251 - MAUROIS (André), 1885–1967.

MAUROIS (André), 1885–1967. Autograph manuscript [tribute to Henri Mondor] signed “André Maurois” [with a handwritten addition in blue ink by another hand reading “from the Académie française”], [shortly after April 6, 1962]. Undated [April 1962]. 1 p. in-4 on letterhead from 86 Boulevard Maurice-Barrès, Neuilly-sur-Seine. A beautiful eulogy to Henri Mondor, physician, man of letters, leading scholar of Mallarmé, and friend of André Maurois. Here, Maurois celebrates not so much the illustrious surgeon as the man of letters, the bibliophile, and the friend: “Few men of our time have possessed a taste as pure and refined as Henri Mondor’s.” He recalls Mondor’s profound knowledge of Mallarmé and Valéry, as well as of Racine, Malherbe, and Maynard, and his friendship with Alain. In particular, he mentions the famous Lapeyrouse lunch, organized by Mondor, which brought Alain and Paul Valéry together for the first time. Maurois also emphasizes what a generous and discreet collector Mondor was, having gathered “some of the finest manuscripts of our time to donate them to major libraries,” as well as his talents as a writer and illustrator. He concludes: “With his passing, we lose the most perceptive of advisors, the most tender and attentive of friends.” Henri Mondor died in Neuilly-sur-Seine on April 6, 1962, at the age of 76. This text was published in 1962 under the title “In Memoriam: Henri Mondor” in the Bulletin of the Association des Amis d’Alain.