Livres et manuscrits

Lot 1 - ALECHINSKY (Pierre). - TARDIEU (Jean). Poèmes à voir. Paris, R.L.D. [Robert et Lydie Dutrou], 1986. Large oblong folio, in all (32) ff. of which the first and last are blank, in leaves in printed folder, publisher's cardboard slipcase; slipcase a little worn with trace of label. 400/500 € ORIGINAL EDITION OF CES CALLIGRAMMES DE JEAN TARDIEU, 170 numbered copies and a few collaborators' copies, all signed by the author and the artist, this one of 30 numbered copies reserved for the artist (n° XVVVIII). 14 FULL-PAGE COMPOSITIONS BY PIERRE ALECHINSKY, COMPRISING A TOTAL OF 23 EAUX-FORTES IN BLACK, i.e.: 2 large etchings, one opening and the other closing the collection; and 21 etchings alone or 2 per page, all accompanied by drawings reproduced in color.

Estim. 400 - 500 EUR

Lot 2 - ALECHINSKY (Pierre). - STÉTIÉ (Salah). 5 dans ton œil. Paris, Robert et Lydie Dutrou, 1998. In broadsheet, in all (7) ff. in cloth-backed and cornered portfolio with printed illustrated title-piece on first cover; 2 small stains on title, one portfolio cover slightly oiled (publisher's portfolio). ORIGINAL EDITION, limited to 120 copies on Arches vellum, justified and signed by the author (no. 80). EDITED AND ILLUSTRATED BY PIERRE ALECHINSKY, comprising: a title leaf lithographed in color; 5 text leaves, each illustrated with a large color lithograph and a small copper-engraved composition, and EACH JUSTIFIED AND SIGNED IN PENCIL BY THE ARTIST; a printer's proof leaf illustrated with blue motifs, printed.

Estim. 400 - 500 EUR

Lot 3 - CLERGUE (Lucien). - CHAR (René). Le Taureau. Arles, "pour le compte et le plaisir de Lucien Clergue" (Montpellier, Presses de la Charité), 2000. In-folio, in all (14) ff. of which the first 3 and the last are blank, in leaves under printed folder, red cloth folder and case for the edition (Dermont-Duval). EDITION OF ONLY 45 NUMEROTES ON VELIN D'ARCHES SIGNED BY THE ARTIST, this one of 15 hors commerce. René Char's poem, written in 1950, originally appeared in 1951 in the collection Quatre fascinants, and was included in 1962 in the collection La Parole en archipel. An autograph manuscript of the poem is reproduced here. 6 MONTED PHOTOGRAPHIC PRINTS, SIGNED IN PENCIL BY THE ARTIST on the mounts. Either : A PORTRAIT OF RENE CHAR (color photograph taken in 1982, cibachrome print 14.5 x 9.5 cm by Publimod in Paris), and 5 SCENES D'ARENES (black and white photographs taken between 1965 and 1989, silver prints 27.8 x 19.8 cm, by Lucien Clergue with assistants in his studio in Arles). EXEMPLAIRE ENRICHED BY LUCIEN CLERGUE WITH 3 COLLAGES (one with original color drawing) featuring autograph captions, 2 full-page and one double-page on an added white bifeuillet: Lucien Clergue has arranged advertisements and tickets to bullfights that took place from 1972 to 2004, and recalls the bullfighting deaths of Francisco Pasquiri in 1984 and Cyril Colombeau in 2004.

Estim. 200 - 300 EUR

Lot 4 - COCTEAU (Jean). Les Monstres sacrés. Paris, Gallimard, 1940. In-16, 211 [of which the first 2 blank]-(7 of which the last 3 blank) pp. paperback. FIRST EDITION, ONE OF 10 LETTER COPIES ON MADAGASCAR RESERVED FOR THE AUTHOR. 3 full-page drawings by Christian Bérard reproduced in the text EXEMPLAIRE ENRICHED WITH AN ORIGINAL DRAWING WITH AUTOGRAPHIC SIGNED ENVOI : " au cher Lucien Sablé, son ami Jean ". The drawing shows a profile with a starry forehead (full-page pen and ink with full-page colored pencil highlights). A journalist, cartoonist and collector, Lucien Sablé lived with the high-ranking civil servant André Dubois, and frequented Jean Cocteau and André Gide.

Estim. 200 - 300 EUR

Lot 5 - CORAN. Alcorani textus universus. Patavii, ex typographia seminarii [i.e. Padua, from the seminary printing house], 1698. 2 volumes in-folio, (4 of which those on verso are blank)-45-(3 of which the last is blank)-(2 of which the second is blank)-46-(2)-81-(3)-94-(10 of which the last is blank)-127-(11) + (8)-17-(3)-836 [misfigured 1 to 441 and 444-838]-(12 of which the last is blank) pp., softbound, smooth spines with title and call number labels; binding a little worn with tear on second board, marginal wetness, small worm work on first ff. of vol. II and tear on last ff. of vol. II (contemporary binding). LARGE-PART ORIGINAL EDITION, the first complete, of Ludovico Marracci's Great Work. "THE FIRST EUROPEAN EXAMPLE OF A PROPERLY PHILOLOGICAL WORK ON THE TEXT OF THE QUR'AN" (Tristan Vigliano). The first, originally published in 1691 (Prodromus ad refutationem Alcorani, intermediate title of 1st vol.), is a vast introduction including a life of Mohammed and a general critique of the Islamic religion and Muslim mores, with an appendix of the Catholic profession of faith translated into Arabic. The second part, which appears here in its original edition (Refutatio Alcorani, general title of vol. II), comprises a complete Arabic edition and Latin translation of the Koran, with critical commentary in Latin. The edition of the Koran text in Arabic characters, here vocalized with diacritical marks, is the first complete Arabic edition to be truly distributed: the edition printed in Venice around 1537-1538 is only known in a single copy, and the edition given in Hamburg in 1694 was not a success (it was not accompanied by a translation). Ludovico Marracci later clarified that the Arabic text of his book had been the responsibility of the typesetter and was not exactly the version he himself had used, but the lesson is now considered to be very accurate. Ludovico Marracci's Latin translation, meanwhile, "is the most remarkable translation of the Koran produced at the beginning of the modern European era. No other translation of the Koranic text has achieved such philological accuracy, and no one has based his work on such a large collection of Islamic commentaries" (Federico Stella). It outclasses the Latin translations that preceded it, including that of Robert de Ketton, written in 1143 at the request of Cluny abbot Pierre le Vénérable in the early days of the Reconquista in Spain, and first printed in 1543 in Zurich. The two earlier vernacular translations are also scientifically modest works, the Italian one by Castrodardo (1547), and the French one by Du Ryer (1647). As for Ludovico Marracci's critical commentaries, while they draw on a few works by Jewish and pagan authors, they are distinguished above all by the then unprecedented recourse to a whole section of Islamic exegesis, notably the writings of Ibn Abī Zamanīn, al-Mahāllī and al-Suyūtī, al-Baydāwī, al-Zamahšarī and al-Ta(labī. Thus, "the Alcorani textus universus marks an important milestone for Christian and European orientalists of the following century. It was widely cited until at least the middle of the 19th century" (Federico Stella). FORTY YEARS OF WORK, BUT ALSO OF STRUGGLE AGAINST CENSORSHIP. Ludovico Marraci began his work on the Koran in the 1650s, and as he read more and more Arabic commentaries, he regularly revised his Latin translation. The question of editing and translating the Koran was in itself open to question in Europe and within the Church: Pope Alexander VII (1655-1667), for example, strongly opposed it, and it was not until the pontificate of Innocent XI (1676-1689) that tolerance was restored in this respect. However, although several cardinals, including Gregorio Barbarigo, supported Ludovico Marracci in his undertaking, various errors and misgivings within the Curia (notably the Holy Office) and the Propaganda fide printing house delayed the issuing of an imprimatur, which was initially restricted to the Prodromus (1691). The Latin translation with Arabic edition went to press in 1692 and was published in 1698, but in Padua and with the approval of only two members of the religious order to which Marracci belonged. ONE OF THE GREAT ORIENTALISTS OF THE SEVENTH CENTURY, LUDOVICO MARRACCI (1612-1700) was a native of Tuscany who joined the Order of Clerics Regular of the Mère de DIeu. He was

Estim. 3 000 - 4 000 EUR

Lot 6 - HUGO (Victor). Les Orientales. Paris, Gosselin, Bossange, 1829. In-8, (4 of which last blank)-xi-[one blank]-424 pp., publisher's prospectus (16 pp.), midnight-blue morocco, spine ribbed, partitioned and decorated, multiple gilt fillets with corner fleurons framing the boards, gilt wavy fillet on the edges, interior framing in the same leather decorated with a gilt frieze, linings and endpapers in blue-gray moire, gilt edges, covers and spine preserved; edges and corners a little rubbed (Canape.R.D. - 1923). FIRST EDITION. ONE OF 300 COPIES WITH NO PRINTING DATE, AND ONE OF THE FEW TO HAVE THE FAMOUS PROSPECTUS BY SAINTE-BEUVE. It includes Victor Hugo's important preface, dated January 1829: "this preface can be considered both as a Romantic manifesto of capital importance and as a first step towards the doctrine of Art pour l'Art, which will lead to Parnassian poetry" (Élisabeth Barineau). Illustrated with drawings by painter Louis-Candide Boulanger, a close friend of Victor Hugo and a familiar figure in Romantic circles: copper-engraved frontispiece by Charles Cousin printed on Chine appliqué entitled "Clair de lune", wood-engraved vignette to the title entitled "Les Djinns". BEAUTIFUL EXAMPLE, ENRICHED with 2 pieces: - Another proof of the frontispiece, this one on chine azuré appliqué. - HEREDIA (José-Maria de). Autograph letter signed [to Victor Hugo]. Paris, January 23, 1877. "Monsieur and revered master, my poor dear mother died suddenly yesterday. She passed away in my arms as gently as she had lived. You had been her first and deepest admiration, when she lived in the woods of the island of Cuba. The day before she died, at the age of seventy, she was enthusiastically rereading Les Orientales for us. She was as intelligent as she was kind. She leaves an indelible mark on all those who knew her. I didn't want to send you, illustrious and revered master, a banal letter of invitation. The funeral will take place tomorrow, Wednesday, at 10 3/4 a.m. in the church of Saint-François-Xavier, boulevard des Invalides...". Provenance: Dr. Lucien-Graux (leather bookplate) then Charles Hayoit (leather bookplate).

Estim. 400 - 500 EUR

Lot 7 - HUGO (Victor). Châtiments. [On the title:] Genève et New York, 1853. [Verso du faux-titre:]. In-32, (4 of which the last blank)-III-(1 blank)-392 pp, red morocco, double gilt fillet framing the boards and entrenerfs and decorating the edges, gilt lace inner frame, gilt edges, covers and spine (tarnished and restored) preserved (P.L.MARTIN). UNEXPURGATED FIRST EDITION. Châtiments was published in November 1853 in two different editions, both paid for by the publisher Jules Hetzel, then in exile in Brussels, and both printed in that city by the same typesetter Henri Samuel. The first, avowedly published, presents a redacted version of a large part of the poems and all the names of the people attacked by Hugo; the other, clandestine and offering the full text, as here, bears the fictitious address of Geneva and New York with mention of the Imprimerie universelle in Jersey, and went through several printings.

Estim. 500 - 600 EUR

Lot 8 - IONESCO (Eugène). Le Rhinocéros. [Paris], Gallimard, [1959]. In-16, [including the first 2 blank]-198-(10 including those on the blank versos) pp. mosaic binding of various types of leather in shades of gray and brown with blue fillets, calf and gray and brown box linings edge to edge, blue-gray calf endpapers, gilt edges, covers and spines preserved, lined brown calf spine and flaps folder with gray and brown paper boards with blue fillets, lined slipcase; slipcase a little rubbed (C. Léonard). FIRST EDITION, ONE OF 13 NUMBERED HEAD COPIES ON VELIN DE HOLLANDE. BEAUTIFUL BINDING SIGNED BY CHRISTINE LEONARD.

Estim. 300 - 400 EUR

Lot 9 - LAM (Wilfredo). - CHAR (René). Le Rempart de brindilles. [Paris], Louis Broder, collection " Écrits et gravures " (imprimerie Union), 1953. Small in-4, 44 [of which the first 6 blank]-(12 of which the last 7 blank) pp. in sheets with publisher's cover, wallet and cardboard slipcase. ORIGINAL EDITION, 150 numbered copies on Rives vellum, 120 of which are illustrated and signed by the author and the artist, including this one, one of 20 hors commerce, n°XIV for Louis Barnier, director of Imprimerie Union. COLOR ILLUSTRATION BY WILFREDO LAM. 5 compositions, i.e.: 4 full-page included in the pagination, and one signed covering the entire cover. With a drawing reproduced on the slipcase. First published collaboration between the poet and the artist.

Estim. 1 500 - 2 000 EUR

Lot 10 - MIRÓ (Joan). - JARRY (Alfred). Ubu roi. Paris, Tériade éditeur, 1966. In-folio, (8 blank)-133-(15 of which the last 11 are blank) pp. in sheets with publisher's cloth-covered hardback folder and slipcase. EDITION ISSUED IN 205 NUMEROTES SIGNED BY THE ARTIST, the present copy among the XXV hors commerce. LITHOGRAPHIC COLOR ILLUSTRATION BY JOAN MIRO: 13 double-page plates out of text.

Estim. 5 000 - 6 000 EUR

Lot 11 - PANAMÁ (Canal de). - BUNAU-VARILLA (Philippe). Panama. The creation. The destruction. The resurrection. Paris, Librairie Plon, 1913. Fort in-8, (6 of which the first and last are blank)-II-774-(2 of which the last is blank) pp. brown morocco, ribbed spine, "Panama" gilded in the center of the first cover in a mosaic polychrome floral decoration, gilt head, covers preserved; spine slightly faded, one corner trimmed to the last leaves (École Estienne 1914). FIRST EDITION. With 20 ff. out of text, i.e.: 17 ff. of photographic plates (2 under serpents, one with a printed caption), one f. of maps, 2 ff. of topographical profiles). SIGNED AUTOGRAPH ENVOIY "to Monsieur Jules Madeline, President of "Le Matin". Please accept this book as a token of my friendship. Its philosophical purpose is to teach that truth is to be found in facts, not opinions. As such, it will correspond to the tendencies of your mind... April 25, 1913." EXAMPLE ENRICHED WITH AN AUTOGRAPHIC LETTER SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR to Jules Madeline: "You have kindly contributed to the cordial and flattering demonstration by which my friends have wished to celebrate the happy outcome of my efforts to save the glorious Panama venture from shameful oblivion and to render to French genius the justice due to its prodigious creation..." (Paris, February 22, 1928). ONE OF THE FATHERS OF THE PANAMA CANAL, PHILIPPE BUNAU-VARILLA, had worked as an engineer alongside Ferdinand de Lesseps, and went on to become Managing Director of the Compagnie universelle du canal interocéanique de Panamá. After the financial scandal, it was he and his brother Maurice who successfully revived the project by securing American support. Philippe Bunau-Varilla and his brother invested part of their earnings in the press, notably in Le Matin, of which they took control - ironically, this newspaper had been owned by Alfred Edwards, implicated in the Panamá affair.

Estim. 150 - 200 EUR

Lot 12 - TRITHEMIUS (Johannes Heidenberg, known as Johannes Tritheim or). Polygraphie, et universelle escriture cabalistique. [On the title:] A Paris, pour Jaques Kerver, 1561. [On the colophon, f. 243 v°:] printed in Paris, by Benoist Prevost, 1561. In-4, (18)-300 ff. including 2 intermediate title ff., printed in places in red and black; stiff parchment, smooth spine with brown title-piece; ink stains to title (modern binding in 18th-century style). ORIGINAL EDITION OF THE FIRST FRENCH TRANSLATION, by Gabriel de Collange, of this treatise originally published in Latin in 1518 by the itinerant bookseller Johann Haselberger, and probably printed in Basel (Polygraphiæ libri sex). LIVRE A SYSTEMES COMPRISING 13 ARTICULATED PRINTED WHEELS. WOOD ENGRAVED ILLUSTRATION: framing repeated three times, on the general title and 2 intermediate titles (with the arms of France, the mark of Jacques Kerver and the emblems and motto of Gabriel de Collange); portrait of the translator (woodcut on verso of each title); ornamentation on and around each rouelle; typographical mark of Jacques Kerver on last page. THE FIRST WORK EVER PRINTED ON CRYPTOGRAPHY, AND AN IMPORTANT MILESTONE IN THE HISTORY OF THIS SCIENCE. Applying rigorous mathematical logic, Trithemius elaborates a system of substitution ciphers with different variations: a polyalphabet consisting of associations of one letter with another letter or a cipher, sometimes using ancient, exotic (e.g. Amharic) or invented alphabets; Latin words corresponding to letters and placed in a prayer (known as "Trithemius' Ave Maria"); invented words each substituting a letter; words in which every second letter must be used to write an encrypted message. Taking all techniques together, Trithemius describes a total of almost 2,000 cryptographic alphabets with countless permutations. These permutations are to be performed in a variety of ways, and for the first time in the history of cryptography, by means of hash tables, precursors of the "Vigenère cipher" (Blaise de Vigenère would add the principle of a key), some of which take the form of articulated wheels. GERMAN HUMANIST, ABBE BENEDICTIN JOHANNES HEIDENBERG (1462-1516), born in Trittenheim and known by the name of Tritheim, was head of the convent of Spanheim from 1483 to 1506, then of that of Würzburg. He was the author of important works of history, hagiography and theology, most of which were published after his death, but were distributed in manuscript form during his lifetime. A great scholar, he frequented the court of Emperor Maximilian, and was in contact with intellectuals such as Johannes Reuchlin, Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim and Jakob Wimpfeling. Nevertheless, some of his work was controversial: his Polygraphie, which was rational but sometimes used signs unknown to the reader, his Steganography, which envisaged communication via supernatural beings, and his treatise Des Sept causes secondes, which evoked the spirits that move the world after God. He also took a keen interest in alchemy, with its essentially spiritual outlook, as can be seen from his correspondence with Paracelsus. These unorthodox aspects of his intellectual activity led to him being accused of witchcraft, notably by the French humanist Charles de Bovelles, and to a revolt by the monks of his abbey at Spannheim, forcing him to relinquish his directorship.

Estim. 1 200 - 1 500 EUR

Lot 13 - VLAMINCK (Maurice de). Poliment. Paris, Librairie Stock, 1931. In-16, 195 [of which the first 2 blank]-(one blank) pp. paperback. Published the same year as the original. EXEMPLAIRE ENRICHED WITH AN ORIGINAL SIGNED AUTOPORTRAIT AND A SIGNED AUTOGRAPHIC SENTENCE, both in graphite: "Dear Paul, you ask me for a definitive dedication. What can I offer you, if not this piece of me, Politely, a little of my hand, a little of my head...". Maurice de Vlaminck portrayed himself in bust form, front-on, smoking a pipe (full-page). Paul Pétridès (1901-1993), an important gallery owner, counted Maurice de Vlaminck among the first artists he exhibited.

Estim. 200 - 300 EUR

Lot 14 - SET of 6 bound volumes. CLEOMEDE. Meteora græce et latine. Burdigalæ, apud Simonem Milangium, 1605. In-4, supple gilt parchment; heavy spotting (contemporary binding). - DELLA PORTA (Giambattista)]. De Furtivis literarum notis vulgo de Ziferis libri quinque. Neapoli, apud Joannem Baptistam Subtilem, 1602. In-folio, stiff replacement parchment, cardboard slipcase (modern binding). New, enlarged edition of this work originally published in 1563. - GIDE (André). Les Cahiers d'André Walter. Typescript. [Probably 1920-1930]. In-4, cloth-backed paperback volume, shabby hardback folder and slipcase. Preparatory volume for a reprint. - LA RUE (Charles)]. Manuscript entitled "Astrologiæ nova methodus". [17th century]. In-folio, semi-hard parchment (period binding), modern drawings on boards, cardboard slipcase (modern slipcase). Copy of a work published anonymously by Charles La Rue, a Capuchin under the name Yves de Paris. The print was condemned to the fire. - LEFEVRE D'ÉTAPLES (Jacques)]. In hoc opere continentur totius philosophiæ naturalis [Aristotelis] paraphrases. Parisiis, ex officina Simonis Colinæi, 1521. In-folio, brown calf with cold decoration on wooden boards; first cover detached (contemporary binding). - SAINT-CYRAN (Jean Duvergier de Hauranne, abbé de)]. Manuscript entitled "De la pauvreté". [17th century]. In-4, approx. 65 pp. in stiff antique parchment with later ink title on spine, volume housed in black chagrin-backed slipcase (Ateliers Laurenchet). Almost complete copy of his Pensées chrétiennes sur la pauvreté (originally published in 1670), with the exception of the beginning and end of the text. Followed by a French translation of some psalms, and finally the French translation of part of a letter by Saint Bernard. Antique inscription in ink on one endpaper: "De la bibliothèque de la chevalière d'Éon".

Estim. 1 000 - 1 500 EUR

Lot 15 - SET of 15 printed volumes and one photograph. CLAUDEL (Paul). Le Chemin de la croix. Paris, Guido Colucci, 1944. Large in-4, half-black banded morocco with white parchment patches on boards, signed by Hoche Bellevallée, lined slipcase. Edition of 250 numbered copies, this one of 200 on auvergne. Illustrations in the text by Gio COLUCCI, including one full-page illustration. - JOB BOOK (LE). Nice, chez Joseph Pardo (Sefer), 1961. In-folio, brown morocco signed by Bellevallée, edged slipcase. Edition of 249 numbered copies on Docelles vellum. Copper-engraved illustrations by Marc DAUTRY, enhanced with color. Copy incomplete of the justification leaf. - MONTHERLANT (Henry de). Encore un instant de bonheur. [Paris], Société du livre d'art, 1955. In-folio, half-garnet morocco with corners signed by Hoche Bellevallée. Edition printed on Vidalon vellum at 150 numbered copies, including this one. Copper-engraved illustrations in the text by Jean CARTON, including several full-page illustrations. Enriched with one of the 20 unnumbered suites on Montval crème of rejected plates. - PASSION SELON SAINT LUC (LA). Paris, Pierre Bricage, 1959. In-folio, burgundy morocco signed by Hoche Bellevallée. Edition of 104 copies on straw-colored strong paper, numbered and signed by the artist, this one no. 70. Color illustrations by Aimé Daniel STEINLEN. Enriched with 3 original color drawings signed by the artist. - STENDHAL (Henri Beyle, dit). Life of Napoleon. Boulouris [Saint-Raphaël], aux éditions du Baniyan, 1965. In-folio, dark green half-maroquin with corners signed by Hoche Bellevallée. Numbered copy on Lana vellum. Color illustrations in the text by Jean GRADASSI, including several full-page ones. - Etc. ALBIN-GUILLOT (Laure). Photograph of a still life with roses. Signed print, framed under passe-partout.

