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Letters to Camondo Hardcover – May 11, 2021

4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 915 ratings

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A tragic family history told in a collection of imaginary letters to a famed collector, Moise de Camondo

Letters to Camondo is a collection of imaginary letters from Edmund de Waal to Moise de Camondo, the banker and art collector who created a spectacular house in Paris, now the Musée Nissim de Camondo, and filled it with the greatest private collection of French eighteenth-century art.

The Camondos were a Jewish family from Constantinople, “the Rothschilds of the East,” who made their home in Paris in the 1870s and became philanthropists, art collectors, and fixtures of Belle Époque high society, as well as being targets of antisemitism―much like de Waal's relations, the Ephrussi family, to whom they were connected. Moise de Camondo created a spectacular house and filled it with art for his son, Nissim; after Nissim was killed in the First World War, the house was bequeathed to the French state. Eventually, the Camondos were murdered by the Nazis.

After de Waal, one of the world’s greatest ceramic artists, was invited to make an exhibition in the Camondo house, he began to write letters to Moise de Camondo. These fifty letters are deeply personal reflections on assimilation, melancholy, family, art, the vicissitudes of history, and the value of memory.

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From the Publisher

Praise for Letters to Camondo by Edmund de Waal

Letters to Camondo Edmund de Waal Maurice Samuels quote

Letters to Camondo Edmund de Waal Robert Kanigel quote

Letters to Camondo Edmund de Waal Charles Trueheart quote

Editorial Reviews

Review

"[de Waal] demonstrates, in this slim and elegant volume, how words can hold our memories as well as objects while taking up infinitely less space." ―Maurice Samuels, The New York Times Book Review

“[P]art inquiry, part history, part philosophy, and wholly poignant and original.” ―
Robert Kanigel, Air Mail

"Superb . . . This companion study to
The Hare with Amber Eyes is the skilfully told story of a family's collection of art objects . . . consistently illuminating . . . excellently illustrated . . . de Waal's excavation of the meanings of assimilation is considered, compassionate and appreciative of its costs . . . He is a wise guide to people and things that are dispersed and are collected . . . This book is a wonderful tribute to a family and to an idea." ―Nicholas Wroe, The Guardian

“A slender book [that] reads like a long prose poem” ―
Charles Trueheart, The American Scholar

"
Letters to Camondo immerses you in another age--one as sharply torn with rifts and bigotry, political uncertainty and changing fortunes as our own--but also a time of grace and the deliberate cultivation of pleasure . . . de Waal creates a dazzling picture of what it means to live graciously." ―Nilanjana Roy, The Financial Times

"De Waal is a deep insider writing a series of familiar and familial letters to Moïse de Camondo, addressing him as ‘Friend’, ‘Dear friend’, ‘Monsieur’, ‘Cher Monsieur’, ‘Mon cher Monsieur’ and even ‘Monsieur le Comte’. His manner is softly prowling, whether inside or outside the house and its archives; his tone is intimate, melancholic, speculative, at times whimsical. At the end he sternly resists any idea of ‘closure’ about the disasters of 1941-45." ―
Julian Barnes, London Review of Books

"I was deeply moved . . . [de Waal] has found a way to meditate on exile, migration and polarization that feels painfully relevant." ―
Johanna Thomas-Corr, Sunday Times

"A sumptuous household museum prompts a reverie on the doomed French-Jewish haute bourgeoisie in this elegiac family history . . . De Waal’s elegant prose, rapt eye for aesthetics, subtle character sketches, and nuanced musings on Jewish identity yield a rich, Proustian recreation of a lost era." ―
Publishers Weekly (starred review)

About the Author

Edmund de Waal is an artist who has exhibited in museums and galleries around the world. His bestselling memoir, The Hare with Amber Eyes, has won many prizes and has been translated into twenty-nine languages. The White Road, a journey into the history of porcelain, was published in 2015. He lives in London with his family.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Farrar, Straus and Giroux; 2nd prt. edition (May 11, 2021)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 192 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0374603480
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0374603489
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.64 x 0.78 x 8.86 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 915 ratings

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Edmund De Waal
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Edmund de Waal wurde 1964 in Nottingham / England geboren und studierte in Cambridge. Von 2004 bis 2011 war er Professor für Keramik an der University of Westminster und stellte u.a. im Victoria and Albert Museum und in der Tate Britain aus. Er lebt in London.

