200 - DRIEU LA ROCHELLE (Pierre), 1893–1945.

DRIEU LA ROCHELLE (Pierre), 1893–1945. Autograph letter, “Drieu La Rochelle,” undated (early October 1941), 1 p., in-8 on NRF letterhead (small circular tear with no loss of text), to Paul Léautaud: “Dear Sir, I am sorry and outraged (like everyone else) by what has been done to you. I will do everything in my power to publish your Journal in December. Gallimard tells me he has an idea to ease your concerns [...]” On the reverse side is pasted the handwritten draft of Léautaud’s reply to Drieu (Fontenay, October 4, 1941) (which was itself written on the reverse of half a letter from Gaëtan Sanvoisin that had been addressed to him): ""Your letter gave me great pleasure; it is one of the reasons for the fury of the half-mad megalomaniac who dismissed me in this manner—knowing that I have many supporters on the outside. […] Don’t think I’m downcast; I’m quite combative by nature, and as I wrote to Gallimard, I recover very well from this sort of thing.” An interesting exchange regarding Paul Léautaud’s abrupt dismissal from *Le Mercure de France*. Dismissed on September 26, 1941, by Jacques Bernard after 33 years at the magazine’s offices, Léautaud wrote to Drieu—then director of the NRF—the very next day, asking him, in particular, to expedite the publication of the excerpts from his *Journal* that he had entrusted to him. Drieu expresses his outrage here and promises to try to publish them as early as December, while Gaston Gallimard considers a way to come to his aid. Léautaud’s reply allows us to date Drieu’s letter to between September 27 and October 4, 1941 (the day of his own departure for Germany with Chardonne, Brasillach, Jouhandeau, Fernandez, etc.).