Estim. 200 - 300 EUR

Lot 16 - BARTHOLDI (Auguste). Autograph letter signed to a "dear Monsieur". Paris, October 28, 1881. 2 pp. 1/2 in-8, letterhead printed with his monogram. "If I have delayed replying to your kind letter, it is because I HAVE BEEN SO BUSY SINCE THESE LAST DAYS, WITH THE AFFAIRS OF MY AMERICAN STATUE. I was very pleased to learn that my proposal was acceptable to you, because I was having a hard time getting the Rouget de Lisle statue done, and the foundrymen's demands made it impossible for me to get it done. I will be ready at the time you indicate, and this will enable me to study and work on my work this winter with all the care and pleasure I am happy to bring to it. I thank you very much for your gracious thoughts for me, I have already seen myself dismissed several times in official awards by more active candidates than myself; but I have always preferred to wait for these things from the spontaneity of events or the influence of people who esteem me. I am very touched... by the sentiments you have expressed to me on this occasion. I have taken good note of your observations concerning the count's crown and the inscriptions. I will need a drawing that could be submitted to the Council for approval. As for the inscriptions proposed by M. de Ronchaud [historian and director of national museums Louis de Ronchaud], I'm very happy with them; for I've already looked to see if I could find something in Victor Hugo; I'll draw up a layout for the side panels...". THE STATUE OF LIBERTY was designed by the sculptor Auguste Bartholdi, with a metal structure by the architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc and then by the engineer Gustave Eiffel. It took almost ten years to complete, from the first works in 1875 to its installation and inauguration in New York in 1886. - As for the statue by Claude-Joseph ROUGET DE LISLE, it was the subject of a national subscription under the honorary presidency of Victor Hugo, and was inaugurated in Lons-le-Saunier, the birthplace of the author of La Marseillaise, in August 1882. "WE ARE SURROUNDED BY MARVELS, IT'S A MATTER OF SEEING THEM AND MAKING THEM SEEN...".

Estim. 300 - 400 EUR

Lot 17 - BRASSAÏ (Gyula Halász, known as). Autograph manuscript, in French. 1936-1937 and n.d. 14 ff., i.e.: 9 ff. in-4 of which 8 recto-verso, and 5 miscellaneous small-format clippings handwritten on the recto, all mounted on tabs on large in-4 paper leaves bound in a black half-maroquin volume, smooth spine with title in white letters and numerals; torn leaves restored (Ateliers Laurenchet). FRAGMENTS FROM HIS DIARY: "... Paris, March 4, 1936... Visit from photographer Dretxol [František Drtikol?], who has just returned from South America, having traveled 35,000 kilometers by rail, airplane, horseback, etc., through Bolivia, Chile, Peru, etc., with his camera. We are surrounded by marvels, it's a question of seeing them and making them seen. It almost saddened me to see how poor was the result of such a wonderful journey through such exotic countries and lands. Not one really striking, human photo. As ALL EMOTION COMES FROM THE HUMAN, how can you expect emotion from something where the whole point is based on the exotic... " He also talks about a mixed process of photography modified by "scratching" on a plate that he invented, his long-standing passion for photographing Parisian nights, his aversion to specialization in art, and so on. Provenance: "le fonds Mélusine" bookplate.

Estim. 600 - 800 EUR

Lot 18 - CASSATT (Mary). Autograph letter signed to Achille Segard. Villa Angeletto in Grasse, "December 31st" [1912]. 3 pp. 1/2 in-12, mourning border. "I HAVE JUST READ YOUR ARTICLE ON DEGAS [in L'Echo de Paris], it was given to me by M. Durand-Ruel [the art dealer Paul Durand-Ruel, close to the Impressionists], he is visiting Renoir to recover from the fatigue of the Rouart sale [the first two parts of the sale of the Rouart collection took place from December 9 to 18, 1912, with Paul Durand Ruel as expert]. I read your article with great interest. Degas was never awarded the Prix de Rome, and the very idea would make him jump... I DON'T THINK IT'S FAIR TO SAY THAT WOMEN... DIDN'T LIKE HIS ART. The first Degas to go to America was bought by a young girl, and I know of others, and at the sale several women were among the buyers. We would have liked to have been, only the prices were so much higher than we supposed they would be. A friend left a price of 75,000 fcs for Les Modistes and didn't get it... Here we've had a lot of sun, but it's taken me a while to acclimatize and I haven't gone back to work yet..." The Impressionist painter Mary Cassatt was one of the few to find favor in the critical eyes of Edgar Degas: the two artists struck up a friendship that was not without its storms, due to their strong characters. In May 1913, writer and art and literature critic Achille Segard published the first-ever study of Mary Cassatt: Un Peintre des enfants et des mères (A Painter of Children and Mothers), published by Ollendorff. Mary Cassatt.

Estim. 200 - 300 EUR

Lot 19 - DAVID (Jacques-Louis). Autograph letter signed at the top, addressed to Ignazio Degotti. S.l.n.d. 3/4 p. in-12. "David wishes Monsieur Dégoti good morning: he asks him not to miss today the pleasure he gives him every Monday[s] of dining together, and to come even at 3 a.m. to his studio to measure a figure he wants to place before going to dinner. Verbal or written reply to Thévenot, my servant. My wife recommends that I wish you good morning." Ignazio Degotti, an Italian theater decorator, settled in France in 1790 and was appointed chief decorator at the Opéra in 1795. He was asked by David to collaborate on the architectural perspectives for his paintings Le Sacre de Napoléon and L'Arrivée de l'empereur à l'hôtel de ville.

Estim. 200 - 300 EUR

Lot 20 - GREUZE (Jean-Baptiste). Autograph letter signed to Jean Tupinier. S.l., 10 nivôse an VII [December 30, 1798]. One p. in-4, address on back. "My dear compatriot, I could not be more worried about your health. It has been so long since I received any news from you, that I fear I have lost your friendship, or that you are ill; these two events would make me inconsolable; if you have any friendship for me, write to me as soon as you can, if you want to put my mind at rest. I feel that my attachment must be a burden to you; I know how much trouble you have taken for me. I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT MY GRATITUDE, WHICH WILL BE BOUNDLESS FOR EVER. It would give me the greatest pleasure if you could sell the house from my brother's estate as soon as possible. I have very important reasons for asking you to do so. If there are any other recoveries, you will make them later. I embrace you with all my heart and am for life your good friend Greuze. Please present my respectful homage to m[a]d[am]e your wife. My children send you a thousand millions of friendship. JEAN-BAPTISTE GREUZE PAINTED THE PORTRAIT OF JEAN TUPINIER. A former bailiff-judge in Greuze's native Tournus, Jean Tupinier (1753-1816) was a judge at the Court of Cassation (1791), a member of the Council of Five Hundred (1797), then a member of the Conservative Senate (1802) and a representative in the Chamber during the Hundred Days (1815). Thanks to him, Jean-Baptiste Greuze, virtually ruined by paper money and a spendthrift wife, managed to win a crucial lawsuit concerning the inheritance of his brother Jacques Greuze, an emigrant priest. In gratitude, he portrayed Jean Tupinier.

Estim. 200 - 300 EUR

Lot 21 - MAGRITTE (René). Autograph letter signed to writer Marcel Béalu. Brussels, [September 21, 1953 according to postmark]. One p. 3/4 in-8, signed envelope retained. "My dear Béalu, thank you for "La Légende des siècles" [published by Marcel Béalu in 1953, with illustrations by Flora Klee-Palyi], which I immediately read with great attention. What strikes me as very commendable - in addition to the qualities of your writing - is that the "subject" you're talking about is hardly "interesting" to those who assess a subject by its "topical" capacity. And yet, IF THERE IS ONE REALLY topical subject, IT IS LIFE AND DEATH. We can honestly say that insofar as something is "topical", such as a sensational political speech, it is totally impotent when it comes to what really concerns us. Your "Legend of the Centuries" escapes the impotence of most literary exercises, which are the delights of the amusing or sinister maniacs who are strictly linked to "current affairs" - "the chubby, pink old men" says much more than the laborious scientific works which, believing themselves to be concerned with life and death, are talking about something else altogether: strictly science. So, fortunately, scientific investigation could only talk nonsense (or deflect the question) if it ventured to explain to you why "everything around him and his own stay in these places had no more reality than dreams." Sincerely yours... " ATTACHED: RAFFAËLLI (Jean-François). Autograph letter signed. Paris, May 28, 1917. "I have given such a number, and for such a value, of my paintings that I cannot send you anything..." (3/4 p. in-12). "LE PAYS... IS HOWEVER VERY BEAUTIFUL... I WORK THERE A LOT (DRAWINGS, WATERCOLORS, PAINTING)...".

Estim. 200 - 300 EUR

Lot 22 - MATISSE (Henri). Autograph letter signed to art critic Louis Vauxcelles. COLLIOURE, June 22, 1905. 2 pp. in-8; some cracks at folds. "Mr. Pierrefort [Parisian lithographer and gallery owner] told me that you were very interested in the TABLEAU DE FLEURS THAT I HAVE EXHIBITED at his place and that you must have mentioned it in the "Gil Blas" 8 or 10 days ago. I would like to thank you again for your great interest in my work, and as I am very anxious to know your criticism, finding myself in a hole where we can only get La Dépêche from Toulouse and L'Indépendant from Perpignan,... I have therefore come to ask you to send me the issue of Gil Blas containing your assessment of the Pierrefort exhibition. The country where I'm staying until September, although devoid of Parisian newspapers, is nevertheless very beautiful and has remained unchanged or almost unchanged for a hundred years; I'm doing a lot of work there (drawings, watercolors, painting) and I hope to bring back some pretty good stuff...". CELEBRATED FOR HAVING ORIGINATED THE EXPRESSIONS "FAUVISME" AND "CUBISME", LOUIS VAUXCELLES (1870-1943), born Louis Mayer, was an important art critic.

Estim. 400 - 500 EUR

Lot 23 - MATISSE (Henri). Autograph card signed with his initials TO HENRY DE MONTHERLANT. Nice, October 15, 1942 [according to postmark]. One p. in-12; on verso, personal address signed "Henri Matisse" and address of recipient. "Dear friend, I understand what you are writing to me about the publishers from whom you are estranged. However, I would like to write to them. As they sent me 4 ex[em]pl[aires] without a word, I don't know their address. Please be so kind as to send it to me. Take care of yourself and be in good health. As for me, I'm a bit under the weather: the gall bladder has set in - in spite of everything, the center is good and I'm WORKING WELL - fortunately. When will I have the great pleasure of seeing you around? Best regards... " Henri Matisse illustrated Pasiphaé by Henry de Montherlant: the book was published in 1944 in Paris by Martin Fabiani. "THESE LAST WORKS (WITH RED) ARE MORE "REAL", THE OTHERS ARE MORE SPIRITUAL..."

Estim. 200 - 300 EUR

Lot 24 - MONDRIAN (Pieter Cornelis Mondriaan, known as Piet). Autograph letter signed "Piet Mondrian", in French, [to Alfred Roth]. [Paris], "rue du Départ 26", "sept. 2 pp. in-8. "Mon très cher ami, JE SUIS TRES CONTENT que vous avez du travail et que vous pensez à mon art et à moi, et QUE VOUS AIMERIEZ AVOIR UNE TOILE DE MOI PRES DE VOUS. I would have sent you one already, if various exhibitions weren't taking all my work. I've sent a painting to Barcelona, 4 to Zürich, where a major exhibition is soon to open. And in Amsterdam, there are two exhibitions, one in Oct. and one in Nov. Maybe I'll have one painting left in Nov. to send you. PLEASE WRITE TO ME IF YOU PREFER BLUE AND YELLOW, WHITE AND GRAY OR RED, A LITTLE BLUE AND YELLOW AND WHITE AND GRAY. The latter works (with red) are more "real", the others more spiritual, more or less. And if I can send it to you postage due, because I haven't sold for a long time. The official price is now 3000 franç[ais] at least. but for you, 1500 fr. is fine. I sold some works by Stam [avant-garde Dutch architect, town planner and decorator Mart Stam] in the spring in Frankfurt: the painting you liked so much he bought himself for 3000 fr. He's making some money now and it's very kind of him to think of me!..." ALFRED ROTH (1903-1998) WAS ONE OF THE MAIN MODERNIST ARCHITECTS OF HIS TIME: through his buildings, his publications (La Nouvelle architecture, 1940) and his teaching, he was the central figure of the Neues Bauen.

Estim. 1 000 - 1 500 EUR

Lot 25 - MONET (Claude). Autograph letter signed to Gustave Geffroy. Giverny, July 5, 1899. 2 pp. in-8, letterhead printed at his address, mourning border, envelope retained. "My dear friend, it is with all my heart that I send you these three hundred francs, happy to participate in your good deed, and since I know you are in Paris, I repeat my request that you come and spend a day in Giverny. You'll find me hard at work. It didn't happen on its own, as I hadn't worked for 18 months, I wasn't there at all, and I HAD TO HAVE A LOT OF WILL TO CONTINUE, because I WAS ONLY MAKING PORK. Anyway, I'm not giving up and I'm starting to get the hang of it... It's been a long time since we've seen each other, so please come without delay, you'll give us great pleasure. Yours in friendship..."

Estim. 300 - 400 EUR

Lot 26 - MONET (Claude). Autograph letter signed to Blanche Hoschedé. London, March 16, 1900. 4 pp. 1/2 in-12, printed letterhead from the Savoy Hotel in London. BEAUTIFUL LETTER EVOKING HIS WORK ON THE LONDON PARLIAMENT. Claude Monet first visited this city in the winter of 1870-1871, and, cultivating the friendship of painters James McNeill Whistler and John Singer Sargent, returned on several occasions. Fascinated by the light and colors of the London fog, he painted its effects in numerous pictures, notably during a stay from February to April 1900, in a series devoted to the Westminster Parliament. "It's to you, my dear little Blanche, that I'm writing today, first because I owe you a letter, and then so that your mother won't be without news... I'M CONTINUING TO PICTURE CLOSELY, I'VE STARTED MY FIFTIETH PAINTING A LITTLE while ago, and that's to tell you that I don't often go unpainted, that it's enough to drive you crazy with all the changes... I'm doing absolutely fine, ... I sleep like a clog, ... I find London more beautiful to paint every day... " Blanche Hoschedé was doubly Claude Monet's daughter-in-law, as the child of his second wife, Alice Raingo, and as the wife of Jean Monet, the painter's son. She was also Claude Monet's model, and in a way his pupil, frequently painting with him on the spot.

Estim. 500 - 600 EUR

Lot 27 - PISSARRO (Camille). Letter signed to his wife Julie Vellay. Hôtel Continental, Le Havre, August 20, 1903. One p. 1/3 in-8. In a delicate financial situation, Camille Pissarro had accepted collector Pieter Van de Velde's invitation to come to Le Havre to paint a series of views of the port, which was undergoing major changes at the time. The artist died a few weeks later in November 1903. " ... The weather here is also dreadful, with sunshine here and there. All the same, I've done a lot of work. The museum's buying committee offered to take a canvas of 15 at 2,500 fcs, or two at 4,000 each. I've accepted these prices, but there's nothing definite yet. Mr Van de Velde is due to bring me an amateur today or tomorrow. I hope to make a better deal, as these paintings seem to be very successful and are of great interest to the people of Le Havre because of the motifs that are due to disappear due to the construction of the new port... Mr. Van de Velde has been most charming to me, full of thoughtfulness. He is still in the country with his family, I went there, it's a quarter of an hour from here..."

Estim. 200 - 300 EUR

Lot 28 - RENOIR (Auguste). Autograph letter signed "Renoir" [to his wife Aline Charigot]. [Paris], "Monday, December 1st" [1902]. One p. in-8. "My dear friend, I'm keeping Jean [his son, the future filmmaker] all week on the doctor's advice.... Nothing serious if he stays at home, but at [the institution] Ste-Croix it could have become serious. I think I told you to do what you want with the servants, it would even be better to keep them again this winter (IN PARIS, I WOULD NEED GABRIELLE), so we need someone. As for the horse, I'll have to leave it in Essoyes [his wife's home town in Champagne]. It will be cheaper to rent a car by the month if I need it. Baptistin will find it for me. I send my love to Claude [the painter's other son] and you..." Aline Charigot, Pierre-Auguste Renoir's wife, was also his model, as was Gabrielle Renard, their indispensable maid. ATTACHED: GUITRY (Sacha). 3 autograph poetic manuscripts. Variations on the same poem dedicated to "the hair of our mistresses" (7 to 9 verses, each on one oblong folio page).

Estim. 200 - 300 EUR

Lot 29 - RENOIR (Auguste). Autograph letter signed "Renoir" to Maurice Gangnat. [Paris, October 12, 1918, according to the postmark]. One p. in-16, address on back. "My dear friend, I am so tired of everything, still suffering, that I was obliged to refuse the sale to three art dealers who broke their noses. I'm in too much pain not to do much that I won't let my canvas out..." MAURICE GANGNAT (1856-1924), a great admirer of Impressionist paintings, was a wealthy industrialist in the metal industry. His collection was auctioned in 1925 at Hôtel Drouot.

Estim. 200 - 300 EUR

Lot 30 - CHARLES VIII. Letter signed "Charles" TO LODOVICO SFORZA. Lyon, April 16 [1494]. One p. in-8 oblong, address on back. "MON COUSIN, LE CAPPITAINE DIMENCHE DU REGNIER S'EN VA PAR-DELA POUR RECOUVRER SA PLACE DE BON VOISIN ASSISE OU MARQUISAT DE SALUCES que luy detient Anthoine-Marie de Sainct-Severin ainsi qu'il m'a dit, aussi pour avoir son droit de la succession de Becquerie qui luy appartient a cause de sa grant-mere, et pour ce que, obstant mon service ou tousjours ledit cappitaine a été occupé, n'a plus tost aller par-dela, vous prye que luyillez estre ardant envers ledit de Sainct-Severin a ce qu'il puisse recouvrer sadite place et touchant ladite succession assise ou conté de Pavye et duché de Millan, luy faire bonne et briefve expedicion de justice, et vous me fera en ce faisant plaisir très agreable, et adieu mon cousin... " CHARLES VIII THEN PREPARED HIS EQUIPMENT FOR NAPLES, intending to take possession of the throne taken by the Aragonese from the House of Anjou, whose rights he had inherited. It was from Lyon that he would set out in September 1494 to wage what has since been referred to as the first "Italian War". REGENT AND FUTURE DUKE OF MILAN (December 1494), LODOVICO SFORZA (1452-1508) then bore the title of Duke of Bari ("my cousin the Duke of Bar"), and was still allied with France. - CONDOTTIERE ANTONIO-MARIA SANSEVERINO ("Anthoine-Marie de Sainct-Severin"), then in the service of Lodovico Sforza, was soon to switch to that of Charles VIII. - MAITRE D'HOTEL DU ROI AND CAPTAIN OF 100 LANCES, DIMANCHE DU RAYNIER was a Piedmontese who entered French service, and settled in Touraine after marrying a woman from the Maison de Maillé: grandson of Marquis Thomas de Saluces (died 1416) and Marguerite de Pierrepont (died 1419), he claimed a share of the inheritance of the Beccaria family, allied to the Saluces. ATTACHED, an early handwritten copy of a decision by the Parlement de Paris (1483) overturning a sentence by the seneschal of Poitou, the famous memorialist PHILIPPE DE COMMYNES (12 pp. 1/2 in-folio).

Estim. 600 - 800 EUR

Lot 31 - FRANÇOIS II. Letter signed "Françoys" "à noz tré chers grandz amys les duc, seigneurie Républicque de Gennes et protecteurs de l'Office S[ain]t George" countersigned by Florimond Robertet as Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. Fontainebleau, July 28, 1560. one p. oblong folio, address on back, wax armorial seal under paper; small cracks due to the letter's closing system, 4 perforations with damage to 2 words, cracks in folds, one long one partly restored. "Trés chers et gradz amys, le collonnel Sampetro Corse nous a fait remonstrer entendre les reffuz et difficultez qui luy sont par vous faictes de rendre les maison, biens et deniers qui appartenoient au sr Alphonse son filz et a la signore Vannina sa femme... Nous vous prions, aultant affectue que faire povons adce que pour amour et en faveur de nous, vous soyez contans de rendre et faire rendre aud[ict] Alphonse son filz et a sad[icte] femme lesd[icts] maison, biens et deniers que vous leur retenez sans les laisser travailler pour le paiement desd[icts] deniers et vaisselle d'argent perduz..." RARE DOCUMENT SIGNED BY KING FRANÇOIS II, THEN THIRTEEN YEARS OLD, whose reign, under his mother Catherine de Médicis, was very short, from July 10, 1559 to his death on December 5, 1560.

