Barthold "Bart" Fles (February 7, 1902 – December 19, 1989) was a Dutch-American

literary agent A literary agent is an agent who represents writers and their written works to publishers, theatrical producers, film producers, and film studios, and assists in sale and deal negotiation. Literary agents most often represent novelists, screenwr ...

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''trans ...

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, organization, a ...

and

publisher Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...

. Among his many clients were

Elias Canetti Elias Canetti (; 25 July 1905 – 14 August 1994; ; ) was a German-language writer, known as a Literary modernism, modernist novelist, playwright, memoirist, and nonfiction writer. Born in Ruse, Bulgaria, to a Sephardi Jews, Sephardic Jewish fam ...

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Heinrich Mann Luiz Heinrich Mann (; March 27, 1871 – March 11, 1950), best known as simply Heinrich Mann, was a German writer known for his sociopolitical novels. From 1930 until 1933, he was president of the fine poetry division of the Prussian Academy ...

, Joseph Roth,

Felix Salten Felix Salten (; 6 September 1869 – 8 October 1945) was an Austrian author and Literary criticism, literary critic. His most famous work is ''Bambi, a Life in the Woods'', which was adapted into an animated feature film, ''Bambi'', by Walt Disne ...

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Bruno Walter Bruno Walter (born Bruno Schlesinger, September 15, 1876February 17, 1962) was a Germany, German-born Conducting, conductor, pianist, and composer. Born in Berlin, he escaped Nazi Germany in 1933, was naturalised as a French people, French cit ...

and

Arnold Zweig Arnold Zweig (; 10 November 1887 – 26 November 1968) was a German writer, pacifist, and socialist. Early life and education Zweig was born in Glogau, Prussian Silesia (now Głogów, Poland), the son of Adolf Zweig, a Jewish shipping agent and ...

Early life and education

Barthold Fles was born in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

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 Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. 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 ''Trouw'' (; ) is a Dutch daily newspaper appearing in compact size. It was founded in 1943 as an orthodox Protestant underground newspaper during World War II. Since 2009, it has been owned by DPG Media (known as De Persgroep until 2019). '' ...

'', September 30, 1993 He organized evenings for these authors in New York, in order to get them acquainted with the American book market. From the 1940s onwards most of his clientele was from the United States. 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 Henry Valentine Miller (December 26, 1891 – June 7, 1980) was an American novelist, short story writer and essayist. He broke with existing literary forms and developed a new type of semi-autobiographical novel that blended character study, so ...

. Miller himself also had hard feelings, calling Fles dishonest and part of the publishing establishment. Fles was influential during several decades in getting

blacklisted Blacklisting is the action of a group or authority compiling a blacklist of people, countries or other entities to be avoided or distrusted as being deemed unacceptable to those making the list; if people are on a blacklist, then they are considere ...

authors published. Barthold Fles wrote two juvenile books: ''Slavonic rhapsody: the life of

Antonín Dvořák Antonín Leopold Dvořák ( ; ; 8September 18411May 1904) was a Czech composer. He frequently employed rhythms and other aspects of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia, following the Romantic-era nationalist example of his predec ...

'' (1948) under the pseudonym Jan van Straaten (Van Straaten being his mother's maiden name) and ''

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

'' (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 ''Bambi's Children: The Story of a Forest Family'' () is a 1939 coming-of-age novel, coming-of-age novel written by Austrian author Felix Salten as a sequel to his 1923 work ''Bambi, a Life in the Woods''. Background The sequel to ''Bambi'' follo ...

.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 The Metropolitan Opera is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center), Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Referred ...

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 ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

228 (Nov. 29, 1985): p. 14 where he spent his last three years in Laren's Rosa Spier home for retired artists. 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

(book in 1993),

: "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 Cedric Henning Belfrage (8 November 1904 – 21 June 1990) was an English film critic, journalist, writer and political activist. He is best remembered as a co-founder of the radical US weekly ''National Guardian''. Later Belfrage was referenced ...

* Don Berry * Wilhelmina de Bois * Robbie Branscum *

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known as Bertolt Brecht and Bert Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a p ...

Whittaker Chambers Whittaker Chambers (born Jay Vivian Chambers; April 1, 1901 – July 9, 1961) was an American writer and intelligence agent. After early years as a Communist Party member (1925) and Soviet spy (1932–1938), he defected from the Soviet u ...

* Fred Cook *

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* Maurits Dekker * Ed Dolan * Mary Dolim * A. den Doolaard * Albert Ehrenstein * Otto Eisenschiml * Carlos Embry * Guy Endore *

Charles Finney Charles Grandison Finney (August 29, 1792 – August 16, 1875) was a controversial American Presbyterian minister and leader in the Second Great Awakening in the United States. He has been called the "Father of Old Revivalism". Finney reject ...

Lion Feuchtwanger Lion Feuchtwanger (; 7 July 1884 – 21 December 1958) was a German Jewish novelist and playwright. A prominent figure in the literary world of Weimar Republic, Weimar Germany, he influenced contemporaries including playwright Bertolt Brecht. ...

* James Herndon *

Langston Hughes James Mercer Langston Hughes (February 1, 1901 – May 22, 1967) was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist from Joplin, Missouri. An early innovator of jazz poetry, Hughes is best known as a leader of the Harl ...

* Dola de Jong *

Carl Jung Carl Gustav Jung ( ; ; 26 July 1875 – 6 June 1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist, psychotherapist, and psychologist who founded the school of analytical psychology. A prolific author of Carl Jung publications, over 20 books, illustrator, and corr ...

* Irmgard Keun *

Otto Klemperer Otto Nossan Klemperer (; 14 May 18856 July 1973) was a German conductor and composer, originally based in Germany, and then the United States, Hungary and finally, Great Britain. He began his career as an opera conductor, but he was later bet ...

