Alfred Jarry.

Letter addressed to Dr. Saltas. No place [Laval] May 28, 1906. Autograph letter signed, 2 pages small in-8. Moving letter: Jarry, feeling close to death, gives his instructions concerning the copyright of La Papesse Jeanne. I agree with you; perhaps the heart has been intoxicated, or is it not the heart that tries to make up for the wear and tear of the rest? There is nothing neither in the liver, nor in the kidneys, nor even in the urine. There was no excess, there was deprivation. If I do not escape, which is infinitely probable, please go, recommending me, to Fasquelle - what language for a book that death! - and let it be agreed between us that the royalties are half. No human treatment can do anything about it now, and 'Father Ubu' is like Achilles in hell [...] Father Ubu, as I am called, does not die from having drunk too much, but from not having always eaten, and at tea time you made me eat. Thank you. Jean Saltas, a Greek-born physician and writer, met Jarry in 1897 in the Danville salon. During the winter of 1905-1906, they were to forge close ties around the project of Papesse Jeanne, the adaptation of the novel by Emmanuel Rhoïdès published in 1908. This letter was first published in 1914 in the No. 2 issue of Soirées de Paris. Small crack at the horizontal fold. Attached: death notice of Alfred Jarry which occurred at the hospital of Charité, "at 4:15 pm, on the 1st of September 1907". One page in-8, pre-printed on the letterhead of the General Administration of Public Assistance in Paris and wet stamp "Charité", signed on behalf of the director of the establishment.