CURNONSKY. Autograph manuscript, Curnonsky, [circa 1950?]; 3 pages and a quarter in-8. Autobiographical note."Curnonsky Born in Angers on October 12, 1872. Great-grandson of Benheureuse Jeanne Sailland" shot in 1793. Maurice Edmond Sailland's motto at the age of 20 was "cur non? Pourquoi pas en latin vulgaire"; in 1894, he added "à sa devise sky par russophilie, d'où Curnonsky. It's the biggest blunder he ever made". His pseudonym almost cost him his life in 1939, the occupying forces having mistaken him for "a Moldo-Vlach spy or a Polish dissident". Elected Pince des gastronomes in 1926, "he devoted 65 years of his too-long life to the holy alliance of tourism and Gastronomy. He revived the incomparable French regional cuisine with Marcel Rouff and published the 28 volumes of La France Gastronomique. With Austin de Croze, he published the Trésor Gastronomique de France, a directory of all the dishes, specialties, wines, cheeses and fruits of France. An advocate of simple cooking, the Prince des Gastronomes has no dining room, no cellar, no Chef, no Cordon Bleu. He hasn't eaten lunch for 17 years. In 1926, he founded the Académie des Gastronomes" and is irreplaceable, like all the other princes-elect: Gabriel de Lautrec, prince de l'Humour, Georges Feydeau, prince du Vaudeville, etc.Enclosed is the autographed manuscript of his entry in the Dictionnaire des contemporains (3p. in-4); and a copy of an entry in Les Archives biographiques contemporaines.