Estim. 800 - 1 000 EUR

Lot 32 - ANJOU (François de Valois, Duc d'). Letter signed with 4 autograph words, addressed to Duke Charles III of Lorraine. Mante, June 18, 1581. 2/3 p. folio, trace of tab on verso; small cracks due to the letter's closing system and traces of red wax seal. "Mon frère, vous avez bien entendu qu'avec instante priere re[quê]te de messres du clergé, noblesse tiers estat de Cambray et du pais de Cambresis, j'ai accepté leur protection; incité aussi à ce devoir par les mauvais comporttemens des ministres du roy d'Espagne en leur endroict. Now that they are oppressed and for a long time under siege, I have deliberated on my promise to help them, and for this purpose HAVE RAISED A TROUPPE OF A MILLION REISTERS WHO CANNOT COME TO MOY WITHOUT PASSING THROUGH SOME ENDROICT OF YOUR LANDS. JE VOUS PRIE ME VOULOIR TANT GRATIFIER QUE DE M'ACCORDER LEDICT PASSAGE, avec asseurance que je vous donne que ilz se comporteront de sorte que voz subjectz n'en recevront aucune incommodité, et vous m'obligerez a recongnoistre ce plaisir par tous les bons moiens que vous vouldir desirer de moi qui, sur l'assuran[ce] que j'ai que vous me vouldrez accorder ceste priere, req[es]te, je suppayayay le Createur, mon frère, qu'il vous donne, en santé, heureuse longue vie... [in the hand of the Duc d'Anjou:] Vostre trés affectionné frere Françoys " AMBITIOUS PERSONALITY IN THE TIME OF THE RELIGION WAR, FRANÇOIS DE DE VALOIS (1554-1584) was the last son of Henri II and Catherine de Médicis. He was the youngest son, small in stature, scarred by a severe case of smallpox, and initially confined to subordinate commands, fostering great jealousy of his brothers. A strong personality, cultured, not very religious, bisexual, and able to create a clientele among both Catholic and Protestant nobility, he frequented the malcontents and took part in conspiracies. In 1575, he left the Court and entered into open rebellion, until the so-called Peace of Beaulieu, concluded in 1576, under the terms of which he was made Duke of Anjou with a rich apanage. He did not cease his agitation, however, allowing his favorites to be insolent at Court, illegally raising troops, and corresponding directly with foreign sovereigns and princes. Recognized as Count of Flanders and Duke of Brabant by the rebels in the Spanish Netherlands, the Duke of Anjou led a military intervention of his own accord, but without success. Finally, after an abortive marriage to Elizabeth I of England, he refused further marriages and had no heirs, thus contributing to the extinction of the Valois branch.

Estim. 200 - 300 EUR

Lot 33 - HENRI IV (Henri de Bourbon, future). Signed "Henry", countersigned by his secretary Guillaume Arthuys. At the camp in front of Beauvoir-sur-Mer [in present-day Vendée], October 7, 1588. One p. folio, wax seal under paper bearing the arms of the Kingdom of Navarre. Safe-conduct granted to Vendéen gentleman Louis Foucher de Brandeau: "To all governors, capp[itai]nes, chief conductors of men of war, both mounted and foot, mayors, consulz eschevins de villes, m[aistr]es gardes de portz, pontz, passages aultres qu'il appartiendra, nous vous mandons expressement enjoingnons que par chascun de voz pouvoirs, vous laissez librement seurement passer repasser le sr Du Brandeau.... coming to Poictou for his business during a period of three months, without any arrest, displeasure or impediment being made, placed or given to him, but rather to give him all the favour and assistance he may require, with the proviso that he will not commit any hostile act or do anything prejudicial to our party...". DOCUMENT SIGNED DURING THE EIGHTH RELIGION WAR when, as King of Navarre and leader of the Protestant party, the future Henry IV was conducting operations against the Duke of Nevers (who was then fighting in the service of Henry III) while laying siege to the castle of Beauvoir-sur-Mer held by Jean de Mazoyer de Villeserin, head of the guards of the Duke of Mercœur, one of the leaders of the League.

Estim. 600 - 800 EUR

Lot 34 - HENRI IV. Bill signed "Henry", countersigned by his secretary Martin Ruzé de Beaulieu, addressed to Fabien de Roybours. "Au camp devant Rouen", December 13, 1591. One p. in-8 square oblong, address on spine; marginal tears due to opening without affecting text. "I am sending the sr. de Réau to you to let you hear from me something infinitely important to the good of my afferes service. I beg you to believe him as I do myself, and God the Creator, may he have you... in his holy and worthy care...". Fabien de ROYBOURS (sometimes spelled Rebours or Roybous) was then colonel of a regiment of lansquenets in the German army of the Prince of Anhalt in the service of France. - In the service of Henri IV even before his accession to the French throne, Antoine de Moret de REAU carried out numerous diplomatic missions, notably in Germany and England. HENRI IV AT THE CONQUEST OF HIS KINGDOM: Having become king in 1589 following the assassination of Henri III, Henri IV had to fight against the Ligueurs to retake Paris and the provinces north of the Loire, with each side seeking to swell its armies with French and foreign troops: thus, Henri IV, aided by German and Dutch forces, strove to retake Rouen from the Ligue supported by Spanish troops.

Estim. 400 - 500 EUR

Lot 35 - HENRI IV. Autograph letter signed TO THE DUC DE SULLY, WITH AUTOGRAPHIC APOSTILLE FROM THE DUC DE SULLY. Fontainebleau, October 3 [1609]. 3/4 p. in-4, address on spine; long marginal cut due to opening system formerly restored. "Mon amy, je vous fay ce mot pour le sr de Beaumont [Christophe de Harlay de Beaumont, former French ambassador to England], quy le randra vous, pour vous dyre, suyvant le co[m]mandemant que je vous fey[s] dernyeremant a Parys, [que] vous ayés a fere payer la pansyon de cet ho[m]me quy est an Flandres, car yl me peut plus cervyr que jamés, mayntenant que dela on doyt anvoyer un nouvel ambasadeur. Adieu, mon amy..." On the reverse, in his own handwriting, the Duc de Sully inscribed: "Le roy, du 2 octobre, pour un pantionnaire en Angleterre 1609".

Estim. 800 - 1 000 EUR

Lot 36 - SULLY (Maximilien de Béthune de). Autograph letter signed "Maximilian de Bethune", [addressed to Pierre Jeannin]. Paris, May 1609. 2 pp. large folio, a few stains, three reinforced margins. "Monsieur, j'ai ve vu par vos lettres et coppies des actes que m'avés envoyés comme toutes choses se sont passees touchant ce qui concerne les affaires de mon cousin le prince d'Espinoy, par toutes lesquelles choses je juge que vos preudence et fermetté d'esprit sont très necessaires en la conduite et resolution d'une affaire contestee et dont nul autre que vous n'eust obtenu un tel avantage. Therefore, my said cousin and I thank you for so many proofs that you have taken and will remain forever very obliged to you and resolved to repay you with all kinds of services. Now, inasmuch as I foresee that THERE WILL NOT BE DISPUTES AND ANIMOSITES BETWEEN THE PRINCE D'ESPINOY AND THE PRINCESSE DE LIGNE, AND AS I AM RELATED TO BOTH OF THEM, I WILL DESERVE TO RECONCILIATE THEM and see to it that all things pass amicably, I beg you to make some overtures to the Princess de Ligne, either of aliances, marriages or submission of arbitrations such as you will advise for the best, for whatever you resolve I will submit to it, BUT I ASK YOU THAT THE OPENINGS THAT YOU MAKE BE SO CONSIDERED THAT THIS CANNOT PREJECT THE ADVANTAGE IN WHICH WE ARE NOW, BECAUSE OF THE TREATY OF THE TREVE. As for the claims that the Princesse de Ligne may have after the said treatise expires, this is something that will be remedied and that time may yet facilitate, which is why I am in no way advised to be retained from this consideration and aprehension. As for general affairs, I will write nothing to you, deferring everything to Mr de Villeroy's letters and the report that will be made to you by Mr de Préaux [Secretary of State Nicolas de Neufville, seigneur de Villeroy, and Charles de L'Aubespine, abbé de Préaux, envoy extraordinary to the Netherlands, future Garde des Sceaux]. Continués-moy la faveur de vos bonnes graces et faictes estat asseuré de mon affection et fidelle service qui vous sont entièrement aquis. Sur ceste verité, je vous baise les mains..." JEANNIN SENT EXTRAORDINARY TO THE HAGUE. In May 1607, President Jeannin had been sent to The Hague to help ambassador Buzanval negotiate recognition of the independence of the United Provinces, or at least a truce with Spain - Henri IV also asked him to look into a project for a French East India Company. In January 1608, Jeannin secured the signing of a treaty of alliance between France and the United Provinces, and on April 9, 1609, succeeded in securing a truce in hostilities between Spain and the United Provinces (Treaty of Antwerp), a major step towards recognition of the latter's independence. He returned to Paris in the summer of 1609. INHERITANCE DISPUTES IN THE DE SULLY FAMILY AGAINST A BACKDROP OF EUROPEAN TENSIONS. The Duc de Sully was a distant uncle and guardian of Guillaume de Melun (1588-1635), Prince d'Épinay (hereditary constable of Flanders, seneschal and grand bailiff of Hainaut) and his sister Anne-Marie de Melun, Princesse de Ligne. Fatherless since 1594, they came to dispute the inheritance, the Prince d'Épinay supported by Henri IV through Sully, the Princesse de Ligne supported by her husband through the King of Spain. Sully had obtained in 1598 that the Treaty of Vervins include a specific provision concerning his protégés, and obtained again in 1609 that the Treaty of Antwerp devote an article to them. ONE OF THE GREAT DIPLOMATS AND MINISTERS OF THE REGIES OF HENRI IV AND LOUIS XIII, PIERRE JEANNIN (1540-1623) was of modest extraction, and became president of the Dijon parliament (1581). Although a moderate Catholic, he was a loyalist and entered the service of the Duc de Mayenne, for whom he carried out several political and diplomatic missions. In 1595, he rallied to Henri IV, who made him State Councillor the following year and called on him for important diplomatic posts. The 1609 truce between the United Provinces and Spain, for which he was instrumental, earned him praise from Scaliger, Barneveldt and Cardinal Bentivoglio. After the assassination of Henri IV, he was one of the "barbons": Marie de Médicis showed her confidence in him by appointing him Superintendent of Finances, a post he also held under Louis XIII. A collection of his Négociations diplomatiques was published in 1656.

Estim. 400 - 500 EUR

Lot 37 - LOUIS XIII. Letter signed "Louis" TO PRINCE DE CONDE. Paris, December 18, 1626. One p. in-8, address on spine with remnants of red wax armorial stamps, small angular lack. "Mon cousin, aiant fait une assemblee de notables en ma ville de Paris pour avoir leurs advis sur les reglemens que je désire faire pour la reformation de mon Estat, j'ai bien voulu vous en informer avant qu'ils passent outre et vous depecher le sr de Guron [Jean de Rechignevoisin] sur ce subjet pour vous faire connoitre que je seray toujours bien ayse de vous don[n]er part de ce que je delibereray pour le bien de mon royaume, m'asurant que vous le souhetés co[m]me vous y estes obligé, m'estant ce que vous estes, ce qui me convira d'autant plus a vous temoygner la continuation de mon aff[ecti]on d'aussi bon cœur que je prie Dieu, mon cousin, qu'il vous tienne en sa s[ain]te garde... " HENRI II DE BOURBON-CONDE (1588-1646), RIVAL IN LOVE WITH HENRI IV AND REPENTED REBEL: although of Protestant lineage, he was raised Catholic at the express request of the Pope, who demanded this to enable Henry IV's absolution. After marrying Marie de Médicis, the king removed the Prince de Condé from the succession to the throne and, in love with Charlotte-Marguerite de Montmorency, had her marry him in the hope, in return for favors, that he would be a complaisant husband. A serious quarrel ensued, and the prince left France to keep his wife away from the enamored sovereign, even fighting against French troops in Italy for a time. Returning to France after the assassination of Henri IV, the Prince de Condé took part in the rebellions at the beginning of Louis XIII's reign, but later made a submission that proved to be sincere, even agreeing to marry his son (the future Grand Condé) to a great-cousin of Richelieu: he reaped important benefits, such as the government of Burgundy, and the inheritance of his brother-in-law the Marshal Duc de Montmorency (beheaded in 1632 for treason).

Estim. 1 000 - 1 500 EUR

Lot 38 - LOUIS XIII. Autograph letter signed "Louis" [AU CARDINAL DE RICHELIEU]. Saint-Germain-en-Laye, November 15, 1641. 2 pp. in-4, dry stamp with the arms of France; tab in margin. "I THANK YOU FOR THE CARE YOU HAVE TAKEN OF ME, I FOUND MYSELF INCOMODE THIS NIGHT, which forced me to take this morning a small remedy that made me seeider forces those, as a result of which the 3 doctors who are icy were of the opinion that I take another 3 dragmes of cenay [sic for "senna"], which I did. You were kind enough to send me news of Justel [perhaps Christophe Justel, superintendent of the house of the Duc de Bouillon, who had just been defeated by France in July at the battle of La Marfée]. If the weather continues, they will suffer much more. I beg you to inquire whether I will wear purple or black mourning, I give you the good day.... LA REYNE [ANNE D'AUTRICHE] EST AUSSI GAILLARDE QU'ELLE FUT JAMAIS."

Estim. 800 - 1 000 EUR

Lot 39 - RICHELIEU (Armand-Jean Du Plessis de). Signed "Le card De Richelieu". [to Marshal Jacques Nompar de Caumont, future Duc de La Force]. Pont-de-Bonvoisin [in today's Isère department], June 16, 1630. One p. in-folio, small lack with damage to a few letters. Against the backdrop of the Thirty Years' War, Louis XIII and Richelieu became involved in the dispute over the succession to the duchies of Mantua and Monferrato, siding with Carlo Gonzaga, Duke of Mayenne (son of the Duke of Nevers), against the latter's cousin Ferdinando Gonzaga, Duke of Guastalla, who was allied with his relative the Emperor Ferdinand II (husband of Eleonora Gonzaga). The Duke of Savoy had rallied to the Emperor, hoping to be awarded the Duchy of Montferrat, enclosed within his states. "On estime très à propos tout ce qui est contenu dans le memoire qui a été apporté par le gentilhomme de monsieur de Montmorency en datte du xie juin. It will be a great advantage if we can take the places that monsieur le marechal de La Force... is hoping for. There is no need to send back the cannon horses that are in Piedmont to go and get the pieces that are in Ambrun, because six hundred are being sent from here at the moment to take them on their way, and those that are in Piedmont are necessary with the army. LE ROY ENVOYE PRESENTEMENT UN GENTILHOMME EN DAUPHINE AVEQ DES DEPESCHES FORT EXPRESSES POUR EN FAIRE PARTIR EN DILIGENCE TOUTTE LA CAVALERIE QUI DOIBT RETOURNER EN PIEDMONT, a douze compagnies de laquelle on fait prendre la route par la valée de Queyras et le col de La Croix a cause de la peste, and for the four others who are in Val-Louyse, it is necessary that they pass by Pragella [today Pragelato-Ruà in Piedmont], but we will take care in Pignerol to send to meet them in order to give them advice of the lodgings which they will have to take not to fall in those which are infected. To make the passage of these troops as smooth as possible, we are sending to Ambrun the money from the monster that will pass with them to be delivered to them beyond the montaigne[s]. On a desja mandé que cm ll [cent mille livres] suyvoient les vingt mil ecus desja arrivez, et que M. d'Hemery [Michel Particelli d'Émery, son of an Italian banker, then in the service of Richelieu] porte encore avec luy clxm ll [cent quarante mille livres]. Monsr le marquis d'Aluye [officer François d'Escoubleau de Sourdis, marquis d'Alluye] will see to it that the three couleuvrines at Sezane [today Cesana in Piedmont] are in Oulx ready to go when the artillery horses leaving from here pass by with their cannonballs and other necessities. LE ROY VA A LYON POUR SE RENDRE SANS FAULTE LE 22e DANS LA M[A]URIENNE par où Sa Majesté fait passer son armee, les estappes estant dressees pour cet effet. Then the town of Montmeillian, the forts of Charbonnieres, Pontamafré and St-Michel will be surrendered. Ainsy, il n'reste plus que le fort de Montmeillian dans toute la Savoye, ceux de Lugles et des Alinges s'estant rendu depuis deux jours. We will send the monster for the Count of Lucerne's company of horse-leggers [Luserna, in Piedmont], and we will provide for the lack of funds, for which monsr Servient [Abel Servien, Secretary of State for War] escript a monsieur le mar[ech]al [Henri] de Schomberg".

Estim. 1 000 - 1 500 EUR

Lot 40 - RICHELIEU (Armand-Jean Du Plessis de). Signed letter to Marshal de Brézé. Amiens, September 1, 1641. 1/2 p. large folio, address on spine, 2 red wax armorial seals, one perfectly preserved with silk ribbon. "Ce billet pour tesmoigner à Monsr le mar[ech]al de Brezé LE CONTENTEMENT QUE J'AY de ce que luy mr le mar[arech]al de La Melleraie sont partis du lieu ou ilz estoient, de voir par leurs lettres reciproques l'union et la bonne intelligence qui est entre eux. I beseech them to continue in this state of mind, to put before their eyes that great affairs do not succeed without difficulties. J'ESPERE QU'ILZ FINIRONT CETTE CAMPAGNE AVEC GLOIRE REPUTATION POUR EUX, et le désir de tout mon cœur... " Marshal Urbain Maillé de Brézé and Marshal Charles de La Porte de La Meilleraie (future duke) had family ties with Richelieu: the former was his brother-in-law, and the latter his first cousin. Excellent men of war, they scored many military successes in Picardy and Flanders, first separately, then in conjunction from 1641 onwards.

Estim. 400 - 500 EUR

Lot 41 - MAINTENON (Françoise d'Aubigné, marquise de). Autograph letter signed to the Archbishop of Rouen. Saint-Cyr, "ce 22 décembre" [probably 1706]. 3 pp. in-4, address on back, remnants of red wax seal with her Latin motto "Recte"; small tear from opening. "Mr. Coadjutor is blessed to have you and has great need that Father Le Tellier wants to serve him sincerely, I ALWAYS FEAR THE JESUITS IN RELATION TO THE BISHOPS, it is believed that it is the esteem I had for Mr. Bishop of Chartres [Paul Godet Des Marais], which made me so keen on prelates, but I was arguing for them against Father [Louis] Bourdaloue before I knew that Mr de Chartres was in the world, Father Bourdaloue did not deny me that they often opposed the power of bishops, finding that they wanted too much. I am very upset by the poor state of the diocese of Noyon, and all the more so as I see little remedy. Me Barentin will have ruined a fine abbey, and I don't understand why abbesses are allowed to do whatever they feel like [Marie-Élisabeth de Barentin, abbess of Saint-Amand de Rouen]. Mr Des Maretz hopes that if there is no dangerous frost in February, that the wheat will decrease considerably, but in the meantime we are overwhelmed with misery even in the palaces of kings. Your agitation about the assembly causes me great sorrow, and I am trying to persuade the parish priest of St-Sulpice [Joachim Trotti de La Chetardie] of the goodness of your reasons, for I am convinced, as you are, that you will not serve the Church, and that you will be giving yourself a lot of useless trouble; the ministers are of the opinion that the minutes of 1705 should be published. Father Le Tellier proposes some explanation, the King must consult Mr Cardinal de Janson, we shall soon see what all this will produce, and you will be well informed. I am not surprised, Monsieur, by your zeal and docility, you are always straightforward and always willing to do what is best. Mr Cardinal de Noailles cries that he is dishonored if the procez-verbal does not appear. I am very much afraid that we will fall out completely with Rome, because the king is always inclined to follow the advice of ministers, and if Mr le ca[r]d[inal] de Janson penetrates him he will be of the same opinion. You greatly increase the esteem I already had for Mr. l'évesque d'Évreux [Jacques Potier de Novion] and I wish him better and better health. Mine is still very shaky and I am still the person in the world who honors you the most...". The 1705 clergy assembly was opposed by the Cardinal Archbishop of Paris, Louis-Antoine de NOAILLES, a Gallican conciliatory to the Jansenists, and the provincial of the Society of Jesus and confessor to Louis XIV, Michel LE TELLIER, an ultramontane. - Cardinal Toussaint de FORBIN-JANSON, who had been in charge of French affairs in Rome from 1692 to 1697 and again from 1700 to 1706, was Grand Chaplain of France from February 1706. - Claude-Maur d'AUBIGNE, bishop of Noyon from 1701 to 1707, succeeded Jacques-Nicolas Colbert as archbishop of Rouen.

Estim. 300 - 400 EUR

Lot 42 - LOUIS XV. Autograph letter signed to Duke Ferdinand I of Parma. Versailles, April 27, 1767. 3/4 p. in-4, address on spine, red wax armorial seal retained; small marginal loss to address leaf due to opening without affecting text. A BEAUTIFUL POLITICAL AND FAMILY LETTER, WITNESSING THE FRENCH INFLUENCE IN THE DUCHE OF PARMA, AS WELL AS THE EXPRESSION OF A NEW SENSITIVITY, IN THE XVIIIth CENTURY, where intimacy and feelings found a greater place. "My dear grandson, the wind is still northerly, but it's raining a lot, which will be good for the prez, and the small grains. LOUISE has had measles since Thursday, very strong with an assé de fièvre, she is well at present; VICTOIRE had her colic the day before yesterday and yesterday and was bled in the evening at seven o'clock, this morning she is well; here is a family well hipotéquée [Louise and Victoire are two of Louis XV's daughters]; the rest is well. You will have heard about the expulsion of the Jesuits from Spain, and what the King said about it both in his edict and verbally; I don't know if he wouldn't have done better to do more by punishing the culprits severely if there are any, because that leaves a hombre that will make people reason, even if he did deny it. I kiss you very tenderly, my dear grandson..." A LITTLE SON OF LOUIS XV THROUGH HIS MOTHER LOUISE-ÉLISABETH DE BOURBON, FERDINAND IER DE PARME (1751-1802) was also a great-grandson of Louis XIV through his father the Infante Philippe of Spain and Duke of Parma. He was raised in a progressive French environment, with the Abbé de Condillac as his tutor, and in a court dominated by Guillaume Du Tillot, a figure also influenced by Enlightenment ideas. His marriage to a sister of Marie-Antoinette of Austria in 1769 would put an end to French influence in the duchy.