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
915 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book easy to read and engaging with its beautiful illustrations. They praise the writing style as brilliant and the use of letters to present the story effectively. The story is described as a fascinating personal heritage tale and self-discovery that is gripping and emotional, leaving readers weeping at times.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

18 customers mention "Readability"18 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the book's readability. They find the story engaging and beautifully told. The quality of the paper and illustrations are praised, as are the author's ethereal descriptions of material objects. Readers describe the book as fun to read and visually appealing.

"...Well illustratd. Further Reading, Notes, and identification of the illustrations. The use of letters to present this story works well...." Read more

"Very elegant writing in this book that covers the history of a founder of a museum in Paris who was a Jew who gave a lot to the French state along..." Read more

"...Another excellent book just published elaborates upon the Camondo family and three other prominent Jewish families of art collectors , as described..." Read more

"...The pain of pre-war days is described in the most beautiful way. Really brilliant writing makes this story intriguing." Read more

12 customers mention "Writing style"12 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the writing style. They find the use of letters to present the story engaging, and appreciate the further reading notes and identification of illustrations.

"...Well illustratd. Further Reading, Notes, and identification of the illustrations. The use of letters to present this story works well...." Read more

"This is a superbly written and moving account of a distinguished family, or rather families, ostensibly with everything in life one could wish, only..." Read more

"...Really brilliant writing makes this story intriguing." Read more

"Beautifully, gorgeous prose. Elegiac and melancholy. Written in epistolary form, this is a meditation on the exquisite Musee Camondo and the tragic..." Read more

8 customers mention "Family history"8 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the family history in the book. They find it an engaging story of personal heritage and self-discovery, with fascinating historical details. The writing style is described as elegant and brilliant.

"...He writes about family, and decorative arts, and history. Particularly the Jewish side of his family, and their porcelain collection...." Read more

"...Really brilliant writing makes this story intriguing." Read more

"This is a follow on to de Waals intriguing and must-read family history "The Hare with Amber Eyes" telling the story of another great Jewish family..." Read more

"...volume , Letters to Camondo combines biographical sketches , historical context and ruminations on collecting , museum display , identity, human..." Read more

5 customers mention "Eye-opening"5 positive0 negative

Customers find the book an engaging read about the Musee Camondo and the tragic Camondo family. They appreciate the meditation on personal heritage and self-discovery, as well as historical context and ruminations on collecting, museum display, and identity.

"...But it is an eye-opening, gripping "must" read that left me weeping." Read more

"...of the beautifully preserved mansion, imposing quarter and devastatingly charming Parc that you can visit today." Read more

"...combines biographical sketches , historical context and ruminations on collecting , museum display , identity, human and institutional fragility,..." Read more

"...Written in epistolary form, this is a meditation on the exquisite Musee Camondo and the tragic Camondo family...." Read more

3 customers mention "Emotional content"3 positive0 negative

Customers find the book gripping and emotional. They describe it as a must-read that leaves them weeping, heartbreaking, and elegiac.

"...But it is an eye-opening, gripping "must" read that left me weeping." Read more

"Beautifully, gorgeous prose. Elegiac and melancholy...." Read more

"Gorgeous, moving, heartbreaking important book." Read more

3 customers mention "Pacing"3 positive0 negative

Customers find the book's pacing good. They describe it as moving and heartbreaking.

"This is a superbly written and moving account of a distinguished family, or rather families, ostensibly with everything in life one could wish, only..." Read more

"Gorgeous, moving, heartbreaking important book." Read more

"Moving and very wellwriten..." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on June 2, 2021
    This is my first de Waal book, but it won't be my last (the other 2 are on order already).
    A lot of the books I buy go to a TBR pile, and sit there for some time before I (hopefully) finally get to them. This arrived Sunday, and I had finished this short tome Tuesday night.
    de Waal is a highly regarded potter, whose porcelain works are often presented as multiple, rather than lone, items.
    He writes about family, and decorative arts, and history. Particularly the Jewish side of his family, and their porcelain collection.
    Here we have a short book, in letters, about the family, house and arts collection of Count Moise de Camondo. A family of Leventine Jews who relocated to Paris in the late 19th Century. It is also a valuable introduction to the history of anti-Semitism in France. de Wall presents us with multiple examples of how the family tried to integrate into French society (organizations, money, his son's life - even his own house, to be used as a museum after his death!), but were never found to be "French" enough.
    The last third of the book is plainly presented by date and event and fact regarding the demise of the family (and all other Jews) under the Nazi regime in France. He calls what happens to this family (who lived near his own mother's family, and who were distantly related as well - he jokes about how convoluted a Family Tree would be, especially if it included lovers and mistresses!) what it was. They did not "pass" or "die" - they were murdered in the Holocaust.
    One of the last chapters (nearly all the letters are only 1-3 pp long) traces the ownership of a Renoir portrait of one of the young girls in 1880. Ironically, Goering owned this beautiful portrait of a young, Jewish girl at one point!
    The physical book itself is wonderful in-hand. FSG did a great job. Thick, glossy pages - signatures sewn in. Well illustratd. Further Reading, Notes, and identification of the illustrations.
    The use of letters to present this story works well. He skips about a bit, but in the end it is a chronological presentation. About decorative arts, family, France, and anti-Semitism in Europe.
    Well, worth a read - quietly sad.
    44 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on September 9, 2024
    Very elegant writing in this book that covers the history of a founder of a museum in Paris who was a Jew who gave a lot to the French state along with members of his extended family but could not save himself or his family members from the Holocaust.
  • Reviewed in the United States on October 26, 2021
    I loved the Hare with Amber Eyes. This is different. It's a series of letters to Moïse de Camondo, a cousin of de Waal's Ephrussi relations. Camondo died in 1935 soon after having given his treasure house to the French government as a gift to the nation. This did not save four of Camondo's direct relations (daughter, son in law, 2 grandchildren) from being killed in concentration camps during WW2. They were sent there by the active collaboration of anti-Semitic French people. It wasn't just the Nazis.

