1 - ACHARD, Marcel: A collection of 29 handwritten letters and 7 typewritten letters addressed to André BERNHEIM. He discusses their joint projects (plays and films), the management of his copyrights, their conflicts and temporary falling-outs, foreign rights, and related conversations with foreign actors and screenwriters. The collection is supplemented by a one-page, in-8 handwritten text with cross-outs and a copy of his play *Le faux témoin*.

ACHARD, Marcel: A collection of 29 handwritten letters and 7 typewritten letters addressed to André BERNHEIM. He discusses their joint projects (plays and films), the management of his copyrights, their conflicts and temporary falling-outs, foreign rights, and related conversations with foreign actors and screenwriters. The collection is supplemented by a one-page, in-8 handwritten text with cross-outs and a copy of his play *Le faux témoin*. Born in 1899 and died in 1986, André BERNHEIM pioneered the profession of impresario in France. He himself preferred to use the term “artists’ agent,” as he did not like the term “impresario.” Beginning his career in the theater world, he founded his agency in 1935 at the age of 36 with his first four clients: DALIO, JEANSON, ACHARD, and KESSEL. He and KESSEL became lifelong friends; some even called them Siamese twins. Leaving France in June 1940, he was one of the first to join de GAULLE as a member of his first cabinet and as a press officer. Joined by KESSEL, they left for New York and then Algiers, where they joined the Sussex Squadron, attached to the Intelligence Service, to carry out numerous aerial missions to observe enemy territory and provide intelligence to British, French, and Resistance forces. After the war, while remaining very close to Kessel, he became the most famous talent agent of the 1960s and 1970s. The biggest stars of the era were under contract with him, from KESSEL to VENTURA, from BLIER to AUDIARD, from FRESNAY to BRIALY, from CARMET to VERNEUIL, from AZNAVOUR to GABIN (he met Gabin through Marlène DIETRICH, who had suggested that he hire Bernheim as his manager). And while running the world of film and theater from his offices at 55 Avenue George-V, he remained, for many years, the director of the Théâtre de la Madeleine. More than just an agent, André Bernheim became a friend to all, and it is this aspect, above all else, that stands out in this incredible collection we have the honor of presenting today. There is no doubt that it will delight collectors and bibliophiles with a passion for cinema, literature, theater, and history. *** As for Louis-Ferdinand CELINE, does he even need an introduction? Undoubtedly one of the greatest writers of 20th-century literature, having revolutionized the craft of writing, he will remain in the collective memory for his works (*Journey to the End of the Night*, *Death on Credit*, *From One Castle to Another*), for his romantic adventures, and for his involvement in the turbulent and terrible events of World War II. The manuscripts and documents we are presenting today are undoubtedly the very last to appear on the public market, and the works on display are extremely rare and of the highest order for bibliophiles. Eric FOSSE