160 - YOURCENAR, Marguerite (1903–1987).

YOURCENAR, Marguerite (1903–1987). 2 letters, Paris and New York, 1935–1940, to a “dear friend ” [Ventura GARCIA CALDERON] in Brussels; 2 pages, small quarto (file holes in the lower margin) and 3½ pages, octavo, addressed to him at 448 Riverside Drive, New York City. Description: Paris, November 7, 1935. “Returning from the East,” she has taken up “winter quarters” at the Hôtel Wagram”… She hopes to see her friend in Paris this winter and is sending him “a novel by a young writer in whom I have high hopes (L’Irrésistible, by André FRAIGNEAU, published by the N.R.F.),” which she would be grateful if he would mention: “ Poets need so much encouragement, and I know of none warmer than your voice”… – New York, January 7, 1940. She is in America for “lectures on a very beautiful subject […]: virtue in the Spanish and Latin sense.” She asks if he has any friends in Mexico, “terra incognita for most North Americans,” where she plans to go this year. She knows that Peru and Mexico are two different destinations, “but after all, the entire Inca Empire belongs to you, and you must know what’s worth seeing .” She thanks him in advance for any information he might be willing to provide: “War and distance only serve to strengthen our friendship”…