New York, 12 October 1967

Typed letter signed (“Leonard”) to Marianne Ihlen ("Darling"), [New York] 12 October 1967.

One page, 280 x 215mm (faint soiling at left margin); with transmittal envelope addressed to “Marianne Ihlen Cohen.”

Cohen writes while recording his first album. He begins with an apology—“Darling, I was very hard on you the weeks we were together, I realize it only now. Please forgive me is too easy to say”—and gives an update on his music. “There will be a record one of these days. The last session was pretty good and I have another one tonight, should last deep into the morning.”

It had been an eventful year for Cohen as he quickly transitioned into a singer-songwriter. Around the time of his first major performance with Judy Collins, he met and became romantically linked with Joni Mitchell, who in 1968 he would visit for nearly a month in California. Cohen's letters to Marianne remain tender, but after years of conflict, their relationship begins to come to a close. Cohen's first album would be released in December 1967 and include "So Long, Marianne" and "Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye," the lyrics of which go straight to the heart of the situation.

He reflects on the last time he saw Marianne's young son, Axel, and tells her not to worry about his schooling—"I think he'll be very happy there, the place made me feel good," and reassures her, "they'll buy anything he needs and just put it on our account." He closes, "Darling, I don't know how to do anything, not even breathe, but I'm going to learn."

By descent from Marianne Ihlen.