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Correspondence from Fernando Pessoa to Aleister Crowley
Lisboa, 13th. September, 1930.
Care Frater:
I went to Cook's to-day with your letter of authority, and got from them the four letters, one postcard and one telegram which you will find enclosed. As I shall not be able to look you up at Estoril before the beginning of next week, I am availing myself of the services of a friend, who is a partner in one of the shops in the semi-circle, to get these letters to you at once.
There is one thing I wish to point out to you and it distressed me considerably when I got these letters from Cook. One letter—the one from Germany, with the Karl Germer imprint on the back of the envelope—was handed to me just as you got it, burst open at the side. I am afraid I asked the clerk who handed it to me how that happened, because I am always somewhat disinclined to believe in accidents in these things; but, really, on examining the edge of the envelope—I made, of course, no further examination—it doesn't seem that the envelope burst normally under the pressure of this overweight inside. I hope there was nothing private in it; if there were, the people at Cook's will have had time enough to read it at their leisure. If people who send bulky letters will only realize that thin envelopes tend to burst under the combined pressure of weight and postal handling, it would be a benefit to the keeping of privacy.
Apart from this, another letter—the Mandrake [Mandrake Press] thin one in the long envelope—was handed to me with the flap loose. But this may mean that the contents (which, of course, I did not even think of looking at) are printed matter; nevertheless, the stamp is a letter one (2-1/2d). This was clearly the fault of the person who sent the letter, for the flap was not only loose but ungummed, or, rather, unlicked. I fastened it down myself.
I tell you all this for I do not know whether you may not be up against any magical private detective agency. Don't take this profanely; it is a normally harmless phrase.
I shall deal with the chess people on Monday and communicate with you at once or have them so communicate.
Regards to you both,
Fraternally,
Fernando Pessoa
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