Estim. 1 000 - 1 500 EUR

Lot 43 - SLAVERY - DU CHILLEAU D'AIRVAULT (Marie-Charles) and François BARBE DE MARBOIS. Printed document. [1788 or 1789]. In-folio on azure paper, letterhead "Saint-Domingue" with woodcut vignette of the coat of arms of France, areas of particular information left blank; edges a little creased with small splits. FRANKING PERMIT FORM. From 1785 to 1789, François Barbé de Marbois was Intendant of the Leeward Islands in the West Indies, including Saint-Domingue, and the Marquis Du Chilleau was its governor in 1788 and 1789.

Estim. 800 - 1 000 EUR

Lot 44 - CONDORCET (Jean-Antoine-Nicolas de Caritat de). Autograph letter signed to Jacques-Pierre Brissot de Warville. [S.l., probably August 1791]. 3/4 p. in-8, address on spine, remnant of seal with motto "La Vérité". "I HAVE REGISTERED ON THE NEW JACOBIN LIST. You are one of the 72 responsible for purging it. I believe that you must not neglect this function and that you must above all hasten to complete it and present the new society to the public. I KNOW MANY PEOPLE WHO BELIEVE LIBERTY TO BE VERY COMPROMISED, who at present are content to sulk at home, and who will join the nucleus as soon as it takes on some consistency. Please accept my compliments. The iron mouth is closing, only you dare to speak." CONDORCET (Jean-Antoine-Nicolas Caritat de). See also n° 126 below.

Estim. 600 - 800 EUR

Lot 45 - BOURBON-CONTI (Stéphanie-Louise de). Manuscript entitled "Mémoires histoiriques [sic] de Stéphanie Louise de Bourbon Conti, princesse françoise ci-devant comtesse de Mont-Cair-Zain". [Circa 1791]. 260 pp. in-folio including one blank, in discontinuous and erroneous pagination, brown half-chagrin with corners, smooth spine; a few leaves missing in the third part between pp. 74 and 79, spine insolate and stained, leaves trimmed a little short with loss of a few words in the marginal notes, a few stains and wet spots (modern binding). PRIMITIVE VERSION ALMOST ENTIRELY DIFFERENT FROM THE DEFINITIVE TEXT (Paris, chez l'auteur, floréal an V - April-May 1798, v.s.). It covers a period ending in 1791, while the printed text, reworked by a "teinturier", Jacques-Corentin Royou, would be completed by 1798. MYSTIFICATE ADVENTURER OR DESEQUILIBREE MISLEADER, THIS PRETENDED PRINCESS was in fact called Anne-Louise-Françoise Delorme (1756-1825). She claimed to be the daughter of the Prince de Bourbon-Conti and the Duchesse de Mazarin, who gave her the title of Countess de Mont-Cairzain, an anagram of their two names. She claimed to have received a princely upbringing, but to have been abducted the day before the king was to legitimize her, fraudulently declared dead and buried, then forcibly married to a provincial robin, a certain Billet. She tried in vain to be recognized as a princess of the blood. GOETHE LEARNED OF THESE MEMORIES THROUGH SCHILLER, AND USED THEM TO WRITE HIS HISTORICAL DRAMA THE NATURAL GIRL (Die Natürliche Tochter, 1802). ATTACHED, A SIGNED AUTOGRAPH LETTER FROM STEPHANIE-LOUISE DE BOURBON-CONTI to a general about her unfortunate situation (Paris, 1803); and a handwritten letter from the same (1794).

Estim. 500 - 700 EUR

Lot 46 - MURAT (Joachim). Set of 3 signed letters to Claude-Louis Lecomte. Hesdin, 1793. - October 6, 1793. " ... I have worked on the items you requested, you will find them enclosed. Take advantage of the weapons I'm putting in your hands; harass me until you get what you want. You say you need the cross and banner to get in, so use them. If that's not enough, add the stoup and the goupillon, then YOU'LL EXORCISE THE DEVIL; this ceremony done, you'll get the better of him and do whatever you want with him; but no more jokes... You will see by one of the two letters we are writing to the minister..." (2 pp. in-4 and one line). - 26th vendemiaire year II [October 17, 1793]. " ... The regiment needs a general overhaul, the arduous service performed by the war squadrons requires a major reform... It is very unfortunate that, because some individuals in the regiment refuse to render accounts, we see ourselves frustrated even of the indispensable... I HAVE MY NOTICE LETTER FOR SQUADRON LEADER. I have given all my service records. MY FRIEND, THE REPUBLIC IS IN DANGER, Landrieux commands six thousand men at Pont-à-Marck...". He also mentions the horses needed for the officers, the presence of a trumpet major as an instructor, the need for two seals with the regimental number and "the escutcheon of the goddess of Liberty" (3 pp. folio, a few tears with a few words missing). - 14 brumaire an II [November 4, 1793]. " ... You will never cease to have friends and brothers in us... Landrieux may be trying to work me; but my conduct responds in advance to the attack and my cons[c]ience lets me sleep easy;... tell citizen Lefèvre that WE ARE TRUE MONTAGNARDS, I DON'T... M'APPELLE PLUS MURAT; MAIS MARAT, LES REPRESENTANS DU PEUPLE VIENNENT DE M'AUTORISER A QUITTER UN NOM QUE JE PORTOIS AVEC HORREUR... " (one p. 1/4 in-folio; spotting and soiling, a few marginal tears). MURAT, OFFICER OF THE TERRORIST REPUBLIC AND FUTURE KING OF NAPLES. Then squadron leader in the Armée du Nord, the future marshal and future sovereign took part in operations against the Austrians. Noticed by brigade commander Jean Landrieux, "an ambiguous character [...] specialized - thanks to the war - in soliciting wrecks and declassed men for the armies of the Republic [...], Murat was entrusted with the training of 300 'poacher' hussars [...], a motley band which, thanks to the grace of the Minister of War, became the 21st Chasseurs". He soon came into conflict with Landrieux, who falsely accused him of being an aristocrat, but escaped without damage. On the other hand, he was an exalted patriot, openly favorable to the regime of the Terror, and at one point even wanted to change his name from Murat to Marat. He was denounced after the 9th of Thermidor, and only saved thanks to the intervention of Jean-Baptiste Cavaignac, deputy for Lot, his native department.

Estim. 800 - 1 000 EUR

Lot 47 - FRÉDÉRIC-GUILLAUME II OF PRUSSIA. Set of 2 letters signed "Fr. Guillaume" to Charles Eugène Gabriel de La Croix de Castries, then advisor to Louis XVIII in Ham, Westphalia. 1794. - Camp d'Oppalin [in East Prussia, now Opalino in Poland], July 17, 1794. "I am charmed that your stay in my States has made you love its asylum. MY PROVINCES OF FRANCONIE ARE OPEN TO YOU as those of the Lower Rhine have been, and I have already given my orders to Baron de Hardenberg, my ruling minister in the margraviates so that your family and the people who have attached their fate to yours, will find there the same welcome they enjoyed in Westphalia. I would have thought myself fortunate not to be able to limit to these feeble consolations the marks of MY ESTIMATE FOR THE TRUE FRENCH, and it is by repeating the assurance to you that I pray to God... that he may have you in his holy and worthy care...". (1/4 p. in-4). The King of Prussia was then in close proximity to Poland, where Tadeusz Kościuszko had been leading an insurrection since March 1794 in an attempt to free the country from Russian occupation, but some of whose units had also clashed with Prussian troops. - Potsdam, October 27, 1794. "You must have no remaining worries about the act of conscription that you have been falsely made to fear for THE FRENCH EMIGRANES REFUGE IN MY STATES. I am so far from having withdrawn from them the interest that I proved to them on so many occasions that there is a large number of them to whom I have recently granted the azile, and, if THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE DAY AND THE LOICES OF PRUDENCE THAT THEY REQUIRE DO NOT PERMIT ME TO BELIEVE INDISTINCTLY MY PITY, I have only put restrictions on them which impartiality cannot help applauding. It will give me great pleasure to see that you, Monsieur le maréchal, continue to find in your present residence the tranquility and advantages that have made you prefer it, and, assuring you of all my esteem, I pray to God that he may have you in his holy and worthy keeping..." AMBIGUOUS ATTITUDE OF THE KING OF PRUSSIA. Favoring high-ranking French émigrés (including the royal family), he refused to become more involved, and especially to support the military action of monarchist forces, for fear of provoking the French revolutionary regime too directly. MARECHAL DE CASTRIES, EXILE COMPANION OF THE FUTURE LOUIS XVIII. A friend of Jacques Necker, with whom he stayed at the start of his emigration, Charles Eugène Gabriel de La Croix, Marquis de Castries (1727-1801) served in the army of the Princes, then as principal advisor to the Comte de Provence, the future Louis XVIII. He died in Wolfenbüttel in 1801. Nephew of Marshal de Belle-Isle, he had enjoyed a distinguished military career under the Ancien Régime, distinguishing himself in the Seven Years' War in Corsica, the Caribbean and Germany. Secretary of State for the Navy from 1780 to 1787, he made a major political contribution to the success of the American War of Independence.

Estim. 200 - 300 EUR

Lot 48 - VICTOIRE (Victoire de Bourbon, known as Madame). Autograph letter signed "Victoire", to Marshal de Castries. Albano-Laziale, September 1, 1796. One p. in-8 square, address on spine, red wax seal. "I thank you... for the good news you give me of the King, you must judge the state I was in when I learned of the horrible misfortune, and at the same time what happiness to have saved him, I do not understand that my health could have resisted [in July 1796, Louis XVIII had suffered an attack in the town of Dillingen in Rhenish Prussia]. I thank you again, we have only had one letter from Mr de La Vauguion, and one from Mr d'Avaray [Paul-François de Quélen, duc de la Vauguyon, and Antoine-Louis-François de Béziade, comte and future duc d'Avaray, companions of Louis XVIII in exile]. Couriers take so long to reach us, it's one more misfortune, especially in times of great anxiety. I am delighted to have you with the King. I envy you a little, I don't think you doubt it. You are quite right, Monsieur, to count on my friendship. I embrace you with all my heart. Adélayde has asked me to thank you for the good news you have given us from the King...". MADAME VICTOIRE, ONE OF LOUIS XV'S DAUGHTERS, whom he affectionately nicknamed "Coche" in reference to her stoutness, remained unmarried and was very close to her sister Madame Adélaïde: both women were always hostile to their father's mistresses, notably the Marquise de Pompadour, and were the only surviving siblings when the Revolution broke out. Authorized by the Assembly to leave France in 1790, they fled to Italy, where they had to flee again and again as revolutionary troops advanced. Madame Victoire never returned to France and died in emigration, in Trieste, in 1799.

Estim. 200 - 300 EUR

Lot 49 - AUSTRIA CAMPAIGN - PRUDHOMME (Jean-Baptiste). Autograph letter signed to his "dear Whrich". Brünn [in Austrian Moravia, now Brno in the Czech Republic, 15 km from Austerlitz called today Slavkov-u-Brna], December 11, 1805. 3 pp. in-8. Jean-Baptiste Prudhomme, an engineer battalion commander and future colonel d'Empire, probably addressed this letter to Michel-François Uhrich, also an engineer battalion commander, who was chief of engineers at Phalsbourg under the Empire. " ... THE BULLETIN WILL HAVE INFORMED YOU OF THE BATTLE OF AUSTERLITZ AND ITS HAPPY OUTCOME. THE RUSSIANS ARE MARCHING FOR THEIR COUNTRY. We regard peace here as certain, and conferences have been open since yesterday in the small town of Nicolspurg [Nikolsburg in Austrian Moravia, today Mikulov in the Czech Republic, between Brno and Vienna]. The German emperor is in Hollich [Hollitsch in the Kingdom of Hungary, then an Austrian possession, today Holíč in Slovakia], another small town a long way from the first, our emperor being himself very close to the place of negotiations; there is reason to believe that they will proceed apace. Besides, the whole country has been so devoured by armies that it is hardly possible to stay there for long. So, one way or another, we must leave at once, or risk starvation. I was unfortunate enough to arrive here only the day after the battle. I was delayed in my march because I was originally destined for General Marmont's corps, which was at Gratz. I WAS THEN RECALLED TO THE G[ENER]AL QUARTER TO FULFILL THE DUTIES OF SUBCHIEF OF THE GENIE'S STAFF-MAJOR, and this caused me to lose 5 to 6 days in useless, tiring counter-marching... I met Mr. Mutzinger here, who is doing very well, and he told me that his other comrades from Phalsbourg were also doing well... I HEAR THAT THE EMPEROR IS LEAVING FOR VIENNA AT ONCE, AND I AM ORDERED TO BE READY. The headquarters will no doubt take the same direction; I'm delighted because it means that negotiations are going well. The army is in great need of winter quarters. There's no doubt that they're tired, and it's starting to get very cold...".

Estim. 200 - 300 EUR

Lot 50 - RÉGNIER (Nicolas-Sylvestre). Autograph letter signed TO MARECHAL ÉTIENNE MACDONALD (s.l., January 27, 1811, 2 pp. infolio), with autograph apostille signed in his initial by the addressee (February 1811, one line 1/2). "MONSEIGNEUR..., VOTRE EXCELLENCE SANS DOUTE SAIT A PRÉSENT QUE DEPUIS CINQ SEMAINES J'AI LE BONHEUR D'ÊTRE SON GENDRE. There is therefore nothing more missing from my satisfaction than the pleasure of embracing a father whom Nency depicts to me as the most perfect and sensitive man. I can say that I want this moment as much as she does. Accustomed to cherishing and respecting my father, Nency easily inspired the same feelings in me for his. So, Monsieur le maréchal, I dare to flatter myself that soon, convinced of my respect for you and my tender attachment to your daughter, you will not hesitate to give me the same place in your heart as your children. Nency has informed you of the endowment of ten thousand livres de rente that S[a] M[ajesté] has kindly granted us. I don't yet know where the assets that make up this endowment are located. I have no doubt that Your Excellency will be delighted to learn of this benefit, since he must regard it as a reward for his services...". In December 1810, Nicolas-Sylvestre Régnier had married Anne-Charlotte Macdonald, known as Nancy, daughter of the Marshal, in the latter's absence, when he was exercising a command in Spain. In his own handwriting, the Marshal inscribed: "Received Feb. 20, 1811 in Lerida. Answered on the 21st...". SON OF NAPOLEON I'S GRAND JUDGE, NICOLAS-SYLVESTRE REGNIER (1783-1851) made a career in his father's shadow, first as auditor at the Conseil d'État (year XI) and sub-prefect of Château-Salins (1808), then as secretary general of the Conseil du Sceau des Titres (1810) and prefect of Oise (1812). He was made Count of Gronau (1811) and became DUC DE MASSA on the death of his father (1814). Maintained in his position by the Restoration, he resigned during the Hundred Days (1815) and was made a peer of France (1816). ATTACHED, 2 autograph letters signed, one from Marshal Étienne MACDONALD, the other from Minister of Justice Claude-Ambroise REGNIER.

Estim. 100 - 150 EUR

Lot 51 - LA FAYETTE (Gilbert Du Motier de). Autograph letter signed to Samuel Howe. Château de La Grange-Bléneau [near Courpalay in the present-day département of Seine-et-Marne], July 19, 1832. 1/3 p. in-4, address on back; folds split, red wax seal with profile of George Washington added later to address leaf. SUPPORT FOR THE POLISHES AFTER THE FAILURE OF THE INSURRECTION AGAINST THE RUSSIAN TUTEL (November 1830-September 1831). When Poland rose up in an attempt to shake off the Russian yoke, it aroused a wave of sympathy in the West, first in support of its war effort and then to help emigrants who had to leave their defeated homeland. In January 1831, General de La Fayette founded a "Central Committee in favor of the Poles" in Paris, which was imitated in several other French cities, such as Lyon with the very active "Polish Bazaar" set up in the summer of 1831. The "American Polish Committee" was also founded in Paris, on the initiative of writer Fenimore Cooper (a friend of Adam Mickiewicz), physician Samuel Howe and inventor Samuel F. B. Morse, with fund-raising in New York. "My dear doctor, you are so zealous, and you have been so serviceable to the cause and to the heroes of Poland, that you are the proper, and I may say the official channel for everything that concerns them. The Polish medal struck by the patriotic Bazar of Lyons is finished; it is to be wished the friends of Poland may encourage this honorable mark of their sympathy. It is through their friendly hands that their lives, a sort of duplicate of what I have already mentioned, will be transmitted to you. I shall only add the grateful regards of your affectionate friend La Fayette " PHILANTHROPE AND ARdent DEFENDER OF FREEDOMS, AMERICAN SAMUEL HOWE (1801-1876) began life as a surgeon in the United States Navy, but, as an admirer of Lord Byron, joined the Greeks in their war of liberation against the Ottomans as a physician and military officer. He then resumed his medical studies, notably in Paris, where he took part in the July Revolution (1830) and became involved in aiding the Polish rebels: sent to liaise with Polish officers, he was arrested and imprisoned in Berlin. Returning to the United States, he worked in an institution for the blind and campaigned for the abolition of slavery. ATTACHED: FOUCHE (Joseph). Autograph letter signed. Brussels, October 16 [1815]. - EINSIEDEL (Detlev von). Autograph letter signed. Dresden, January 17, 1816.

Estim. 300 - 400 EUR

Lot 52 - SECOND REPUBLIC. CONSTITUTION DE LA REPUBLIQUE FRANÇAISE précédée des rapports et décrets qui y sont relatifs. Paris, Imprimerie nationale, 1848. Large in-4, (4 of which with white versos)-127-(one white) pp., midnight blue paper boards, smooth threaded spine with gilt title, gilt framing on boards formed by a double fillet with corner fleurons, gilt lettering at center of first cover "Barthélemy (Bouches-du-Rhône) / représentant du peuple / (Bouches-du-Rhône)"; binding a little worn with split jaws, worn headpieces and corners; leaves with occasionally heavy freckling (publisher's binding). Volume in modern midnight-blue percaline folder and cardboard slipcase. FIRST EDITION. When the revolution of February 1848 ousted Louis-Philippe I from the throne, an election of people's representatives was held on April 23, 1848 to form a Constituent Assembly, which sat from May 4, 1848 to May 26, 1849. On May 17, 1848, a Constitution Committee was appointed, comprising representatives from all walks of life, including the socialist Victor Considérant, the Orleanist Odilon Barrot and the conservative Alexis de Tocqueville. The resulting draft was discussed in October 1848, approved on November 4 and promulgated on November 12. A COPY BY THE PEOPLE'S REPRESENTATIVE BARTHELEMY, ELECTED IN BOUCHES-DU-RHONE. Breaking with his family's monarchist traditions, Joseph-Emmanuel Barthélemy (1804-1880) hailed the fall of the monarchy and the establishment of a Republic, was then chosen as mayor of Marseille and elected to the Constituent Assembly in the process: he sat on the left but not with the Montagne, and voted with the Republicans without associating himself with the demonstrations of the Socialist Party. He did not take part in the Legislative Assembly, but, hostile to the Empire, ran as an opposition candidate in February 1852, without success, and retired from politics. ENRICHED WITH THE SIGNATURES OF MORE THAN 70 PEOPLE'S REPRESENTATIVES, on the front and back of the first flyleaf, including : Emmanuel ARAGO, Jules BASTIDE, Pierre-Napoléon BONAPARTE, Jean-Baptiste Adolphe CHARRAS, Lazare-Hippolyte CARNOT, Ferdinand FLOCON, Victor DESTUTT DE TRACY, Gustave Joseph Baltazar de LABOULIE (elected in Bouches-du-Rhône), Oscar Du Motier de LA FAYETTE, Christophe Léon Louis Juchault de LA MORICIERE, Paul Marie Laurent dit LAURENT DE L'ARDECHE, Pierre-Joseph PROUDHON, Jules SIMON, Achille Tenaille de VAULABELLE. Provenance: Alphonse Margraff bookshop (printed notice from his May-June 1919 catalog, pasted on the first flyleaf).

Estim. 1 500 - 2 000 EUR

Lot 53 - BONAPARTE (Jérôme). Set of 20 autograph letters signed to his daughter Princess Mathilde. 1855-1856. - Le Havre, August 29, 1855: "My dear Mathilde! I received your letter of the day before yesterday, without reproach, dear child, it's the first sign of life you've given your old father for two months!!!! I can well imagine how tired you must have been during those ten days of ceremonies which are not the most amusing [on the occasion of Queen Victoria's reception in Paris]; but in the end it's always appropriate for my children to be seen in these circumstances, since fortunately they are good to see. I recommend you, dear child, to be careful with Jerome of America, who takes note of all your words, and who says that you reproached him for not going to your house as before; if you did, it is a fault: your conduct must not be different from that which I your brother [Napoleon Bonaparte] are obliged to hold in this circumstance, that is more serious than you think!!!! Unless you wish to harm the honor of the late Emperor my brother [Napoleon I], that of your mother [Princess Catherine de Wurtemberg], and even your own, MLLE PATTERSON'S CHILDREN CANNOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES BEAR THE NAME OF BONAPARTE IN FRANCE, which is why you must avoid receiving it until [these] difficulties have disappeared. I am fighting a battle for you Napoleon [son of King Jerome] that costs my heart; at least I must be supported by you, as I am by your brother... [During a visit to the United States in 1805, Jérôme Bonaparte married Elizabeth Patterson, without the consent of his mother or his brother Napoléon I, and had a child, Jérôme. This union was annulled in both France and the United States. Jérôme Bonaparte-Patterson settled in France during the Second Empire, and applied to Napoleon III for his status. In 1854, an imperial decree declared him not princely but French and authorized him to bear the Bonaparte name. After complaints from Jérôme Bonaparte and his other children, who were concerned about the succession, he was finally maintained in 1856 in possession of the Bonaparte name and French nationality, but declared illegitimate]. I HAVE FULFILLED A DUTY, BY MAKING A VISIT TO THE QUEEN OF ENGLAND, and I have applauded myself for having handed over to the Emperor, before his arrival in France, the keys to the tomb of my brother [Napoleon I], for as long as they were in my hands, it would have been impossible for me to introduce THE HEAD OF THE GOVERNMENT WHO ASSASSINATED HIM ON THE ROCHER OF STE-HELENE, as the price of his loyal confidence in him... " - Le Havre, September 9, 1855: "Your little letter gives me all the more pleasure as I see that your trip to Le Havre was a pleasant one for you: I am at this point in my letter when A TELEGRAPHIC DEPECHE APPEARS TO ME THE NEW ATTACK ON THE EMPEROR'S LIFE!!!! [Alluding to the assassination attempt perpetrated by Edmond Bellemare on September 8, 1855]. It makes one think bitterly, and should convince S[a] M[ajesté] that he should give deeper roots to his dynasty; without that no future for France!!!! [The Emperor can see how other powers, great or small, give their princes the importance and influence indispensable to the solidity of the throne. I am writing to the Emperor, I would even have gone to see him, if I did not have to fear that such a step would be misinterpreted! - Etc. Jérôme Bonaparte also talks about his meetings with the Emperor or Empress, a dinner with the Murats and Boulay de La Meurthe, a performance of Santa Chiara (an opera by Duke Ernest of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha), the polar voyage undertaken by his son Napoléon Bonaparte with Queen Hortense, etc., and more.

