with--Otto H. Frank. Typed Letter Signed, "Otto Frank," to Mrs. Len van Groen, in Dutch, writing that news of the discovery of the book once belonging to her daughters had affected him deeply, explaining that the book was apparently left behind at the house on Merwedeplein before the family went into hiding, expressing his wish that she keep the book for her daughter's enjoyment, and asking to see the book on his next visit to Amsterdam. 1 page, 8vo, personal stationery; horizontal fold. With the original envelope. Birsfelden, 10 June 1977 Correspondence between the Van Groen family and the Anne Frank Foundation in Amsterdam concerning the book. Included is a letter dated October 5, 1994, from a representative of the Foundation, in Dutch: "I enclose the book, which we borrowed this summer . . . . I am still wondering whether you might eventually give the Foundation custody of the book? . . ." Together 5 pages. 1994-2014 Newspaper clippings concerning the book's discovery from Het Parool and Algemeen Handelsblad. [Circa 1977].
When Germany was no longer safe for the Frank family, they moved to a house on the Merwedeplein in Amsterdam, living there between December 1933 and July 1942, after which they went into hiding in the "secret annex" on the Prinsengracht. The book in the present lot was abandoned or forgotten in the house on Merwedeplein, ending up in a secondhand bookshop on Amsterdam's Runstraat just after the war, where it was purchased by someone who knew nothing of the Franks or their story. The children of the owner, however, recognized the inscribed names when they saw the book decades later, at which time they shared the story of the book with Otto Frank, whose reply is contained in this lot.