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Ernst Krenek Ernst Heinrich Krenek (, 23 August 1900 – 22 December 1991) was an Austrian, later American, composer. He explored atonality and other modern styles and wrote a number of books, including ''Music Here and Now'' (1939), a study of Johannes Ock ...

* Joseph Wood KrutchFull text of "KPFK program folio"
/ref> * Margaret Larkin *

* Walter Lowenfels * Elizabeth Linington * Richard Lyttle *

Erika Mann Erika Julia Hedwig Mann (9 November 1905 – 27 August 1969) was a German actress and writer, daughter of the novelist Thomas Mann. Erika lived a bohemian lifestyle in Berlin and became a critic of National Socialism. After Hitler came to power ...

* Klaus Mann * Margaret Maron *

Walter Mehring Walter Mehring (29 April 1896 – 3 October 1981) was a German author and one of the most prominent satirical authors in the Weimar Republic. He was banned during the Third Reich and fled the country. Early life Mehring was Jewish, the so ...

* Jessica Mitford * Helen Markley Miller * Rutherford Montgomery * Gorham Munson * Bud Murphy * Hans Natonek * Rose Naumann * Anaïs Nin * Hollister Noble * Iris Noble * Leo Perutz * Lea Bayers Rapp * Theodor Reik * Jean Rikhoff * Henriette Roland Holst * Joseph Roth * Jean Rouverol *

* Richard Sharpe *

* Henry Simon * Stan Steiner * Janet Stevenson * Philip Stevenson *

* Jakob Wassermann * Frank Waters *

Kurt Weill Kurt Julian Weill (; ; March 2, 1900April 3, 1950) was a German-born American composer active from the 1920s in his native country, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for hi ...

Serke J: ''Böhmische Dörfer: Wanderungen durch eine verlassene literarische Landschaft'', page 92. Zsolnay, 1987.

Publications

Books

Written

* 1948
Slavonic rhapsody: The life of

* 1973
East Germany
* 1993 - Briefwechsel mit Barthold Fles, 1942-1949 (with

; editor Madeleine Rietra)

Compiled

* 1948
The best short stories from

Collier's } ''Collier's'' was an American general interest magazine founded in 1888 by Peter F. Collier, Peter Fenelon Collier. It was launched as ''Collier's Once a Week'', then renamed in 1895 as ''Collier's Weekly: An Illustrated Journal'', shortened i ...

* 1949
Seven short novels from the

Woman's Home Companion ''Woman's Home Companion'' was an American monthly magazine, published from 1873 to 1957. It was highly successful, climbing to a circulation peak of more than four million during the 1930s and 1940s. The magazine, headquartered in Springfield, O ...

* 1951 -

The Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine published six times a year. It was published weekly from 1897 until 1963, and then every other week until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely circulated and influ ...

br>western stories
* 1951 -

br>Fantasy Stories

Translated

* 1939 -

Music here and now
* 1939 -

Bambi's children ''Bambi's Children: The Story of a Forest Family'' () is a 1939 coming-of-age novel, coming-of-age novel written by Austrian author Felix Salten as a sequel to his 1923 work ''Bambi, a Life in the Woods''. Background The sequel to ''Bambi'' follo ...

* 1943 - Hans Natonek
In search of myself

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 ''Musical America'' is the oldest American magazine on classical music, first appearing in 1898 in print and in 1999 online magazine, online, at musicalamerica.com. It is published by Performing Arts Resources, LLC, of East Windsor, New Jersey. ...

'' 48 (22): 5 & 21. * 1932-05-18
The Price of Being Sensible.
''

The Nation ''The Nation'' is a progressive American monthly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper ...

'' 134 (3489): 576. * 1934-07-04 - Now as a Story Teller. ''

The New Republic ''The New Republic'' (often abbreviated as ''TNR'') is an American magazine focused on domestic politics, news, culture, and the arts from a left-wing perspective. It publishes ten print magazines a year and a daily online platform. ''The New Y ...

'': 216. (book review of Kaleidoscope by

Stefan Zweig Stefan Zweig ( ; ; 28 November 1881 – 22 February 1942) was an Austrian writer. At the height of his literary career, in the 1920s and 1930s, he was one of the most widely translated and popular writers in the world. Zweig was raised in V ...

) * 1935-03-10
In Holland Writers Favor the Exotic.
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'': BR 8 & ?. * 1935-10-27
Van Gogh Letters and Other Dutch Books.
''The New York Times'': BR 8 & ?. * 1935-12-24

''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."> What Has Happened to Them Since? Reply.

: 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

: 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 Tübingen (; ) is a traditional college town, university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer (Neckar), Ammer rivers. about one in ...

: 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

with Dutch broadcaster

VPRO The VPRO (stylized vpro; originally an acronym for ''Vrijzinnig Protestantse Radio Omroep'', lit. 'Liberal Protestant Radio Broadcaster', nowadays known as ''Omroepvereniging VPRO'') is a Netherlands, Dutch Public broadcasting, public broadca ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fles, Barthold American literary agents 1902 births 1989 deaths 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century Dutch writers 20th-century American translators American book editors American book publishers (people) American children's writers American people of Dutch-Jewish descent Businesspeople from Amsterdam Businesspeople from New York City Diabetes-related deaths Dutch children's writers Dutch emigrants to the United States 20th-century Dutch Jews Dutch non-fiction writers Dutch publishers (people) 20th-century Dutch translators German–English translators Jewish American children's writers People from Laren, North Holland Writers from Manhattan Writers from Amsterdam 20th-century American Jews Exilliteratur Jews from New York (state)