Estim. 400 - 500 EUR

Lot 54 - DOLGOROUKAÏA (Ekaterina Mikhaïlovna). Set of 9 autograph letters [TO TSAR ALEXANDER II], each with an autograph apostille from him indicating the dates of receipt. May-June 1869. In all, 78 pp. in-8. A BURNING PASSION AT THE HEART OF RUSSIAN POWER. A TESTIMONY OF RARE SINCERITY ON THE SENTIMENTAL AND SENSUAL LIFE OF A SOVEREIGN, WHOM CZAR ALEXANDER III SOUGHT IN VAIN TO MAKE DISAPPEAR. Berlin, May 17/29, 1869. "Oh, my angel, you who are but the reflection of myself, you understand the despondency in which I find myself... I love you, dear бобинька [bobinka, one of the affectionate terms by which she addressed the tsar], and am happy to love you and to have recreated you so completely through the worship that God has inspired in us and which forms our pride.... I have such blind trust in you that it has no name, and you can judge by the trust you feel for your little wife, so you must admit that it's a consolation like no other, and it's something to be proud of and thank God for... We've only been apart for two days, and it already seems like a century. Oh, my angel, no matter how hard I try, tears choke me and I die of sadness... OH! MY ANGEL, WHAT I WOULD HAVE GIVEN TO SEE YOU AGAIN, TO HOLD YOU CLOSE TO THIS HEART FULL OF RAGE AND ADORATION, AND TO WARM YOU, BECAUSE WE MISS THAT TOO... I went to bed at 8:1/2 a.m. thinking I could sleep, feeling so weak and broken, but I couldn't... Oh! if we could... rest in the same bed, everything would have taken on a delirious aspect. But alas! Now it's just the opposite, and it's only the persuasion that we're jealous of each other for all we do that relieves us, and sustains us... My outflows stand out again... Oh! My dear ideal, my everything, I miss you not knowing what to become, I suffer and tears will bring me down to the grave because I don't know what to do... твой навсегда [tvoï navsegda, i.e. "yours forever"]." - Etc. A GREAT REFORMER EMPEROR, ALEXANDER II (1818-1881) was associated with the exercise of power at an early age. He came to the throne in 1855, faced with defeat in the Crimea, and decided to modernize his country: he embarked on a series of major liberal reforms to improve the judicial system, education and the status of women, and abolished serfdom (1861). However, a serious agrarian crisis, the Polish uprising (1863) and an assassination attempt on his life (1866) led him to tighten state control over society. Revolutionary unrest gathered momentum in the 1870s, and there was a succession of attempts on his life. PRINCESS OF SINGULAR DESTINY, EKATERINA MIKHAÏLOVNA DOLGOROUKAÏA, KNOWN AS KATIA (1848-1922), was the daughter of Prince Dolgorouki, from one of Russia's oldest noble families. She entered the court as maid of honor to Empress Maria Alexandrovna, and soon became Alexander II's mistress. This relationship gave rise to many scandals, first when Katia was installed in the Winter Palace above the Imperial Apartments, then when she gave birth to three illegitimate children (the first, George, was born on April 30, 1872), and finally when, immediately after Maria Alexandrovna's death (1880), Alexander II married her morganatically, making her Princess Yuryevskaya. Driven out of the Court after the assassination attempt on Alexander II's life, she went into exile on the Côte d'Azur, where she escaped the Revolution and died in 1922.

Estim. 1 500 - 2 000 EUR

Lot 55 - DREYFUS (Affaire). - MILITARY GOVERNMENT OF PARIS. Stamped coin with handwritten ajours, signed by recipient Louis Schneider. January 1895. One p. in-16 oblong on bristol board, stamped by the Paris Military Government. "Laissez-passer no. 148 valid January 5, 1895. Mr. Schneider, representative of the newspaper "La Paix", is authorized to attend the execution parade which will take place on January 5 at 9 a.m. in the courtyard of the École m[ilitai]re (area reserved for the press...). Entrance through the Place Fontenoy gate.

Estim. 200 - 300 EUR

Lot 56 - DREYFUS (Affaire). - FRANCE (Anatole). Autograph manuscript. 11 pp. in-4 with numerous collettes. SPEECH GIVEN AT THE SOIREE COMMEMORATIVE DE LA PUBLICATION DU J'ACCUSE D'ÉMILE ZOLA (January 13, 1906), organized by the Ligue des Droits de l'Homme et du Citoyen, six months before the rehabilitation of Alfred Dreyfus, which would be decreed on July 12, 1906 by the Cour de Cassation. "Yes, we'll talk about it, citizens! [Alluding to Caran d'Ache's famous cartoon in which a family dinner ends in a fistfight over the Dreyfus affair - "Ils en ont parlé" - and Anatole France is depicted as the patriarch]. Yes, we'll talk about the Dreyfus affair. Yes, we will recall with just pride that we were among those who were called Dreyfusards. Let's take our minds back to that troubled and productive year of 1897. Bernard Lazare had long since provided the first proof of the innocence of the man condemned in 1894. A man of ancient probity, Scheurer-Kestner, Vice-President of the French Senate, had just expressed his cruel doubts that an appalling error had not been committed. Mathieu Dreyfus had provided material proof that the document attributed to his brother was in Esthérazy's handwriting. Many people around the world were already aware of the miscarriage of justice. Then a major political and religious party turned this crime into a means of action and a principle of government... Selfishness and fear ruled the country. They were ministers. Their names were Méline and Billot. A few good citizens denounced the crime and pointed out the danger. But they were ignored. The culprits were backed by such political and secret forces that it seemed impossible to reach them, and there was no hope of shedding light on the country's conscience, clouded by countless lies and troubled by odious violence. WHILE TERROR REIGNED, ÉMILE ZOLA SHOWED WHAT A JUST AND FEARLESS MAN CAN DO. Full of works, enjoying in peace his genius and his glory, he made the sacrifice of his popularity, his peace of mind, his work, and threw himself into fatigue and peril for justice and truth, to show himself a righteous man, and in the proud hope that with him his country would once again become just and courageous...".

Estim. 800 - 1 000 EUR

Lot 57 - CHURCHILL (Winston Spencer). Autograph letter signed, in English, to the Lord Chief Justice, Richard Webster, future Viscount Alverstone. London, June 7, 1910. One p. 1/2 in-8, letterhead with embossed United Kingdom coat of arms and printed Home Office address, mourning border. Concerning a prisoner: "Dear Lord Chief Justice, I am much obliged to you for your letter on the subject of Rex v[ersus] Drewett [?], which reached me in Paris last Saturday. I agree with you that no action is desirable at present, but I shall call for a report on the prisoner's condition at a later date..." ATTACHED, 2 photographic portraits of Winston Churchill.

Estim. 400 - 500 EUR

Lot 58 - APOLLINAIRE (Wilhelm Apollinaris de Kostrowitzky, known as Guillaume). Autograph card signed "G.A." to painter and engraver Jean-Émile Laboureur. [Département de la Marne, at Fismes, Baslieux-lès-Fismes or Villette], February 23, 1916. One p. in-12. Verso: printed statement "Carte postale pour civil ou militaire" illustrated with a color composition featuring flags and the effigy of future Marshal Joffre, with the sender's name inscribed in Guillaume Apollinaire's handwriting: "le s/lieutenant Gui Kostrowitsky, 96e, 6e cie, secteur 139"; autograph address. "Indeed, I've been waiting to hear from you for a long time. You are still in Paris today, I congratulate you [Jean-Émile Laboureur was then serving there as an interpreter for the British army]. Marie [Laurencin] hasn't written to me for ages... I haven't had the opportunity to meet many friends at the front yet. Anyway, I'm glad you're well. When I went on leave to Algeria, I was able to visit the English camps around Marseille. As for what you say about armies, the most interesting is advancement, which is why I changed. Incidentally, as far as real interest is concerned, there's no doubt that in the infantry it's more exciting than in the artillery, especially in this war. It's obvious that when you're the commander in chief, things have to be different...".

Estim. 400 - 500 EUR

Lot 59 - ARTAUD (Antonin). Autograph letter signed "Antonin Artaud" to Jacques Prevel. Ivry-sur-Seine, October 31, 1946. One p. 1/2 in-4 on a sheet of school notebook. "Dear Jacques Prevel, I would like to ask you a very rare favor. It would be, when you come to see me tomorrow, to kindly bring me my cardboard drawings, which I need so urgently at the moment. I'll tell you why, but as I don't have the gall to think that this transfer is physical fun, I urge you to take a cab to Ivry. Marthe Robert will tell you [art critic who, along with Arthur Adamov, helped Antonin Artaud find a place in an institution near Paris on his release from the Rodez asylum where he had been interned]. Yours sincerely, in friendship... " A MAUDIT POET, JACQUES PREVEL WAS A LAST-TIME FRIEND OF ANTONIN ARTAUD, whom he met in May 1946. Weakened by poverty and drugs, he died of tuberculosis in 1951, and left a diary published in 1974 under the title En Compagnie d'Antonin Artaud.

Estim. 200 - 300 EUR

Lot 60 - BARBEY D'AUREVILLY (Jules). Autograph letter signed to a lady. S.l., "lundy et en hâte". One p. in-8. "A lunch with Clocheton and a migraine headache prevented me from going to dinner with you. On that, no apologies, but regrets. As soon as I can, I'll go and talk to you about your friendly tangles, which will never be tangles. Do you know what you and Elle are doing? I'll go and tell you. I'm a cynic! With your female sensitivities, you're sybarites in friendship who roll rose leaves up your behinds to make yourselves suffer! No matter how well rolled, rolled rose leaves will never make thorns. They'll never be anything but rose pellets and friendship pellets! You won't come off! Distinguished people have fragrant pitch on their minds, and they never get rid of the feelings they inspire. You stick to the things you like! That's why I can say that I am, all yours and forever... I BELIEVE I LEFT A KEY, DIFORM AND UGLY LIKE THE ONE I LOVE, at Mrs O'Gherty's [Louisa O'Héguerty, who entertained in her salon in the rue de Trévise]. THIS IS THE KEY TO MY BLUE-BEARD CABINET. Keep it for me if you find it." Jules Barbey d'Aurevilly loved a Spaniard who, according to him, had charm and character despite a certain ugliness, and who inspired the character of Vellini in Une Vieille maîtresse.

Estim. 300 - 400 EUR

Lot 61 - BATAILLE (Georges). Autograph letter signed [TO PAINTER RENE MAGRITTE]. Fontenay-le-Comte [in the Vendée department], February 13, 1961. 3 pp. in-8. While writing his latest book, Les Larmes d'Éros, Georges Bataille was staying with his friend André Costa, sub-prefect in Fontenay-le-Comte. Very ill, he died in July 1962, and his work was published posthumously in 1964 by Jean-Jacques Pauvert, in the "Bibliothèque internationale d'érotologie" edited by writer and film critic Jean-Marie Lo Duca. "My dear friend, what can I do, what must I do? My state of exhaustion is such that I don't know what to say to you, except that the obvious is there for me, I don't know what to say to you. Except this: if, instead of writing to you, I could talk to you, it seems to me that you would do what was necessary to send Jean-Marie Lo Duca... what would be needed to REPRODUCE "LE CARNAVAL DU SAGE" IN COLOR. I've never been so far from laughter, and IF I HAVE THE IDEA OF INTEGRATING "OLYMPIA" INTO MY BOOK, INTO THIS BOOK WHICH I CALL "LES LARMES D'ÉROS", IT'S BECAUSE IT LOOKS WONDERFUL TO ME. But the book itself, as I write it, leaves me in a state that is less marvellous than sick. I can't believe for a moment that you won't answer me in such a way as to put an end to any misunderstanding... I CONFESS, THE WORD SAUGRENU, WHICH IN MY LETTER MEANT EROTIC, WAS OBVIOUSLY CLUMSY, SINCE IT OFFENDED YOU. But I can't believe that this clumsiness continues to make you think that I see in your paintings the slightest trace of fun. I simply had to tell you: I'd hate the word "saugrenu" if it had the meaning you give it. But it's true that my book is about eroticism. (If I continue to have so much trouble writing it, I don't know when it will come out!) Believe in my faithful affection... " ATTACHED: COPPEE (François). A photographic portrait with autograph letter signed (1906), an autograph letter signed (1907), an autograph business card signed (n.d.). - GROLLEAU (Charles). One autograph letter signed (1939) and 2 autograph pieces signed (1931 and 1936), all addressed to Lucien Descaves. Poet, translator of Omar Khayyam and Oscar Wilde, Charles Grolleau was also literary director at Crès. - GROLLEAU (E.). 8 autograph letters signed by Charles Grolleau's wife to Lucien Descaves. 1940-1943. - LECOMTE (Georges). 15 letters (12 autograph and 3 signed) to Lucien Descaves. 1907-1936.

Estim. 200 - 300 EUR

Lot 62 - BAUDELAIRE (Charles). Autograph letter signed "Ch. Baudelaire" to Antoine-Jean-Marie Arondel. One p. in-8; small tear with damage to one word, small marginal cracks. "I urge you, if you want to see my marvelous Chinese, to get there early, for if you wanted to dodge the previous drama, you might well not find seats, - the paper I leave you as a simple note from the director, and not implying the withholding of numbered seats. I had totally forgotten that today and tomorrow I have to dine with the same person, the head of administration of Le Siècle, - and you know how interested I am in tormenting him. I'm going to write you a letter, starting this evening, in which I'll explain very clearly what I can do, what I want, - the possible, - and the impossible -, then you'll write to give me an appointment to see your Perducet [wine merchant Nicolas Perducet] - whom I absolutely must triumph over - with your help. All yours, I assure you..." A DOUBT ART MERCHANT, ANTOINE-JEAN-MARIE ARONDEL, had sold paintings and lent money to Charles Baudelaire, who, realizing he had been duped, never repaid his debt, despite Arondel's use of an intermediary to collect debts. It was only after the death of Baudelaire and his mother that the notary Narcisse Ancelle, in charge of their affairs, paid part of the sum in full.

Estim. 600 - 800 EUR

Lot 63 - BERNANOS (Georges). Set of 2 autograph manuscripts. 1927 and 1929. Both collected in 1956 in the volume Le Crépuscule des vieux. - ["PRESENTATION DE ROBERT VALLERY-RADOT A ROUEN"]. Lecture given in Rouen in 1927: "It's not easy to speak of a friend without speaking of oneself, and even without speaking of him with some complacency, for WHAT A MAN HAS OF BEST IN HIM, IS IN SUM HIS FRIENDSHIPS. I'm not talking, of course, about those unfortunate restless people who never find the time to choose, who go through life like a station concourse, with a certain number of associates or accomplices... Let me introduce you to a friend. And as I introduce him to you, I introduce myself to him, so naturally that I don't even think of apologizing. Our destinies have been linked for a long time now. And long before we knew each other, they were undoubtedly aligned, unbeknownst to us, and even, I dare say, in spite of the logic that seems to govern, and never does govern, the various events of life - fortunately, because then who would want to live? BEFORE THE WAR, some of you may still remember - and what better reason could I have to be sincere?... It's so much safer!... I WASN'T EXACTLY WHAT GOOD FAMILIES CALL A SERIOUS BOY. No sensible man would have dared to predict an advantageous career for me... in the notary's office. TO TELL THE TRUTH, I LOVED NOISE. AND WHAT BETTER EXCUSE FOR A FUSS THAN JOURNALISM? So I was a journalist, at least when my activities as a demonstrator [among the virulent royalist group the Camelots du roi] allowed me the leisure to do so, during those strange, augural years from 1910 to 1914, which saw the first underhand betrayal unmasked, then crushed by a French youth literally drunk with the premonition of its destiny. A law of three years, a service of three years, which was not three years, which for fifteen hundred thousand of us had neither beginning nor end, opening on eternal peace!... [Georges Bernanos then evokes their long relationship, and Robert Vallery-Radot's publications, before concluding:] "And it's not over yet! And there's more to come! For since Providence, whose designs, for once, seem to me more penetrable than one might think, has wanted to make you two years my senior ["too bad, my goodness, too bad!" crossed out]. I do hope you won't refuse to precede me - oh, my God! if only by a quarter of an hour - to the entrance of the gardens of Paradise ["at the threshold of the eternal morning"] to say to whoever it may concern: "Let him through all the same: I know him. He's not as stupid as he looks [variant: "as bad as Abbé Betléhem claims", in reference to Louis Bethléem, the priest who took up the fight against pornography]. And then he wrote a book disparaging the gentleman opposite. YOU DON'T WANT TO SEND THE AUTHOR OF SATAN'S SUN [published in 1926] TO THE DEVIL..." (7 pp. 1/2 in-folio autograph, and one page with mounted press clipping). - "PRIMACY OF FEAR". ASSASSINATED CRITIQUE OF ERICH MARIA'S ROMAN REMARQUE, À L'OUEST RIEN DE NOUVEAU, published as the second article in his series "Primauté de la peur", in L'Action française of December 19, 1929. He found it to be "too poor, too tough", with a "pretentious, comical lyricism, the sublime of a county town", a "perfect insignificance", a "deliberate, irresistible coarseness" of modern advertising, and accused it of "dishonoring war": "... If heroism were to find its place here, by some miracle, it would appear suspect, a kind of sad vice, at once frenetic and icy, such as one imagines the debauchery of a bad priest. But neither does cowardice, its opposite. Neither brave nor cowardly. Nothing but the monotonous rumination of fear, made bearable by hunger, cold and exhaustion. And the strange success of this book lies precisely in this disproportion of tragic circumstances to the barely-thinking beings who suffer them with hideous passivity. Never was a more exhausted animal brought face to face with death under the name of man." GEORGES BERNANOS ATTACKS HENRI BARBUSSE'S FIRE AND LUIS BUÑUEL'S FILM, UN CHIEN ANDALOUQ, and Christian socialists like politician Robert Cornilleau: "If we were to rank sacrifices according to their market value, the sacrifice of the Cross would come last. In the midst of the rise of Christian socialism, it is perhaps dangerous to remind voters of this bitter truth, as they await the triumph of Mr. Cornilleau and the establishment of cooperative sacristies to enjoy a good time.

Estim. 300 - 400 EUR

Lot 64 - BERNANOS (Georges). Set of 6 pieces, one autograph signed and 5 autographs. 1932. 4 incomplete. Drawing lessons from the political impotence of Charles Maurras' Action française, Georges Bernanos joined Le Figaro (headed by perfumer René Coty): he felt that this newspaper could offer a privileged means of dissemination for the intellectual movement he intended to create around his own political ideas. However, in the run-up to the legislative elections of May 1932, he was caught up in the controversy between L'Action française and Le Figaro, an episode that marked the first break between him and Charles Maurras. On the other hand, Georges Bernanos never really had a free hand at Le Figaro, and he understood that René Coty wanted to gather collaborations on a broad spectrum of opinions beyond what he himself found acceptable - so he withdrew his collaboration. - Autograph draft of a letter to a "dear friend". S.l., [1932]. " ... I have contented myself with publicly confessing to a lonely and unhappy man upon whom the regime is at this very moment exercising atrocious blackmail... To what was only a warning, Charles Maurras replied with a farewell. I replied with another. I OWE LITTLE TO MAURRAS. I WAS A ROYALIST BEFORE I EVER KNEW HIS NAME. I saw him four times in my life. And however unpleasant it may be to recall it, I believe that any of the French Catholics who, on the sole guarantee of the word of such a master, of his intellectual probity, of his honor, ran the risk you know, is no longer, with regard to him, indebted to anything [the Pope had banished L'Action française from Catholicism in 1926]... Covertly, but very intelligibly, Maurras accuses me of having sold out to François Coty..." (4 pp. in-12, erasures and corrections, end incomplete). - Another autograph draft of the same letter as above, with variants (2 pp. in-12, one erasure with correction, incomplete at end). - Autograph manuscript. Article published under the title "LE CREPUSCULE DES VIEUX" in Le Figaro, November 10, 1932: "AUCUN HOMME DE NOTRE GENERATION, POURVU QU'IL SOIT CONSCIENT, NE PEUT DOUTER UNE SECONDE DE SA DISGRACE ESSENTIELLE, ET QU'IL A TROP VECU. IT'S A QUESTION OF SURVIVING, OF SURVIVING ONESELF, OF FACING UP TO IT. What can I say? Throw yourself forward. After so much disappointment, so much mourning, so many dead who are less dead than we are, we no longer need to understand. Understand what? THE SPIRITUAL POWERS THEMSELVES ARE FAILING. GOOD AND EVIL, TRUE AND FALSE, SEEK EACH OTHER OUT, CALL TO EACH OTHER AND WHISPER IN THE DARKNESS... The last of us, Péguy, the enfant terrible, the spoiled child of Notre-Dame, had the great good fortune to die lying on his back, facing God. Keep this image with you, young Frenchmen. It won't be replaced any time soon. Before long, very long, perhaps centuries, death will take us face down, like a man who, according to the famous precept, the only really intelligible maxim that the last war inspired, the only one that expresses its deep meaning, its profound, supernatural inanity, "does not seek to understand"... I'm not writing this for the wise. If there is one sight that can still bring tears to our eyes, it is the sight of the unfortunate afflicted by so-called general ideas... WHEN DEMOCRATIC ANARCHY... IN THE SURNATURAL MEANING OF THE WORD, WILL HAVE FINISHED LIQUEFYING THE BRAINS, when democracy will hold humanity by the bulb, will command all the social reflexes of our species, will have turned it into a colony of industrious animals, when the thinking insect no longer has any other superiority over its brothers with mandibles and antennae, and knows no other respite from its monotonous, frightening insect labor than vice and boredom, WE WILL SEE MAURRAS TEACHING POLITICS TO MEN WELL RESOLVED TO WALK ON FOUR LEGS AND EAT grass... " (4 pp. folio, first page stained, end incomplete). - Autograph draft of a letter [to François Coty]. S.l., [November or December 1932]. " ... I HAVE NEVER BEEN 'MAURRASSIAN'. To be convinced of what I am saying, all you have to do is know how to read, and read my books. After having, as you know, completely broken with the A[ction] F[rançaise] in 1919, I got closer to it, or to be more exact, I let it get closer to me (that is to say, I asked for articles or lectures, which I have always given sparingly...) out of protest against certain too obvious injustices of the 1926 condemnation. NEED I ADD THAT THE INSULTS AND DEROGATORY REMARKS I

Estim. 500 - 600 EUR

Lot 65 - BRETON (André). Signed autograph manuscript entitled "Vernissage". 3/4 p. in-folio on grey-blue paper. PROSE POEM INSPIRED BY AN ART EXHIBITION, AND FORMALLY APPROACHING AUTOMATIC WRITING. Dedicated to Paul Éluard, it remained unpublished during André Breton's lifetime, and was first published in 1988 in the Œuvres complètes in the Bibliothèque de la Pléiade. "L'odeur des fiancées falls on a forest sifted among the games of the follets and the juggling of the stars. At first, you don't notice, but then you do. Dazzling little vials supported by fruitful exchanges between trees, it's you who are all spring, all spring. Shucks. Listen to the word of the good shepherd who passes by holding bunches of wool and mattress carders in the twilight. I'm telling you, it's all the same. There are crazy outfits outside thatched cottages and marriage isn't always at the end, near the easy-to-understand stream. Indistinct hope, unforgivable little vapor, I always have it at the end of my cigarette of doubt. I didn't waste my time looking through the keyhole, on the train; I do believe I witnessed a rape illuminated by the little hand reaching for the alarm signal, the beast: there aren't any in the countryside!..."

