saturday Review of Literature 8 (1): 12. 1936 - Literature in Exile. Story 9: 8, 101-102. 1936-08-23 - Holland Turns to the Historical Novel. The New York Times: BR 8. 1945-07-28 - What Has Happened to Them Since? Reply. Publishers Weekly: 307. 1950-06-04 - A Literary Letter about Holland. The New York Times: BR 11. 1951-10 and 11 - The Literary Agent. The Writer 64 (10): 319-323, (11): 361-365. (also included in the book Briefwechsel mit Barthold Fles)
Translated 1935 - Nettie Sutro: Biographical Note on the author in Ignazio Silone: Mr. Aristotle
Biography Madeleine Rietra: "Der New Yorker Literaturagent Barthold Fles als Vermittler zwischen der alten und neuen Welt (1933-1945)" in Batts MS (ed.): Alte Welten - neue Welten, Akten des IX. Kongresses der Internationale Vereinigung für Germanische Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaft. Tübingen: Niemeyer, 1996, p. 164. . Madeleine Rietra: "Heinrich Mann/Barthold Fles: Autor/Agent" in Würzner H, Kröhnke K (eds.): Deutsche Literatur im Exil in den Niederlanden 1933-1940. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 1994, p 151-162. . Els Andringa (2012): "Mediatie en transfer van Duitse Exilliteratuur in Nederlandse setting; Over de rol van mediatoren met bijzondere aandacht voor de opkomst van literaire agenten". Tijdschrift voor Nederlandse Taal- en Letterkunde, volume 128, p. 276.
References
External links Interview with Dutch broadcaster VPRO