This article discusses the background to Walter Benjamin's famous 'letter to an unknown correspondent', which was part of a series of letters between Benjamin and Norbert Elias. Elias had just finished writing the first volume of The Civilizing Process, and he wrote to Ben jamin asking him to review it, but Benjamin declined. The reasons for his reluctance are discussed. The letters themselves are reproduced at the end of the article.
Elias, N. (1994) The Civilizing Process. Oxford : Blackwell.
2.
Elias, N. and Lepenies, W. (1977) Zwei Reden [Two speeches]. Frankfurt: Suhrkamp.
3.
Fittko, L. (1982) 'Der alte Benjamin' [The old Benjamin], Merkur403: 35-49.
4.
Gleichmann, P., Goudsblom, J. and Korte, H., eds ( 1979) Materialen zu Norbert Elias' Zivilisationstheorie [Materials on Norbert Elias' Theory of Civilization]. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp.
5.
Gleichmann, P., Goudsblom, J. and Korte, H., eds ( 1984) Macht und Zivilisation: Materialen zu Norbert Elias' Zivilisationstheorie [Power and Civilization: Materials on Norbert Elias' Theory of Civilization] , Vol. 2. Frankfurt am Main : Suhrkamp.
6.
Jay, M. ( 1973) The Dialectical Imagination. London : Heinemann.
7.
Karger, F. (1977) 'Fata Libelli', in P. Gleichmann, J. Goudsblom and H. Korte (eds) Human Figurations . Amsterdam: Amsterdams Sociologisch Tijdschrift.
8.
Korte, H. (1988) Norbert Elias. Frankfurt: Suhrkamp.
9.
Marcus, T. (1964) 'Als jüdischer Verleger vor und nach 1933 in Deutschland' [Being a Jewish publisher before and after 1933 in Germany], Bulletin des Leo Baeck Instituts1: 138-53.
10.
Scholem, G., ed. (1992) The Correspondence of Walter Benjamin and Gershom Scholem 1932-1940. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
11.
Wiggershaus, R. (1994) The Frankfurt School. Cambridge : Polity.