Estim. 200 - 300 EUR

Lot 66 - BRETON (André). Autograph card signed "André B." to Pierre Mabille. Poitiers, [January 18, 1940, according to postmark]. One p. in-12 oblong in green ink; autograph note signed: "Médecin aux[iliaire] A. Breton, Ecole de pilotage élémentaire, Poitiers (Vienne)". "My dear Pierre, do you know this [Emmanuel] Aegerter, author of a recently published book on LES HERESIES [DU] MOYEN ÂGE and moreover of works on Saint-Just, Lenin and Freudian poems. It interests me. This little book on heresies is written with great tact. I certainly can't say the same for Mr. [GASTON] BACHELARD's "LAUTREAMONT", which is pure rubbish and a sad laugh. It's a pity that such a nasty pamphlet has come into being. Is it not in your power to grace me with an issue of "Cahiers d'art" that interests me strictly in everything that concerns [ANDRE] MASSON, a long snail's tail thrown over the rest? [Fascicule no. 5-10 of Cahiers d'art, published in 1939 and featuring a contribution by Pierre Mabille, is illustrated with some fifteen drawings by the painter and engraver André Masson]. I'm planning to visit Paris one day soon (around Saturday or Sunday). THE ANTHOLOGY OF THE MARVELOUS WOULD BE BEAUTIFUL TO READ HERE IN THIS MODERNIZED SWEDENBORGIAN LANDSCAPE. See you soon, I hope, my dear Pierre, from the bottom of my heart... " In 1940, Pierre Mabille published Le Miroir du merveilleux, illustrated with drawings by Yves Tanguy and André Masson.

Estim. 200 - 300 EUR

Lot 67 - CÉLINE (Louis-Ferdinand Destouches, known as Louis-Ferdinand). Autograph letter to a friend. S.l., "August 21" [1936]. 2 pp. in-folio, one split restored, trace of tab in one margin. "Mon pote, tu as toujours, je l'imagine, cette amiable relation avec une amie de Mr Rouché [Jacques Rouché, director of the Opéra, but also then acting director of the Opéra-Comique]. Will you (for a fee) alert him to the matter of A LITTLE FRIEND, FORMER DANCER AT THE OPERA-COMIQUE, who would like to be reinstated (following an unfortunate tour of America). THE LITTLE ONE'S NAME IS LUCETTE ALMANZOR (24). 3 years Conservatoire. 3 Opéra comique. 1st category dancer. Unionized. A little helping hand. A simple reinstatement in the corps de ballet. Will you take care of it? You have my full gratitude as well as my affection. I'M OFF TO RUSSIA. I go back to the dispensary on October 15. I'll write to you on the way. [To spend the royalties from the Russian translation of Journey to the End of the Night, the ruble not being convertible, Céline made a trip to Russia from the end of August to September 1936, which inspired his famous libel Mea culpa, published on December 28, 1936 by Denoël et Steele]. If you'd like to see her, she's at your disposal. I repeat: Lucette Almanzor, 108 boulevard Berthier, Paris.

Estim. 400 - 500 EUR

Lot 68 - CÉLINE (Louis-Ferdinand Destouches, known as Louis-Ferdinand). Set of 8 autograph letters signed (one "L. Céline LF Destouches", 6 "LF Destouches", one "Destouches"), addressed to his lawyer Torvald Mikkelsen. Copenhagen, May 29, 1945 and following weeks. LETTERS WRITTEN BEFORE DECEMBER 1945 AND HIS ARREST BY THE DANISH AUTHORITIES AT THE REQUEST OF THE FRENCH AMBASSADOR. They concern the legal steps Céline took to regularize with the Danish authorities his presence and the existence of his financial funds in the country to which he had gone into exile at the end of the war. In particular, he recalls his status as a war invalid, presents his gold coins as a memento of his mother, and complains about the blunders of Captain Robert Laybourn: this British captain, who was teaching English to Céline's wife, Lucette Almansor, had, according to him, on his own initiative committed indiscretions concerning him with the National Bank of Denmark. INCLUDING A VERY BEAUTIFUL LETTER ON SEMMELWEIS: "Dear Master, please allow me to offer you this slim work, the only one my wife could find in town! It is little known, and the story of Semmelweis must be unfamiliar to my regular readers. It was the subject of MY MEDICAL THESIS and at the same time marked MY ENTRY INTO LITERATURE... I should have known better - IT'S A TRAGIC STORY! SHAKESPEAREAN, IBSENIAN, LACKING ONLY A LITTLE COMEDY... I made up for it!..."

Estim. 1 500 - 2 000 EUR

Lot 69 - CÉLINE (Louis-Ferdinand Destouches, known as Louis-Ferdinand). Autograph letter signed "LFC" [to Charles Deshayes]. [Klarskovgaard near Korsør, Denmark], "le 18" [October 1949]. 2 pp. large folio, envelope preserved. "My dear friend, certainly this letter must be inserted in your book, if it appears! I'm going to send you the 2nd canaillerie de l'Huma. Excellent to publish with commentary... Proof of mischief. THE DENOËL GANG OF CROOKED FAKE HEIRS IS SUING ME FOR FORGERY! And I haven't received a single copy of this new VOYAGE! The newspapers don't forget to add Bagatelles (rallying jackals). There was never any question of BAGATELLES! In fact, I think it's just a publicity stunt by the desperate Denoël gang, who are crying "thief!" to the public prosecutor's office to conceal their scheme! They've been secretly selling off my books on the black market for 7 years! [Guy] Tosi, their literary director, confessed this to me when he came to see me here 3 years ago... We sell to reliable booksellers... (his own words) and Tosi came to pick me up FEERIE! By plane!..." A YOUNG JOURNALIST FROM LYON, CELINE'S FOUGHTFUL ADMIRATOR, CHARLES DESHAYES was eager to defend the man he called "cher grand maître". Having made contact with Céline through the lawyer Albert Naud, he led a press campaign in his favor, sought out a publisher willing to republish his work, and above all, in March 1950, embarked on a project for a book-length plea entitled L'Affaire Céline: Céline encouraged him for a while, before becoming annoyed by his clumsiness and, above all, worrying about additional unwelcome publicity. Their relationship cooled, then ceased altogether in March 1951.

Estim. 200 - 300 EUR

Lot 70 - CÉLINE (Louis-Ferdinand Destouches, known as Louis-Ferdinand). Set of 3 signed autograph letters. 1950. - Autograph letter "LFC" [to his lawyer Thorvald Mikkelsen]. [Klarskovgaard near Korsør, Denmark], "le 23" [March 1950]. "Dear Master, oh what a misfortune it is to have to deal with two emperors! Two absolutes! Two tzars! What to do, what to whisper between Caesar and Pompey! Between Thorwald the Infallible and Ricard Cromwell? At last, puny, untouchable, stinking, unworthy, infinite, I breathe a little whisper... Mind the cupboards! Placards de la Bonbonnière [allusion to the French ambassador to Denmark, Guy Girard de Charbonnières]! There'll never be enough of them. And there you have it! The gaffe has been committed. Surely you were waiting for this very humble suggestion to forbid the carpenter to build any of them! Closet! The examining magistrate who issued the warrant against me in 1944 was Mr Zoussman, examining magistrate at the Seine Court of Justice. Just in case, after these infinite mandarino-grotesco-juridical (and above all lazy!) precautions, the divine Danish justice would like to write the little explanatory note we're asking for... Que Naud demande [his French lawyer Albert Naud]... et le pape! Your very friendly and thoughtful LFC" (3 pp. large folio, a few notes and red pencil lines). - Autograph letter signed "LFC" [to his father-in-law Jules Almansor]. Klarskovgaard, probably June 1950]. "Dear friend, a thousand thanks for your very kind offer of help. I'm so used to pulling on the rope that I manage with almost nothing for myself. For Lucette [Lucette Almansor, Céline's wife] my expenses are strawberries, and cabs when I'm absolutely on my knees. 35 kil. of travel a day, from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., and often I return in the evening at midnight. I'll tell you when I'm absolutely at the end of my tether. We've sold everything, so I'll be okay for a while. I'll tell you how and from whom I can get the money. Oh, not at all through Mikkelsen [Thorvald Mikkelsen, Céline's Danish lawyer], who would stifle everything! "On account!" Never by MIKKELSEN; (BETWEEN US!) HE'S A SUPER NORMAND RAPACE (GENEROUS IN HIS TIME!). Very delicate handling! And we owe him everything!..." (one p. 3/4 large folio). - Autograph letter signed "Destou." [to his father-in-law Jules Almansor]. [Klarskovgaard], "August 31" [1950]. "You are about to receive a visit from Knud Ottersrom, Korsor's (only) pharmacist, and by a miracle, a very old friend, delicate, very honest, very scrupulous. He studied in Paris [an art lover, he had met Céline in Gen-Paul's studio in the 1930s, and helped him in Denmark with fund transfers]... He is the only person we can count on in our icy arch-country. I would ask you to give him everything you have available for us, which you will receive from Pierre Monnier (whom I am stimulating) [an admirer of Céline, who would become a publisher and play a major role in Céline's return to the French literary scene]. Because I haven't touched anything yet from the Daragnès-"Pasteur" circuit? Ah, you know that cash is a diabolical temptation... I don't think I've been robbed yet (for the 100th time) on that front, but... A thousand thanks and affectionate thoughts..." (2 pp. 2/3 large folio). ATTACHED: ALMANSOR (Lucette). 4 autograph letters signed to her father Jules Almansor and mother-in-law Fanny de Azpeitia. [Klarskovgaard], April-June 1951, [and Menton, ca. August 1951]. Intimate letters in which she talks about Céline, their pets, their imminent and then actual return to France, etc.

Estim. 1 200 - 1 500 EUR

Lot 71 - CÉLINE (Louis-Ferdinand Destouches, known as Louis-Ferdinand). Autograph letter signed in 2 places, "Destouches" and "LFCéline", [addressed to Paul Marteau]. Klarskovgaard near Korsør, Denmark, "le 27" [probably December 1950]. 2 pp. large folio; envelope enclosing another letter from the same to the same. "My dear friend, I hope you received my little Scandale? and my best wishes for 51! ALAS, I'M WORRIED ABOUT THE PROBITY OF THIS LATEST UNDERGROUND PUBLISHER TOO! The 5th one that plays music for me! I never get a cent for my books! I'm outlawed! That's a load of crap! HERE'S TO HERRING AND PORRIDGE A LA MORT! TO MY UNDERGROUND PUBLISHERS! CHAMONIX AND SPORTS! When it's not them ripping me off, it's the French state! Seized for life! Why should they bother! Your faithful and sincere friend... But don't let them come and hit you in my interest! Oh, I'm wary! Out with the rest of them!" LOUIS-FERDINAND CELINE HAD JUST PUBLISHED SCANDALE AUX ABYSSES in November 1950, with Pierre Monnier, who had adopted the pseudonym Frédéric Chambriand.

Estim. 200 - 300 EUR

Lot 72 - CÉLINE (Louis-Ferdinand Destouches, known as Louis-Ferdinand). Autograph letter signed "LFCéline" [to his Danish lawyer Thorvald Mikkelsen]. [Klarskovgaard near Korsør, Denmark], "Friday" [probably January 5, 1951]. 2 pp. large folio; number inscribed in red pencil; trace of rusty paperclip. "...It seems that a book has just been published in Denmark to your resistant glory..., "micros and slippers"! THERE'S A LOT OF TALK, IT SEEMS, ABOUT YOUR COMMITMENT TO INDOCHINA! Not in the Blabla army! In the tanks! Only you will remain here, fortunately, my God! Dear Master, Minister of War! Oh, your uniform is perfect! I'll decorate you with the military medal, mine, since it was taken away from me! Oh, I fear no one for optimism! THAT MAC ARTHUR, WHAT A NASTY CLAMP! Ah, it's time for you to go over there and "cheer up"! Your faithful observer... " Céline also gives details of the Danish anatomist Jacob-Benignus Winsløw (1669-1760): "... His whole life was French, his career French, only his birth Danish".

Estim. 300 - 400 EUR

Lot 73 - CÉLINE (Louis-Ferdinand Destouches, known as Louis-Ferdinand). Set of 12 autograph letters signed (2 "LFCéline", 6 "LFC", 2 "LFDestouches", 2 "LFDest") and 5 autograph pieces, [addressed to his Danish lawyer Thorvald Mikkelsen]. [Klarskovgaard near Korsør, Denmark], [February-June 1951] and n.d. All on large folio sheets; numbering in red pencil and traces of rusty paper clips. - Le 1[er]" [February 1951]. "A letter from Paulhan that will amuse you - with a tasty little conclusion of caution. Your faithful client..." (2/3 p. large folio). - You're quite right, a semi-thermidor would do. All the same, Mayer as carrion is a disaster. Without him, everything went smoothly and honestly. Now we have to start all over again in front of the military tribunal... " (one p. large folio). - The 11th" [February 1951]. " ... The imbroglio continues with my affair in Paris! Naud is vexed, it seems, by Tixier's initiative! who wanted me to appear before the Military Tribunal! [The lawyer Jean-Louis Tixier-Vignancour had been called in to assist Maître Albert Naud in Céline's defense in France]! But I didn't follow up any of these proposals! On the contrary! No! No! No! I replied! Too bad! TIXIER IS POSITIVELY INSANE! BUT ON THE OTHER HAND, NAUD, WHO FORMALIZES HIMSELF, DOES NOTHING AT ALL! AH, I'M INTELLIGENTLY DEFENDED! As you may have guessed, Lucette's health is on my mind...". (4 pp. 1/2 large folio). - "Le 2" [March 1951]. " ... Oh certainly OPTIMISM IS A GENUINE QUALITY, BUT SUPERFICIAL, AND MUST BE HONEST. Which is not the case with charlatans like Hitler etc... SCHOPENHAUER AND NI[E]T[Z]SCHE WERE RIGHT TO HATE HIM. FOR MY PART, I HAVE A CERTAIN ACTIVE FAITH WHICH IS WORTH A THOUSAND OPTIMISMS, and of which I have given a thousand proofs. I don't need jeremiads any more than I need optimism; my sources are elsewhere. OPTIMISM IS AN ARTICLE OF BAZAAR AND LOW BAZAAR, PERFECTLY CONTEMPTIBLE. J'AIME LE RIGOLARD COURAGEUX, SANS OREILLERS, SANS ŒILLERES, SANS PARAVENTS, SANS MENSONGES, le rigolard d'Hommes - pas de vieilles filles... You will be generous (as usual) and will do me the grace on your next visit to bring me some paper - my Muses eat it up! - Here's a very amusing letter from a correspondent in Lyon (Deshayes). I'll try to get some details. - ... The countryside! Let it manage! When I think of all those "visitors" next summer! Those damned summer people! How to hang them? Lovers of the countryside should all end up like that, on trees! From your two faithful, affectionate, friendly, respectful, country folk..." - "The 2nd" [probably March 1951]. "Here's Albert [his lawyer Albert Naud] all disenchanted... So many "disenchanted" by this world... !... Enchanted by yesterday! But the enchanted have lived well! And they're still living well, disenchanted! What jokers they all are! Opportunists! Rascals! (2/3 p. large folio). - Le 4" [March 1951]. " ... Here is a letter from M. [Marcel] Aymé. He is arriving with his wife. You know how much we care for him! I think the simplest thing is for him to hire a cab to come and see us. He doesn't know our geography, of course! He must be arriving in Copenhagen by plane..." (one p. large folio). - June 12 or 13, 1951]. "By judgment of the military tribunal of Paris (which became final on April 25, 1951), I HAVE THE HONOR TO MAKE YOU KNOW THAT I HAVE BEEN AMNISONTED by application of article 10 of the law of August 16, 1947. As a result of this judgment, the French consulate has issued me with a regular passport for all countries. I am therefore in a position to leave Denmark immediately, but I MUST REMEMBER MY PAROLE OF HONOR GIVEN TO THE DANISH GOVERNMENT, on January 13, 1951, "NOT TO LEAVE DENMARK WITHOUT PERMISSION FROM THE DANISH AUTHORITIES"... I would therefore ask you to kindly request the Danish authorities to relieve me of the word given on 13 - 1 50...". - Etc. - The exhibits are a commentary on an English-language press clipping (here attached) on Céline's amnesty, a quotation he attributes to Voltaire ("... Les grands de ce monde redoutent les écrivains comme les voleurs redoutent les réverbères", with a small sketch), Jean-Louis Tixier-Vignancourt's address, the French translation of a note from the Danish Ministry of Justice on Céline's legal situation in that country, and a note to book plane tickets from Copenhagen to Nice. ENCLOSED, 2 LETTERS ADDRESSED TO LOUIS-FERDINAND CELINE. - DESHAYES (Charles). Autograph letter signed. Lyon, February 28, 1951. He sends a copy

Estim. 3 000 - 3 500 EUR

Lot 74 - CHAR (René). Autograph poem entitled "Loin de nos cendres" ("Far from our ashes"). 3/4 p. in-plano (38.5 x 28 cm), a few erasures and corrections, on Fabriano drawing paper; loosely mounted on cardboard, matted. Text written in 1981, originally published in the Nrf in 1983, and collected in the 1983 edition of the Œuvres complètes (Paris, Gallimard, Nrf, Bibliothèque de la Pléiade). "Our cake of chimeras having scorched at its sunset, the first watches of ["famous" strikethrough] rival time appeared to view. No more black limousine to carry us away on its infatuated slides. Destitution is possession. A fine nocturnal dust barely disturbed ["barely" crossed out then reinscribed] the down of your dear sleeping face. What came from the stars was not theatrical but observed. My shyness was reborn under careful ["royal" crossed out] exteriors, those that white frosts bestow on grasses at rest on the reverse side of icy plateaus. Common suffering, despite the sting of rarefied echoes, sang the hymn. The final ovation went not to a sepulchral half-light ["sepulchral" was added later], mirific glassmaker, but to a line ["of slim" corrected to "a line"] of eels in a hurry to leave the natal stream for the ["wide" crossed out] rivers with their uneven walls. There the alders gather. Sur le lit du courant passe le sang, le virtuose du retour [René Char had originally written: "Sur le lit du courant le sang, virtuose du retour"]..." Autograph letter to his companion Anne Favre-Reinbold. ILLUSTRATED FOLDER WITH TWO GOUACHES BY ALEXANDRE GASPERINE, one signed and dated "AG/81". The artist also illustrated two books by René Char, Les Voisinages de Van Gogh (1985), and Le Gisant mis en lumière (1987). Cover reproduction

Estim. 400 - 500 EUR

Lot 74.1 - CHAR (René). Autograph draft of a collective letter to André Bre_x0002_ton. [Probably January 1931]. 1 p. 1/2 in-folio, erasures and corrections, traces of tabs on versos. VERSION WITH VARIANTS FROM THE FINAL TEXT. "Dear friend, we do not consider it possible, after yesterday's session and the obvious ill will expressed by Aragon concerning Surrealist activity, to accept your decision to abandon the leadership of the S.A.D.R. solely by the fact of this disagreement between him and all of us. Aragon's activity obviously jeopardizes everything we do, but we don't think that's enough for you to stop relying on us. If you were to persist in this attitude, we would be obliged to believe that, contrary to what you claim, you can no longer count on our support. Consequently, we ask you to withdraw the resignation you gave yesterday and to consider the continuation of surrealist activity, even if this means putting Aragon on notice to renounce an activity that is harmful to us and even, if he does not agree to renounce it,... depriving ourselves of him by publishing the reasons." LIVRES & AUTOGRAPHES THURSDAY APRIL 29, 2021 70VERS THE BREAK BETWEEN LOUIS ARAGON AND THE SURREALIST GROUP. Invited to the "Revolutionary Writers" conference in Kharkov on December 1, 1930, Louis Aragon and Georges Sadoul agreed to sign a self-criticism of their literary activities, pledging to submit them to the party for approval. This caused great tension within the Surrealist group, and on January 15, 1931, André Breton proposed his resignation from the magazine Le Surréalisme au service de la révolution. The present collective letter was signed by René Char, Salvador Dali, Paul Éluard, Yves Tanguy, André Thirion and Pierre Unik to make Breton reconsider his decision. The issue of relations with the Communist Party was further aggravated when Louis Aragon published the poem "Front rouge" in July 1931. The threat of exclusion contained in the collective letter of January 1931 was carried out in March 1932: René Char and René Crevel published the leaflet "Paillasse! (fin de l'affaire Aragon)", which sealed the rupture between Louis Aragon and the Surrealists.