    It's a horrifying ending to a story that begins with mere curiosity. I sense de Waal wanting a conversation with his dead ancestor about what it was like to collect a museum of such valuable objects. At times it reads like a lulling guide to the acquisition of beautiful things. At others it is brimful of disbelief and anger about the fate approaching.
  • Reviewed in the United States on June 10, 2021
    This is a superbly written and moving account of a distinguished family, or rather families, ostensibly with everything in life one could wish, only to have their world destroyed by the viciousness of anti-semitism of their neighbors and friends colluding with the Nazis during a horrific decade beginning in the late 1930’s through WWII. With all of the focus now on Black Lives Matter (as indeed all lives do) it is well to also remember and recognize the unimaginable horror and suffering the Jews in Europe were subjected to by the brutish German persecution. Current ultra right wing movements in Europe and indeed in the United States suggest that such extremism and hatred of ‘the other’ is never too far below society’s surface.
    Another excellent book just published elaborates upon the Camondo family and three other prominent Jewish families of art collectors , as described in the excellent The House of Fragile Things, by James McAuley. As a bonus there is on McAuley's web page a fascinating conversation between these two authors. Not to be missed.
    15 people found this helpful
    Report

Top reviews from other countries

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  • William G
    5.0 out of 5 stars A great read
    Reviewed in Canada on December 2, 2024
    Love how thought provoking this is. So much history, and so relevant to today's North American politics
  • FC
    5.0 out of 5 stars Camondo
    Reviewed in Italy on September 9, 2024
    Libro meraviglioso! Quando lo leggi ti ritrovi sospeso nel tempo.
  • David Lusher
    5.0 out of 5 stars Poignant, One-Way Correspondence
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 18, 2024
    This book sits well with 'The Hare With Amber Eyes' and is just as poignant. These are letters written by the author to a dead Count who was a successful banker and art collector who lived in Paris, created a beautiful house containing a wealth of artistic treasures, and kept this pristine as a legacy to his son Nissim. But tragedy then struck. The author's family had historical links with that of the Count, so the narrative in the letters is genuinely personal. This is a wonderful book and left me thinking for days after I had finished reading it. It's important to remember such lives, particularly those lives cut short by the Nazis and those French collaborators who coveted Jewish possessions.
  • mara dreyfuss
    5.0 out of 5 stars memórias de família
    Reviewed in Brazil on July 20, 2021
    Adorei o livro!!!
    Edmund de Waal escreve cartas para o patriarca da família Camondo, descrevendo os objetos e sua história na casa, que depois se transforma num museu em homenagem a seu filho morto na guerra.
    Ele conta como os os judeus, apesar de se considerarem franceses, lutaram contra os alemães na 2a guerra, mas depois tiveram seus bens confiscados pelos governantes franceses simpatizantes aos alemães.
    Consigo ver a importância que o autor dá aos objetos, e como ele faz uma relação entre sua obra como ceramista, que considero espetacular com os objetos descritos na casa de um grande colecionador, com o espaço onde faz suas exposições, as quais merecem serem vistas no YouTube.
  • Atlantis
    5.0 out of 5 stars Bringing to life a fragile, fragmented world
    Reviewed in Germany on June 18, 2022
    There are Proustian moments of splendor in the way de Waal manages to repair a broken world by highlighting cracks and tears, making precious and whole what seems lost in time.