LETTERS & POSTCARDS WRITTEN BY HENRY VAN DE VELDE
A new Van de Velde acquisition On January 13, 2009 the Ghent University acquired the correspondence between Henry Van de Velde and architect Jacques Stevens (1933 – 1958). Stevens (Louvain 1904-1978) was a pupil of Eggericx and worked as an apprentice with Van de Velde from 1933 until 1934. The collection includes 21 letters and 15 postcards sent from Tervuren and Oberägeri, containing information about projects and family affairs, as well as a couple of letters and postcards by Henri Van de Velde's daughter Nele.
Unsurprisingly, in some of these letters, he discusses the Book Tower. On September 22, 1934, for instance, he wrote: "I shall soon be preoccupied by my practitioner's decisions. But whatever happens, this will hardly affect the organization of my office, which at this moment depends entirely on the Ghent Library project! The model will be ready in 15 days. From then on I will dispose of something that will allow me, I hope, to act in favour of a definite government decision regarding the execution of the building, or at least regarding the execution of the plans. At this moment, I have no idea whether I'll have to work with several draughtsmen – three, two - or only one for this project. And I will be able to determine whether the other work can be done with 1 or 2 collaborators."
Apart from the letters, the collection also includes over 2400 stamps showing a portrait of Henry van de Velde (edited 1963) with the Book Tower in the background.
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