Estim. 300 - 400 EUR

Lot 75 - CHATEAUBRIAND (François-René de). Autograph letter [to the Duchess of Duras]. La Vallée-aux-Loups [present-day Hauts-de-Seine department], November 1, 1811. 4 pp. in-8. "REALLY, MADAME, I DON'T KNOW WHAT MY LAST LETTER WAS MORE KIND THAN THE OTHERS. DID I SEEM TO LOVE YOU MORE IN IT? That may be, since friendship, they say, increases with age. I THINK I'M BECOMING THE BEST MAN ON EARTH. I'M RAMBLING A BIT; MY HAIR IS TURNING WHITE AND SOON I'LL BE LED AROUND BY THE NOSE OR SOMETHING. But the hardest thing is that I've completely forgotten how to write, and my hand shakes so badly that I can't form my letters. How about a tragedy? Haven't I told you a hundred times that I'm going to write one? That it was called MOYSE AU MONT SINAÏ and that I had two complete acts? I'll add that I think these two acts are excellent, and I'm like m[a]d[am]e de Staël. Well, sometimes I have to boast. But rest assured. IF MY TRAGEDY IS NOT A MASTERPIECE, IF IT DOESN'T PUT ME IN THE FIRST ROW, I WILL THROW IT IN THE FIRE WITHOUT HESITATION, since, after all, that's not where my glory lies. You've been reassured. Incidentally, I wrote verse for twenty years of my life before I wrote a line of prose, so this is not my first try at the instrument. But it's a terrible task to have to juggle dramatic interest, characters, passions and style. I had no idea how heavy this burden was until I tried to lift it. In eight months of continuous work, I could only manage two acts. Our modern tragics are quicker on the uptake. Now you may ask, how can there be tragedy in Moyse at Mount Sinai? That's my secret, which I dare not hazard to the post office. You'll see this winter. We will therefore forgive M. de L... [the Duc Gaston-Pierre-Marc de Lévis, cousin by marriage to Madame de Duras, author of several works of literature] and we will look elsewhere to complete the rest. I have no doubt that we will manage to fill all the shares. Please send me your little trees when I return from Loné towards the end of this month... Dear sister, tomorrow is the Day of the Dead; pray for all the relatives I have lost as I pray for yours. A thousand tendernesses..." Château de Lonné, in the present-day commune of Igé in the Orne département, belonged to Nicolas d'Orglandes, a future peer of France and father-in-law of Chateaubriand's nephew Geoffroy-Louis. Several members of the writer's family had been executed during the French Revolution, including his brother Jean-Baptiste de Chateaubriand, Geoffroy-Louis' father. "MY SISTER" THE DUCHESSE DE DURAS. Daughter of a Conventionnel member guillotined during the Terror, Claire de Kersaint (1777-1819) married the Duc de Duras during emigration, and returned under the Consulate. Under the Restoration, she ran a brilliant literary salon, and wrote several works of fiction herself, including the famous Ourika. She met Chateaubriand in 1808, and soon developed an admiring and loving - albeit platonic - friendship with him. Until around 1824, they saw each other almost every day in Paris, and corresponded regularly when they were apart. The Duchesse de Duras furthered Chateaubriand's career at Court, obtaining for him the Berlin embassy and sending him to the Congress of Verona. In his Mémoires d'outre-tombe, Chateaubriand would paint a concise but laudatory portrait of her, describing her as "such a generous person, of such a noble soul, of a spirit that combined something of the strength of Mme de Staël's thought with the grace of Mme de La Fayette's talent".

Estim. 300 - 400 EUR

Lot 76 - COCTEAU (Jean). Set of 4 autograph letters signed "Jean" with small sketch of a star, [addressed TO JEAN MARAIS]. 1951 and n.d. All one p. in-4; occasional cracks at folds. - Villa Santo-Sospir in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat [Alpes-Maritimes], February 12, 1951. "Mon bon ange, aujourd'hui c'est le soleil, qui te ressemble. Doudou [his companion Édouard Dermit] is naked on the terrace and I'm painting, painting, painting. I TRY TO AVOID PAINTING-PAINTING, TO WHICH I HAVE NO RIGHT - AND TO PAINT ALL THE SAME - AND IT'S DIFFICULT, BECAUSE, IN THIS AREA, PICASSO HAS TAKEN ALL THE SPACE. I have a lot of notes for my play, which is Bacchus, but he's changed a lot. The character is caught between Rome and Luther. If I succeed, it will be the drama of freedom. I'll need time. I can't write such serious stuff with a running pen. So, YOUR IDEA OF TAKING OVER THE [INFERNAL] MACHINE WOULD BE MY DREAM... I leave BRITANNICUS alone for a while because it's all done in my head... Don't jump into the air, I'm thinking of Danièle Delorme for Junie. It's important to contradict all tragic conformism. Orphée is a success... " - Villa Santo Sospir, "mardi gras" February 7, 1951. "My Jeannot, it's raining on masks. It's raining on the plaster battles. You can imagine the plaster mud covering Nice. This morning (Wednesday) the weather is superb - it's always the same the day after Carnival. I haven't told you the RENOIR story. In the end I had it taken... so that it wouldn't disappear. It's an admirable landscape from the best period. The guy, furious at only selling it for a million, demanded a deadline. He'd double the price after a week. Francine was in Santo Sospir. I didn't have the money - otherwise, I'd buy it on the off-chance. It's worth double or triple. Mine is a tiny canvas, a portrait of her son. It looks like a pearl. I'm on the lookout. If [GEORGES] HUGNET has found you another from the Vollard collection, he'll phone me... Mon Jeannot, the Calmanns tell me that our volume [Jean Cocteau's Jean Marais] will be published on March 1st... Give our Moulouk [Jean Marais's dog] a kiss..." - In the Air France plane". S.d. "My Jeannot, all these deaths of friends, men and animals, have overwhelmed me, I admit. I know it's normal to die, but IT WOULD BE NICE TO DIE ALL TOGETHER AND NOT TO SEE THOSE WE LOVE FALLING OVER THE EDGE AND DISAPPEARING IN THE SEA. Moulouk [Jean Marais's dog] never leaves my side. So I imagine him in such force that I come to believe he's there, looking for you from place to place. I'm going to try painting and retyping my room to distract myself from this nightmare. I'D LIKE TO READ YOU THE PLAY AS SOON AS I GET BACK TO PARIS AND ASK YOUR ADVICE. IF YOU CAN'T PLAY IT, I CAN ONLY THINK OF ONE ACTOR YOU'D CHOOSE: GERARD PHILIPPE. But I wonder if fate won't arrange things and if the impossible won't happen. Besides, between the two of us things are made of one soul, with another a thousand difficulties arise and I have a lump in my throat that won't go away... I've spoken to [JEAN] VILAR about it, only I don't have the whole last act yet... ". - S.l., September 5, 1951. "Jeannot chéri, I think Lulu [Lulu Watier, impresario and friend of Jean Marais] misunderstood my intention. My intention was, after your telephone and hers, to save you from the taxman at all costs. As WHAT'S MINE IS YOURS, this sale of shares wouldn't change anything, except that it... gave you a sum that I couldn't raise without this system. As "capital", Milly [his house in Milly-la-Forêt] represents nothing to you, since you wouldn't sell your rising share to a stranger. It represents wisdom...". Jean Cocteau goes on to talk, among other things, about his friend Francine Weisweiller, Sicily and Taormina in particular: "... Her 'panorama' remains, along with a few postcards of rose-crowned young men who are the grandparents of today's youth, a youth ashamed of it [an allusion to photographs of male nudes taken in Sicily at the end of the 19th century by Wilhelm von Glöden]...".

Estim. 400 - 500 EUR

Lot 77 - DESBORDES-VALMORE (Marceline). Autograph poem entitled "Regarde-le". 6 quintils on 1 p. 1/2 in-8. Piece of verse originally published in 1827 in the Bordeaux journal Le Kaléidoscope, included in 1830 by Marceline Desbordes-valmore in her collection Poésies (Paris, A. Boulland). "Look at him, but not for long. One look will be enough, be sure, To forgive him the wound That made my sweet spring languish: Look at him, but not for long. ... Be silent, if he asks to see me. I may have fled his fickle intoxication; But hide myself from his tenderness, God gives not the power: Be silent if he asks to see me. ... " ATTACHED: SAND (George). Autograph letter signed. S.l., June 22, 1856. 2 pp; 1/2 in-8, foxing, long split at one fold.

Estim. 200 - 400 EUR

Lot 78 - DUMAS père (Alexandre). Autograph manuscript signed "Le Comité de l'Italie unitaire de Sicile". [Circa April 1861]. One p. 1/2 large folio; a few stains, trace of rusty paper clip. MAGNIFICENT LETTER ON HIS AND VICTOR HUGO'S COMMITMENT TO ITALIAN UNITY, AND MORE GENERALLY ON THEIR REPUBLICAN CONVICTIONS. "There is in Sicily a Committee for a united Italy, which is a good precaution taken at a time when so many people are doing what they can to disjoin Italy. As we are not among the latter, the committee has done us the honor of associating us with its work, a great honor which we appreciate from the bottom of our soul, and which we appreciate all the more as Naples does not spoil us in terms of courtesy and fraternity. But what gives me the greatest pleasure is that, by the same decision, Victor Hugo has been appointed a member of the same committee, and that our two names are fraternally attached to each other. It's been thirty-two years since these two names rubbed shoulders in literature, and fifteen years since they touched in politics, Victor Hugo having gradually arrived at convictions that I had held all my life. This is because Hugo's father was an imperialist and his mother a Vendéen, while my father was a republican. It has to be said that VICTOR HUGO MOVED SO FAR AHEAD OF ME - LESS REPUBLICAN THAN I WAS IN 1848, HE IS MORE REPUBLICAN THAN I AM TODAY. Today, Hugo wants a republican, unitary Italy. I'm content to want it to be unitary and constitutional. But WHAT WE WANT ABOVE ALL, INVINCIBLY, INVARIABLY, IS FOR PROGRESS TO GO AROUND THE WORLD, FOR DESPOTISM TO DISAPPEAR FROM THE EARTH, FOR PEOPLES TO FORM A FAMILY, FRATERNAL AND FREE..."

Estim. 200 - 300 EUR

Lot 79 - ÉLUARD (Eugène Grindel, known as Paul). Signed autograph manuscript entitled "Temps anciens, temps bénis". One p. in-8 prepared for publication, with red pencil and graphite notations (including date crossed out). Here dated Vichy, July 14, 1945, and dedicated to the publisher José Corti, who was close to the Surrealists, this prose poem originally appeared shortly afterwards with the same publisher in a collective work illustrated by him, Rêves d'encre. Paul Éluard included the composition in 1946 in the fourth, expanded edition of his collection Au Rendez-vous allemand. "In the transparent palace of pleasure, only the keyhole was obscure. And it was through there that unhappy men vainly tried to catch a glimpse of the wonders they came to believe invisible. The world was turning upside down, the tool before the hand, the jaw before the head, the road before the plain and work before awakening. Of course, morality and its train held life in contempt, and necessity - the need to dream, to know or to eat better - was blithely denied. But we still had a few drops of wine in our water, a few drops of hope in our veins. I didn't yet have all the evidence of hatred. The insult to another had not yet cut my heart in two... "

Estim. 300 - 400 EUR

Lot 80 - FLAUBERT (Gustave). Autograph manuscript entitled "Histoire d'Espagne". [Circa 1845]. 14 pp. in-4 in a notebook of 4 bifeuillets. Gustave Flaubert, who visited Spain twice (the first in 1840), probably took these notes as part of his personal historiographical studies, probably around January 1845, when he wrote to his friend Emmanuel Vasse de Saint-Ouen, "je repasse mon histoire" ("I'm ironing my history"). Here, he condenses his reading of several passages from Eugène Rosseeuw Saint-Hilaire's Histoire d'Espagne, published in Paris by Levrault from 1837 to 1841, and republished by Furne from 1844 to 1879. It consists mainly of three chapters of the introduction (chapter II, "Language and primitive inhabitants of Spain, Celts and Iberians", chapter III, "Phoenician Spain. Greek Spain. Carthaginian Spain", Chapter IV, "Roman Spain"), Chapter III ("Ecclesiastical Constitution") belonging to Book I ("Gothic Spain"), and Chapter I ("Catholic Kings in Toledo") belonging to Book II. " ... Carthaginian Spain. In the 8th century, foundation of Ebusus in the Balearic Islands called Pythiuses. The islands of Majorca and Minorca were taken from the Greeks. The Phoenicians of Gades, harassed by the natives, called on Carthage for help; Carthage came, but lost Santi-Petri and began to declare war on Spain. HAMILCAR BARCA 237 B.C. HASDRUBAL conciliates peoples through his gentleness. Founder of Cartagena. ANNIBAL. Came to Spain at age 9, married a Spaniard and became a Spaniard himself. Florus says "Hispaniam seminarium belli, Annibalis erutriticem". Silver mine in Navarre called Annibal's Well, yielding 300 lb[res] of silver per day. Annibal laid siege to Sagonte. Rome [did] not help her, when she was defeated, she asked Carthage for an account... SPAIN, VICTED, BECOMES THE CENTER OF THE BARCA'S POWER (it was from this country that Annibal drew all his forces in the Italian war..." " ... Musa disembarked at Algesiras in 711 (April 30) - battle on July 25, 711 on the plain bordered by the Guadalete, 99 miles from Cadiz, where the town of Xérès de La Frontera now stands. Roderic is betrayed and defeated (see [Robert] Southey's poem on "Roderic the last of the Goths", notes, and Walter Scott's "Vision of Don Roderic")..." Gustave Flaubert would evoke in Salammbô (1863) the lofty figure of Hamilcar and his plan to conquer the Iberian peninsula.

Estim. 600 - 800 EUR

Lot 81 - FLAUBERT (Gustave). Autograph letter signed [to Jeanne de Tourbey]. [Paris, ca. February 20, 1872]. One p. in-8, small ink stain. "My dear beautiful friend, you will think of my protégé, won't you. His name is Jules Rohaut and he has written in small newspapers under the name Jules Dementhe. Recommend him to your friends, the great journalists. He's a witty boy - who can be of service. He knows the store. HOW GOOD YOUR DINNER WAS YESTERDAY! HOW PRETTY YOU WERE! WHAT A GREAT EVENING! HOW I LOVE YOU! Mille tendresses de votre Gve Flaubert " FLAUBERT AND "LA TOURBEY". Born into poverty in Reims, Marie-Anne Detourbay (1837-1903) came to Paris, where she became famous under the name of Jeanne de Tourbey, and had an influential salon during the Second Empire and early Third Republic. Named "la Tourbey" by the Goncourts, she was entertained by rich and famous lovers, including Alexandre Dumas fils, who called her "la dame aux violettes", the pressman Émile de Girardin, Prince Napoléon, the Turkish diplomat and collector Khalil-Bey (for whom she is said to be the model for Courbet's painting L'Origine du monde, commissioned by Khalil Bey), Ernest Baroche (who bequeathed his fortune to her), and Count Edgar de Loynes (who married her in 1873). Gustave Flaubert, who came into her favor in 1857, frequented her salon and wrote her tender, playful letters until his death. FRANCE (Anatole). See n° 56 above.

Estim. 200 - 300 EUR

Lot 82 - GARY (Roman Kacew, known as Romain). Autograph letter signed to Christel Kriland. "Monday, May 9", [Paris, May 9, 1960, according to the postmark]. One p. in-8, Nrf letterhead, envelope retained. "My dear Christel, your letter came as a great surprise to me. First of all, I AM VERY SORRY TO SEE THAT YOU THINK ME A GENTLEMAN: I AM AN ARTIST. Secondly, my story is first and foremost a literary work and, as I explain in the back of the volume, NOTHING IS ALL TRUE, BUT NOTHING IS ALL FALSE. I have combined several characters into one, and the two ladies who have already written to say that they recognize themselves in Brigitte are both mistaken. My book is a work of art, not a document. You know very well, as I say on the back of the book, that IT IS AN ARTISTIC TRUTH ONLY. Best regards, Romain " ONE OF THE SOURCES OF INSPIRATION FOR BRIGITTE'S CHARACTER IN THE PROMISE OF THE DAWN, Christel Kriland, met Romain Gary in July 1937 in Nice, accompanied by two friends, Ebba Greta Kinberg and Juditt Balean. She was then separated from her husband (Lille Bror Söderlund), and lived with Romain Gary in Paris until April 1938. Having had to leave for professional reasons, she returned to Sweden to be with her husband. Romain Gary was deeply affected by this, but remained in touch with her by letter, and offered her the manuscript of his work Le Vin des morts.

Estim. 300 - 400 EUR

Lot 83 - GOETHE (Johann Wolfgang von). Autograph letter signed "JW v Goethe", addressed to Christian Gottlob von Voigt. Weimar, October 7, 1818. 2 pp. in-4. As Minister of State of the Grand Duchy of Weimar, Goethe was responsible for reorganizing the library and museum in Jena. Here he proposes that Georg Gottlieb Güldenapfel be released from his duties at the periodical Neue Jenaische Allgemeine Literaturzeitung (edited by the philologist Heinrich-Karl Eichstädt), so that he can devote himself to the Jena university library currently being set up (under the orders of the same Eichstädt). " ... Wunsch u[nd] Winck, wie ich hoffe, gemäß thue folgenden Vorschlag. 1) Geh[eimer] Hofr[at] Eichstedt entläßt Prof[essor] Güldenapfel zu Weynachten in Frieden, welcher Besoldung u[nd] Deputat behielte. 2) Benamst G. H. R. Eichst. Ein Subjeckt das er an dessen Stelle setzen will. Diesem können wir 8 Scheffel Korn 8 Sch[effel] Gerste aus der Museums Casse versprechen. Für Anschaffung und Verantwortung trage Sorge. Bey Abfassung des Museums und Bibliothecks Berichtes beseitige diese Sache indem ich ihrer nur im Vorbeygehn als abgethan gedencke, und höchste Billigung des Geschehnen erbittend. Doch wünschte vorerst daß mein Vorschlag Güldenapfeln ein Geheimniß bliebe, damit man sich vor allen Dingen seiner künftigen Thätigkeit bey der Acad[emischen] Bibliotheck, nach Befreyung von der Literaturzeitung versichern könne. Indessen beeile die Aufsätze zu den Berichten, sie E[ure] Exzell[enz] vorzulegen... " WRITER AND STATEMAN CHRISTIAN GOTTLOB VON VOIGT (1743-1819) was a friend of Wieland, Schiller, Herder and Goethe. He shared with Goethe the position of State Councillor of the Grand Duchy of Weimar - where he also held a position in library administration.

Estim. 300 - 400 EUR

Lot 84 - HEREDIA (José-Maria de). Autograph poem entitled "Épigramme votive". 14 verses in violet ink on one p. in-4. Sonnet originally published in the Revue des deux mondes on January 1, 1888, integrated in 1893 by José-Maria de Heredia in his collection Les Trophées. José-Maria de Heredia's original title was "Le vieux soldat", later crossed out and corrected. A Greek veteran is shown here displaying his weapons in homage to the god Ares, his swords, his shield, his helmet, his bow : ... Take the quiver too. Your eye seems to seek In their leather sheaths the archer's weapons, The arrows that the wind of battle scatters; It's empty. Do you think I've lost my features? On the field of Marathon you would find them, For there they remained in Persia's gorge." ATTACHED: RENOIR (Pierre). 2 autograph letters signed, one incomplete at the beginning. S.l.n.d. - RENARD (Gabrielle). Autograph letter signed on behalf of Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Les Collettes in Cagnes, Alpes-Maritimes, "Wednesday".

