257 - [Americana]. [FRENCH IN THE UNITED STATES].

[Americana]. [FRENCH IN THE UNITED STATES]. LOT consisting of 2 small manuscripts and 4 lithographs. -AMERICAN WINE. (L. ROULET). 2 autograph letters. Illinois, 1907. In-12 format. 4 pp. on 2 folded sheets, in small in-12 format, dated April 3, 1907, on letterhead from the Hamilton Hotel / J. T. Guy, Proprietor, in Hamilton, Illinois; and 2 pp. on a folded folio, in small in-8 format, dated April 27, 1907, in Marsan, Illinois. The handwriting is dense and fine, fairly legible, though sometimes cramped due to lack of space; the letters were sent from the U.S. by a Frenchman to Mr. and Mrs. Delcourt, his friends. The author appears to be on a business trip to the United States in the agricultural sector, specifically regarding viticulture and winemaking. He tells his dear friends that he must learn and break away from his old habits in agriculture. He also provides an interesting account of his voyage by ship, his arrival, and his impressions of Americans at the very beginning of the 20th century. A few minor stains and crease marks from folding the letter, nothing serious. -SCHOLL, Aurélien. COURRIER DE PARIS. Small autograph manuscript, signed and titled *Courrier de Paris*. 11 folios in small in-12 format, handwritten on the recto in brown ink on bluish paper. This manuscript appears to be unpublished, as the only work titled *Courrier de Paris*—an article published in 1884—does not cover the same subject. The manuscript is dated terminus ad quem to 1883–1884. Its author, a French journalist, playwright, and novelist (1833–1902), with his characteristic irony, offers a critique of American customs based on an encounter between the “son of an Indian from the Salt-Skinned tribe,” named William N.Cadigan, and the author himself. Aurélien Scholl depicts the protagonist in precise detail: “Cadigan is a very handsome man; he has blue eyes, a face of great gentleness, and a red beard that resembles a fan whose handle has been glued to his chin [...].” A dialogue ensues between the two characters focused on politics in France: “What I like about you,” replied the Huron, “is your wit, and yet I don’t know if I truly like it. I’d be better off saying that it surprises me—All civilized peoples possess wit [...]; among the French, it is free, luminous, varied, and applicable to all. And since this spirit is equally present everywhere, permeating both individuals and society as a whole, and despite all its transformations, it remains the same [ ]". A few pages have been cut and re-glued; there are some erasures. -COMELOT, Robert. United States, IV drawings Paris, circa 1932. 4 plates (45 x 31.9 cm), in the publisher’s cream-colored folder (slight foxing on the folder, including part of the spine; small tears on the plates of New York and New Orleans). Reproductions of four drawings, lithographed in black, by the French architect Robert Comelot (1903–1992). Depict views of Chicago, New York, New Orleans, and San Francisco. In 1931, thanks to the Delano-Aldrich Fellowship established in 1930 by the American Institute of Architects, Robert Comelot spent nine months in the United States to study architecture. There, he succeeded Jacques Carlu as studio director at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and also taught at New York University.