[Prince Matila Ghyka, Romanian mathematician.] Correspondence to him in French from Karl Häuptli, Swiss architect (TLS and three Autograph Studies, with diagrams, on ‘le nombre d’or’) and A. Andre of Marseilles (TLS and enclosures on the I Ching).

Ghyka, who was grew up and was educated in France, settled in London after the Second World War, and is considered one of the most significant members of the Romanian diaspora. His main preoccupation was with geometry and mathematical aesthetics, and his publications on the subject were influential: the ‘first epiphany’ of theatre director Peter Brook ‘came while reading a book by the Romanian prince Matila Ghika while staying with Salvador Dalí in Spain’ (Guardian, 17 January 2010). In his 1968 biography, Rudolf Pfister describes how Theodor Fischer’s last-known professional correspondence was with Häuptli, the two men sharing an interest in proportion. ONE: TLS and enclosures from Karl Häuptli, 11 April 1952. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. In large envelope addressed to Ghyka via his Paris publishers Gallimard. The letter (1p, foolscap 8vo), signed ‘Charles Häuptli / Architecte’, begins with reference to their interrupted correspondence ‘sur le nombre d’or dans l’architecture, correspondence qui était pour moi toujours si réconfortante étant donné votre autorité incontestable dans ce domaine’. Several letters that he addressed to him in America received no response, and it is only at the ‘Triennale de MILAN’ in 1951 that he learnt from ‘Mme Carla MARZOLI’ that Ghyka intended to publish a new book on the subject. He describes his work in recent years, applying Ghyka thesis with regard to ‘l’architecture moderne’, ‘en plus des analyses des clefs de proportions d’anciennes compositions’, and now throw Ghyka’s publishers he presents ‘le fruit de ce labeur’, hoping that he will be able to make use of them in his publication, and if not suggest where he may himself publish a work ‘sur l’exploitation des tracés régulateurs dans l’architecture moderne’. The enclosures comprise three Signed Autograph Notes, each on 1p, foolscap 8vo of graph paper, accompanied by a total of 19 photographic reproductions, on glossy paper, of architectural drawings and diagrams (17 in foolscap 8vo, 2 in 12mo). TWO (A. Andre): TLS and enclosures from A. Andre, 17 March 1965. In fair condition, on aged paper, with creasing to enclosures. In envelope addressed to Ghyka at 31 Queen’s Gate Terrace, London S.W.7, redirected to 14 The Little Boltons, S.W.10. 1p, 4to. 28 lines of text. With reference to their previous correspondence, he explains that he has now setted in Algeria, before discussing the ‘renseignements tres détaillés sur les hexagrammes’ to be found in the ‘YI KING’. The letter continues on the same topic, before ending in the hope that the information Andre provides will lead Ghyka to ‘nouvelles et intéressantes déductions sur la mystique du nombre’. There are two enclosures: the first (2pp, 4to) is a typed and numbered list by Andre regarding the ‘signification principale des figures d’apres la traduction de l’ouvrage par P. L. F. PHILASTRE’. The second enclosure (1p, 4to) is a mimeograph of a table headed ‘YI KING LES TRAITS’.