September 16 , 1956

Dear Dr. Federn:

    I have worked only very insufficiently on the galleys of “Ages in Chaos”, vol. 2. I have spent some two weeks on “Oedipus and Akhnaton”; this would make a small book. I had a list of questions for you but I have first misled [misplaced?] them, and now I will mail it in a few days. I have written to Prof. Schaeffer that I was prepared to come to France and select the objects for the Radiocarbon test and to discuss with him our common theory of catastrophes in the Middle East in historical times; but he answered that he was before leaving for Syria and Cyprus and better I shoud come in the early spring when he would be again in Paris; and unless the political situation in Syria and Cyprus would make it unwise to travel now there, he would leave in the middle of September for the East. So I have answered that I will comply with his schedule and have asked him to pay atention to various things during his excavation work: some of them refer to the fact of the catastrophes and some to my reconstruction of chronology.

     A German woman by the name of Mrs. Fuhr wrote me several letters and then too the initiative to translate “Ages in Chaos” into German; her English is rather poor and she did the work on approx. a third of the book with the help of her brother-in-law who as she says knows English. I have received that part of the mns. they translated; she asks my opinion; I would not know how goo their work is; it is close to the English text; Elisheva is already so foreign to German that she has no “real feel” for German style. So please let me know how good is the work. You need to examine only several sections to find it out. I made no promises to Mrs. Fuhr who lives in Munich. I have only glanced through the translation on a few pages; I noticed that the very last sentence is not correctly translated.

     There are many more things to write but I will do it the next time. I hope that you feel yourself stronger.

Cordially,
Im. Velikovsky

Ps. I have not mailed this letter on the day I have written it: I had no large envelopes; and then being a procratinator I kep it some more days on my desk. Yesterday came another letter from Mrs. Fuhr, in which she writes concerning the translation: “Ich möchte noch einmal ausdrücklich bemerken, dass die Uebersetzung vorerst nur direk fom Buch in di Machine vorgenommen ist—daher die vielen Striche usw. Ich bin mir durchaus gewusst, dass stilistische Feilungen und Aenderungen oder Satzumstellungen noch vorgenommen werden müssen.”
     Today arrived the second third of the translation, and the rest, she writes in the letter that arrived yesterday, will come after October 15th. It is amazing how quick they do it, esp. since Mrs. Fuhr not even an English letter can properly understand.
      She writes also: “Der Widerstand gegen Ihre Bücher rührt von evangelischen kirchlichen Kreisen her.” And she gives several details. I may mail you her letter for reading at the next occasion.

I.V.

Please keep the translation in the meantime, for the chance that it is “brauchbar” and needs editing.