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Tuesday, July 9, 1957

Dear Dr. Federn:

     I write to you from Oxford. After so many postponements—from a fal to a spring and from a spring to a fall—we finally took the boat (on June 28), landed at Southampton, and first went to Salisbury and Stonehenge, then to Oxford, where we are now four days. On the boat and here I worked on the French translation of “Earth”—after I have already spent much time on it in Princeton; and still I am not ready. We carry with us a valise with papers and books, and a portable typewriter; I thought to work here on “Oedipus”, but could not start because of the French “Earth”; and necessary this revision was in utmost.

     I gave here a ring to Alan Gardiner; I wished to visit Sir Alan and so said to the female voice on the telephone; after a while she brought me the answer that Sir Alan a day before had an accident and his nose is in a cast, so that he cannot see people. At least I will not have to reprove myself for not trying to draw his attention to the parallels between his Admonitions and two or three chapters in Exodus.

     As you know the main purpose (scientific) of this travel is to see Claude Schaeffer. The agreement is that we shall meet not far from Lucern and spend a week together. I cannot hope to make him a follower of my chronological scheme—but maybe something will come out of this—radiocarbon tests, or excavation at Avaris, or a new attention to finds in Ras-Shamra or Alasia.

     I have received several days before our departure your letter with two pages of translation. I imagined that with your Vervallkommrungsdrang you will have hard time with this translation—and so it was. I regret it because nobody could do the work so that I would not need to go over it, besides you; and the time of revising a translation is by far not small.

     I shall write you again, and in the meantime have the most cordial wishes for your physical health and good mood from my wife and
                 
your Im. Velikovsky


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