212 - Henry de MONTHERLANT (1895–1972). Correspondence consisting of 19 letters, including 17 autograph signed letters and two signed letters, addressed to Julien GREEN. 1951–1972. Approximately 30 pages of various sizes. Many envelopes preserved.

Henry de MONTHERLANT (1895–1972). Correspondence consisting of 19 letters, including 17 autograph signed letters and two signed letters, addressed to Julien GREEN. 1951–1972. Approximately 30 pages of various sizes. Many envelopes preserved. A beautiful and tempestuous literary correspondence: -November 25, 1951. Montherlant viciously attacks Green: [ ] When I read your Journal—what you wrote about *La R[eine] Morte* and especially about *Santiago*—I felt a surge of gratitude and was about to grab my pen to say so: I am not accustomed to a colleague writing about me in such terms. But then, further on, your page 323 chilled me to the bone. There, you endorse the judgment passed on me (that is the clear meaning of your reply). Well, I find it inconceivable that a man should pass such a judgment on a man about whom he knows nothing. An honest and serious man like the one everyone says you are. It’s also quite inconceivable, on another level, that a man whose profession is to be a connoisseur of souls should not know that there aren’t just assholes, but rather beings who, at one moment, are courageous; at another, more than courageous—fearless, even, and courting danger; at yet another, assholes who are ashamed of being so; and at still another, assholes who take pleasure in being so. That is what every man is. And me. And you. And that is how it must be [ ]. A few more months, and one receives from one’s insulter a beautiful book with an admiring dedication—admiring of the writer, of course, and exclusively so. In truth, I no longer know what to think... . -[Late 1951]. Two typewritten drafts containing two versions of Julien Green’s reply (attached here): [ ] I go to see a famous writer simply to tell him that I love his books, and I’m greeted with roars of anger. You are mentioned in my diary only in the most glowing terms. Why are you so intent on recognizing yourself in the character of an anonymous coward, and where did you get the idea that I approve of Gide? [ ]. Do you really believe that anyone is attacking your honor? Is it not enough for you to be one of the rarest writers of our time...? Why do you speak to me of what you did or did not do in occupied France? I find these quarrels miserable [ ], etc. Starting in 1953, the two men seemed momentarily reconciled and spoke only of literature, notably *The Master of Santiago*, *The Dead Queen*, *The Boys*, etc. Montherlant lavishes praise on his colleague’s works (*Sud*, *Terre Lointaine*, *Années faciles*, *L’Ombre*, etc.). On March 27, 1967, Montherlant grew irritated once again upon reading an article by Green on Port-Royal, etc. Various documents are included, among them: -The half-title page of *La Guerre Civile* (1965) with a signed autograph dedication to Julien Green. -Typewritten drafts (two autographs, one copied by Robert de Saint Jean, and two reproductions) of letters from Green to Montherlant, some responding to the letters described above, others concerning *Le Maître de Santiago*, *L’Ennemi*, *L'Ombre*, *Manon*, *L'Après-midi d'un faune*, *Quo vadis*, as well as Jouvet, Fathers Cognet and Couturier, Gide, etc. (approx. 15 pages, in-4 or in-8 format). -Newspaper clippings on Montherlant’s death and will, preserved by Green.