69 - Paul ÉLUARD. The Poets I Knew. [1949]. Signed autograph manuscript, 2 pages, in-4.

Paul ÉLUARD. The Poets I Knew. [1949]. Signed autograph manuscript, 2 pages, in-4. A clean copy of a poem about Aragon, published in issue No. 11 of *La Nouvelle Critique*, December 1949. The poem is dedicated to the writer and journalist Jean Fréville, a member of the French Communist Party (PCF), a close associate of Maurice Thorez, and an editor at *La Nouvelle Critique*. The nineteen lines, referring specifically to Aragon, had appeared in the anthology *La Guirlande d’Aragon privé de ses droits civiques*, published in October 1949. The aim was to support Aragon, who had been charged with a press offense and spreading false news in the newspaper *Ce Soir*. Shortly thereafter, for the reprinting of his poem, Éluard added verses paying tribute to the poets who had repeated the call to arms, to justice, and to fraternity, concluding with a few lines of prose: Of all the poets I have known, Aragon is the one who was most right—right against the monsters—and right against me. He showed me the right path; he still shows it today to all those who have not understood that to fight against injustice is to fight for their own lives, for a life blossoming with hope, and for all the love in the world. (Éluard, Complete Works II, Pléiade, p. 369.)