Estim. 150 - 200 EUR

Lot 85 - HUGO (Victor). Autograph poetic manuscript. 34 verses on one p. 1/4 in-8, a few erasures and corrections; the second p. is mainly occupied by an autograph tally. Four passages from "Océan d'en haut", first part of his collection Dieu, in a version with variants from the final printed text: "Higher than Atlas, and more than the swift birds! Why be content with your religions? When in infinity we take refuge, Why not follow us, soul in the leaning coffin, And know all? Why, what the abyss sings, [next to "know" Hugo crossed out "take" which he would eventually choose] Not to decipher it? you only have to want it! If you can't hear it, you can at least see it, That hymn that shudders beneath the eternal veils. [above "cet hymne qui frémit" Hugo inscribed "The eternal vibrating hymn" he would ultimately choose] The constellations are scales of stars ; And the winds at times sing you shreds Of that unheard song that fills the tombs. ["De ce chant inouï" would become "Du chant prodigieux" in the printed version] Come, make an effort, greater spirit than eagle; Take your ladder, take your pen, take your ruler; All this music with its ineffable noise Is there on the frightful register of the night; Go, climb; all you have to do is draw staves Under the septentrions and under the lactées ways To read at this very moment, deep in the ruddy skies, The symphony written in notes of suns!" "But you're getting small; you're changing the argument, And there, you take up your complaint rightly; Man is a vast desire in a narrow embrace, A eunuch in love, a traveller who limps; Man is nothing, the earth lies to him every hour; Life is a reckoning instead of a payment". "What are you waiting for? Go to the bottom of God! Go quickly! Ah! breath of manure that perfume avoids, Man, shadow! vain runner of all lost steps! [under "coureur" Hugo crossed out "marcheur"] Merchant of betrayed Christs and sold Josephs! [next to "marchand" Hugo has crossed out "vendeur"] Go! you come out of the mire!" "Muskrats, huddled at the bottom of glassy lakes, Caught wintering under the ice and eating each other;" [the definitive version would be much reworked: "Les musquas rongeurs pris au fond des lacs vitreux Par la glace et l'hiver, se dévorant entre eux"] Also at the top, two verses whose various expressions would be scattered throughout several of the final printed verses: "You providential, and the rest fatal! Ah, you think you're divine! Ah giant! Ah colossus!" "L'OCEAN D'EN HAUT". From the spring of 1855 onwards, Victor Hugo envisaged a kind of conclusion to Contemplations, which he initially entitled "Solitudines cœli [solitudes du Ciel]". This initial nucleus soon grew and took on a life of its own in the writer's mind, under the successive titles "Ascension dans les ténèbres" and "Le Gouffre". It was on the advice of Auguste Vacquerie that he would turn it into a separate work under the immense title of Dieu, so immense that he would not complete it, and it would be published posthumously by Paul Meurice in 1891. It would then comprise two parts, "L'Océan d'en haut" and "Le Seuil du gouffre". Hugo himself explained that he had conceived a triptych in which "the single problem, Being in its triple face: Humanity, Evil, Infinity; the progressive, the relative, the absolute; in what might be called three songs: The Legend of the Centuries, The End of Satan, God". "JE FINIS PAR NE PLUS ÊTRE QU'UNE ESPECE DE TEMOIN DE DIEU". While Baudelaire, like many of his readers, still said of him: "M. Victor Hugo est un grand poète sculptural qui a l'œil fermé à la spiritualité" (Victor Hugo is a great sculptural poet with his eye closed to spirituality), Victor Hugo was turning his thoughts to the mysteries of the infinite and man's metaphysical condition. Thus, in April 1856, he wrote to Franz Stevens: "I live in splendid solitude, as if perched on the tip of a rock, with all the vast foam of the waves and all the great clouds of the sky beneath my window; I dwell in this immense dream of the ocean, I gradually become a somnambulist of the sea, and before all these prodigious spectacles and all this enormous living thought in which I immerse myself, I end up being no more than a kind of witness to God. It's from this eternal contemplation that I wake up from time to time to write. There is always on my stanza or my page a little of the cloud's shadow and the sea's saliva; my thought floats and comes and goes, co

Estim. 2 000 - 3 000 EUR

Lot 86 - HUGO (Victor). Photograph with signed autograph dispatch, and signed autograph letter, addressed to Léon Bienvenu. - Dedicated photographic portrait. Guernsey, cliché Arsène Garnier, [1872-1873]. 95 x 57 mm, mounted on bristol board, print a little yellowed, wetness on verso. Autograph letter signed "To M. Léon Bienvenu, his friend Victor Hugo". "JE N'AI PLUS DEVANT MOI QUE GEORGES ET JEANNE", wrote Victor Hugo in his notebooks the day after the death of his last son François-Victor (December 1873). The old poet had already lost his children Léopoldine (1843) and Charles (1871), while Adèle had lost her mind and was in a nursing home. He transferred all his paternal love to Charles and Alice Lehaene's children, Georges and Jeanne, born in 1868 and 1869 respectively. He had welcomed the young fatherless children into his home, where they called him "Papapa", and this intimacy added to the immense love they already shared. It was with them in mind that the poet wrote his famous collection L'Art d'être grand-père (The Art of Being a Grandfather), published in 1877, which contributed to his image as the good patriarch of the Republic. - Autograph letter signed "Victor Hugo" to Léon Bienvenu. S.l., "March 3" [perhaps 1877]. "I read some beautiful verses by Georges Nazim; I would like to know the author. Please tell him for me. It's been a long time since I've had the joy of shaking your hand. If you and Madame Léon Bienvenu would be so kind as to join us for dinner on Saturday March 10 (7.1/2 p.m.), you would be very kind and we would be delighted. I am yours, I hope you will be, and I send my regards to Madame Bienvenu... If M. Georges Nazim would accept my invitation for the same day, would you be so kind as to pass it on to him...". (one p. 1/4 in-16). LEON BIENVENU, KNOWN AS TOUCHATOUT, VICTOR HUGO PARODIST AND COMMITTED COMIC ARTIST. In 1867, he began publication of his Histoire de France tintamarresque, which won him great popularity and, because of its insolence towards monarchs and popes, served the cause of democracy to a certain extent. In 1869, Touchatout penned a parody of Victor Hugo's L'Homme qui rit, in which he also fired a number of arrows at the imperial regime. In 1870, he became director of Le Tintamarre and contributed to most of the satirical journals, each time accentuating his political charge, eventually publishing a merciless pamphlet against Napoleon III. After the fall of the Empire, Touchatout wrote his famous Trombinoscope, in which almost all his contemporaries of notoriety were satirized. Verses by Victor Hugo and others by publicist and poet Georges Mazinghien, known as Georges Nazim (1851-1912), were set to music by composer Hector Salomon and published in 1877 in the collection Vingt mélodies.

Estim. 1 000 - 1 500 EUR

Lot 87 - HUGO (Victor). Autograph poetic notes. 39 verses with a few variants juxtaposed, on 2 pp. on the rectos of 2 large folios mounted on tabs in a large folio volume with smooth muted garnet morocco spine and garnet morocco title-piece on the first cover (antique binding). Set of 12 poetic essays of one to 11 lines each, probably preparatory to his collection L'Âne, published in 1878. The speaker unfurls an impressive erudition, which he disparages: " ... I care little for Suidas, Strabo, Or Acasilaüs commented by Eusebius, That Jacob disappears at the hour when Thebes rises, And Alexander is born when Ephesus dies, I care not. I hear little of the clamor That, haggard, burning-eyed, staggering-legged, In Crete, deep in the woods, grow the Corybantes; I pay little heed When Moses, who kills a little too much, and lies, Emerges from the brazen clutches of the tenacious Pharaoh, Or when Deucalion descends from Mount Parnassus." With a charge against Figaro editor Francis Magnard: "... That Noah's Ark was plagued by vermin / And that we were stung by Francis-Magnards... / That's not what I'm passionate about...". Back in 1869, he wrote to his friend Auguste Vacquerie: "Do you know a bug called Francis Magnard? This bug stinks and stings I don't know where. Provenance: Simone de Caillavet (bookplate). ONE OF MARCEL PROUST'S MODELS FOR THE CHARACTER MADEMOISELLE DE SAINT-LOUP DANS LA RECHERCHE, LA FEMME DE LETTRES SIMONE DE CAILLAVET (1894-1968) was the daughter of writer Gaston Arman de Caillavet (who collaborated with Robert de Flers, among others) and the granddaughter of Léontine Arman de Caillavet, muse and mistress of Anatole France. After a first marriage in 1920 to the wealthy Romanian diplomat Georges Stoïcescu, Simone de Caillavet married the writer André Maurois in 1926.

Estim. 1 000 - 1 500 EUR

Lot 88 - HUYSMANS (Joris-Karl). Autograph manuscript entitled "Le sleeping-cars [sic]". [1888]. 5 pp. folio, erasures and corrections in ink and red and blue pencil, one addition on a collet; restored tears on verso, 2 leaves with frayed margin reinforced. Testimonial account of an experience he described as hellish, the journey he made in a sleeper from Paris to Cologne in September 1888: he compares the compartment to a "prison", a "jail", a "rolling compressed Mazas" where, in the violent bumps of the train, reigns a trying mixed promiscuity with grotesque passengers, "a gentleman of about fifty, adipose and withered, very bald" and "old jokers whose dewlaps swing", etc. : " ... The smell of the cabin suffocates me. Perfumes untied in a breath of ether mingle with the wanton scents of the women after the dance. My heart falters in the rarefied, aroma-laden air. I get up, quietly get dressed, gently push open the door and step into the corridor. Nobody there - I light a cigarette, open a new door onto the platform outside. I breathe at last, but the wind from the rapid flattens me against the walls, while a fine shower of soot stings my face and hands with black dots. Time to go home... Little by little, the car wakes up... In the rooms, you can see the manure from the litter, the dirt from the mattresses, the junk from the pillows and blankets, a whole mess dominated by the ridiculous childishness of these ceilings decorated with an old painted sky... " Article published in March 1889 in La Revue indépendante (2nd series, t. X, no. 29), originally intended for Gil Blas, which refused it so as not to alienate the railway company from which the paper obtained complimentary tickets for its journalists.

Estim. 1 000 - 1 500 EUR

Lot 89 - JANKÉLÉVITCH (Vladimir). Autograph notes. 10 ff. of which 9 in-4 and one in-8; one of the leaves is entirely crossed out but legible; text missing from 2 of the leaves, one frayed, the other with a marginal tear. NOTES PREPARATOIRES A SON TRAITE LA MORT, published in 1966 by Flammarion. "It is doubtful whether the problem of death is, strictly speaking, a philosophical problem. If we consider this problem objectively and from a general point of view, we can scarcely see what a "metaphysics" of death could be; but on the other hand, we can well imagine a "physics" of death, - whether this physics be biology or medicine, sociology or demography: death is a biological phenomenon like birth, puberty and ageing; mortality is a social phenomenon in the same way as natality, nuptiality or criminality. For the physician, lethality is a determinable and predictable phenomenon, depending on the species in question, the average length of life and general environmental conditions. From a legal and juridical point of view, death is just as natural a phenomenon: in town halls, the death office is an office like any other, and a subdivision of the registry office, just like the birth and marriage offices; and the funeral parlour is a municipal service, no more and no less than roads, public gardens or schools. Population increases through births, decreases through deaths: there's no mystery in that, but simply a natural law and a normal empirical phenomenon to which the impersonality of statistics and averages removes any trace of tragedy. This is the reassuringly bourgeois way in which Tolstoy, at the start of a famous novel, views Ivan Ilyich's death: not just the painful death of Ivan Ilyich, but also the death of magistrate Ivan xxx, a banal and abstract administrative event which, like a simple retirement, triggers a cascade of appointments, transfers and promotions. The death of a judge is first and foremost a judicial event; and then it's a family tragedy and a private misfortune. Cosmological generalizations on the one hand, and rational reflection on the other, tend to conceptualize death, to reduce its metaphysical importance, to turn this tragedy into a simple partial phenomenon. Death is not a final judgment, a theological cataclysm which, like the "end of the world", would strike all living creatures at once; and even if the totality of mankind were to disappear at once, the possibility would remain that living humanity represented a species within an infinitely larger genus: why should unknown beings, scattered throughout the universes, not outlive the living here below? In fact, DEATH IS NEVER THE NON-BEING OF THE TOTAL BEING, BUT THE NON-BEING OF A PARTICULAR BEING; DEATH IS NOT EMPIRICAL NOTHING, BUT A SINGULAR DISAPPEARANCE, determined by circumstantial coordinates: someone and somewhere, so-and-so at such-and-such a minute. Because it's about someone's death! A place is suddenly left empty, just as an armchair is made vacant by the defection of the person who was supposed to occupy it. What's more, and if death really isn't a radical nihilization for external experience, every gap is filled as soon as it's dug out; such is the weave of perceived phenomena that Bergson describes for us: in the fullness of this continuum, there is sometimes substitution or substitution, but there are never any gaps...". RARISSIME IN PRIVATE HANDS, as almost all the philosopher's manuscripts have been deposited with the BnF.

Estim. 3 000 - 4 000 EUR

Lot 90 - MALLARMÉ (Stéphane). Autograph letter signed "Stéphane Mallarmé" [to Catulle Mendès]. Paris, "Saturday evening" [July 20, 1872]. 3 pp. in-8. "Dear friend, would it be possible to do, without putting out the master's eye, the following little thing, in Rappel, to extract from AN ARTICLE I'M PUBLISHING, TODAY, IN ILLUSTRATION, ON THE LONDON EXHIBITION, a few lines, those relating, for example, to the English gardens which are, now, drawn by Lenôtre's own shadow. This passage reveals it to the dazzled eyes of the reader: first column, in the middle of the fourth paragraph. Before I see Marc, the father, on Monday or Tuesday, I'd like to pass before him as a gentleman considered by his colleagues. All in all, it's at L'Illustration that, once I've settled in, I could write better articles than this first one, where anxiety can be read between the lines. THERE'S SO MUCH, AT LEAST, TO TRY: LET'S GIVE IT A TRY. Thank you, dear friend, whether you can do this or not..." Stéphane Mallarmé wrote 6 articles on the London International Exhibition, 4 of which were published between October 1871 and July 1871, including one in L'Illustration on July 20, 1872.

Estim. 200 - 300 EUR

Lot 91 - MAUPASSANT (Guy de). Autograph letter signed with his initials to Léon Fontaine. Étretat, [September 15, 1881, according to the postmark]. One p. 1/3 in-16, letterhead printed with his initials and the address of his house at La Guillette in Étretat, envelope retained. "Just one word, my dear Léon, to which I beg you to reply with a dispatch. I NEED FRERE JAN on Thursday, for a very mysterious walk. Incidentally, I'm not going all the way to Paris. I'm stopping at Maisons. IS THE BOAT STILL AT FOURNAISE? Should I write to him to have it ready for me? A very cordial handshake... " Testimony to his wild youth on the banks of the Seine: Maupassant spent most of his free time leading a carefree, light-hearted life on the banks of the Seine, surrounded by friends and women, first in Argenteuil, then in Bezons at the auberge de la mère Poulain, and in Chatou at the Fournaise inn. He owned several boats, including a skiff named Frère Jan. THIS PERIOD OF MAUPASSANT'S LIFE INSPIRED SEVERAL NEWSPAPERS: "Sur l'eau" (originally entitled "En canot"), "Une partie de campagne", "Mouche"... In the latter, in 1890, he recounted his memories as a canoeist with nostalgia: "MY GREAT, MY ONLY, MY ABSORBENT PASSION, FOR TEN YEARS, WAS THE SEINE [...]. I loved it so much, I think, because it gave me, it seems to me, the meaning of life [...]. And what a happy life I had with my classmates [...]. There was a little one, very clever, nicknamed Petit Bleu [Léon Fontaine... ]". ATTACHED: CHARPENTIER (Gustave). Autograph letter signed. S.l.n.d. - FERRY (Jules). Autograph letter signed. Paris, February 1, 1877.

Estim. 300 - 400 EUR

Lot 92 - NIMIER (Roger). Set of 11 letters (3 autograph signed, 8 signed), addressed to Jacques CHARDONNE. 1955-1961 and n.d. Jointly, 2 autograph letters signed from the same to the same, incomplete from the beginning. BEAUTIFUL LITERARY AND FRIENDLY CORRESPONDENCE: Roger Nimier writes about Pierre Benoit, Antoine Blondin, Jean Cocteau, Michel Déon, André Fraigneau, Gaston Gallimard, Remy de Gourmont, Victor Hugo, André Malraux, Paul Morand, François Nourissier, Jules Romains, Germaine de Staël and Stefan Zweig, among others.

Estim. 300 - 400 EUR

Lot 93 - NOAILLES (Anna de). Autograph letter signed A SACHA GUITRY. [Paris, ca. October-November 1920]. One p. in-8, address on back. "MONSIEUR, YOU HAVE FILLED ME WITH FLOWERS AND PERFUMS, attached to each other, but that is precisely what is rare! Who doesn't know the soulless rose with the cold smell of the shop window! Yours make a cloud of scent. IN ADDITION TO MY THANKS, I WISH YOU - IN VAIN! - OF CONTINUED GLORY. - And I have the nerve to tell you that I would be delighted to go with you on the 15th to see Je t'aime [a play by Sacha Guitry first performed in October 1920]. Please accept my great admiration... " Anna de Noailles and Sacha Guitry were neighbors in Paris at the time, on rue Scheffer.

Estim. 50 - 100 EUR

Lot 94 - PRÉVERT (Jacques). Autograph manuscript WITH ORIGINAL COLOR DRAWING. One large folio p. (42 x 27 cm on vellum), text and drawing in black and colored felt-tip pens and oil pastels, a few notes in pen and black ink. Ephemeris for a "Thursday", in which various names can be read: Brunet, Lasky, Bauer, etc. It is illustrated with a large multicolored flower (37 x 15 cm). JACQUES PREVERT'S FLOWERY EPHEMERIDES. From the 1950s onwards, Prévert got into the habit of composing his own ephemerides as diaries, on large, carefully selected sheets of paper: "Every morning, he would use a large white sheet of wonderful holland from Lavrut, Passage Choiseul, on which he would draw a colorful flower, next to which he would write his appointments and the first names or surnames of friends whose visits he was expecting" (Yves Courrière, Jacques Prévert. En vérité, Folio, 2000, p. 932). The inventiveness and dynamic aesthetic qualities revealed by these flower designs illustrate once again Picasso's comment to Prévert: "You can't paint or draw, but you're a painter".

Estim. 600 - 800 EUR

Lot 95 - PROUST (Marcel). Autograph letter signed "Marcel Proust" to Constantin Ullmann. Paris, [December 25 or 26, 1918]. 4 pp. in-8 on gray paper. " ... What bad luck, me who never goes out, I'm dining in town on Saturday [at Princess Soutzo's], and as at previous dinners I arrived after the soup and left before the ice cream, I promised this time to stay a while. But at eleven o'clock I'll leave at all costs, and I'll be at a quarter past eleven at Monsieur Guzman Blanco's [Roberto Guzmán Blanco, friend of Frédéric de Madrazo and Reynaldo Hahn, son of Antonio Guzmán Blanco, former president of Venezuela, to whom Reynaldo's father had been close]. I hope he won't find it too late. I'll probably come, 11:1/4, 11:1/2, maybe even a little earlier. Above all, tell him how delighted I am to know him, give him all my heartfelt thanks, take your share and believe me, my dear Constantin, your devoted friend Marcel Proust. P. S. I suddenly remember (dear Constantin, DON'T BELIEVE ME MONDAIN, I beg you, it will never happen to me to go out like that) that I ALSO HAD AN EVENING SATURDAY (rue Raynouard, that's not very near!) [no doubt at the Duchess Clermont-Tonnerre's, who lived in that street]. I promised, but I didn't remember that Saturday was December 28. So here's what I'll do. Instead of leaving dinner at eleven o'clock, I'll leave at eleven minutes to one quarter. I'll be at Monsieur Guzman Blanco's (whose address I don't know) at eleven o'clock, I'll stay for a quarter of an hour to have the pleasure of getting to know him, and then I'll leave for rue Raynouard, where I'll have a chat around 11 1/2 with the last people still there. If Mr. Guzman Blanco would prefer me to do the opposite, I could be at eleven o'clock on rue Raynouard, and finish with Mr. Guzman Blanco, at whose house I'd assist in this 2nd combination around twenty minutes to midnight. And I could stay with you at his place until 1 a.m. THE LAST COMBINATION SEEMS BETTER TO ME BECAUSE IT LEAVES ME MORE TIME WITH BOTH OF YOU, but I take my orders from Monsieur Guzman Blanco."

Estim. 800 - 1 000 EUR

Lot 96 - PROUST (Marcel). Autograph letter signed "Marcel Proust" to the administrator of the Nrf, Gustave Tronche. [Paris, shortly before January 11, 1921]. S.l.n.d. 4 pp. in-12, paper a little yellowed. "Dear friend, I can't tell you how much it would have pleased me. But I'm in a terrible state of health at the moment. That's even why I tell you so briefly, 'it's impossible'. If by any chance I was well enough, I'd come for a bit in the evening. But it's so unlikely that I beg you not to trouble yourself in any way, if you're planning to go out and so on. There is not one chance in a thousand that I would come, and if I did (but I won't) it would be for a walk to your house, and even if you weren't there I wouldn't have minded. I would have been very happy to tell Monsieur Romains everything I think of his admirable talent [Gustave Tronche must have invited Marcel Proust to meet Jules Romains]. I'm stopping because I'm tired, even though I haven't said anything I'd like to. I apologize to Gaston [Gallimard], to whom I owe a letter, but as it's a long letter, I'm waiting for a moment's rest before writing to him. In the meantime, I send him, through you, all my affection. You don't know Mr. Baur [sic for Gérard Bauër] of the Écho de Paris? If not, as is almost certain, don't answer me. YOU DON'T KEEP ME INFORMED OF LUXURY SUBSCRIPTIONS, and since you also sell to booksellers, how do you expect me to recognize myself [alluding to the deluxe edition of À l'Ombre des jeunes filles en fleurs published by Gallimard in 1920]... Very kind regards... "

Estim. 800 - 1 000 EUR

Lot 97 - PROUST (Marcel). Autograph letter signed "Marcel" to Clément de Maugny. [Paris, May 29 or 30, 1922]. 9 pp. in-12 square, about 3 pp. in Céleste Albaret's hand and about 6 pp. in the writer's hand. "[In Céleste Albaret's hand:] My dear Clément, I didn't answer your letter, much more I had [not] read it right away. Here's why. As tiles never fall one without the other, I took pure, at about the time you wrote to me, a medicine which I didn't know could only be taken very diluted. I WAS ALSO TAKEN IMMEDIATELY BY AFFRAUS SUFFERING, to the point of fainting from pain. The next few days, they wanted to put a cast on my stomach, but then they gave up, but I had several weeks of high fever, with great difficulty turning over in bed. Needless to say, I HAD TO INTERRUPT THE SHIPPING OF MY BOOK. I haven't fully read my mail, but I have read your letter with attention and sorrow. With all the reserve I am obliged to take in my expressions since I am dictating this word, I will tell you briefly that I immediately made the approach you asked me to make to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on your protégé's behalf, but the most precise details were given to me about the desire in high places to reduce salaries before the end of the financial year and to abolish old posts instead of creating new ones. A friend of mine, who is very influen[t] there, suggests that I write to our consul in Geneva so that he can find your protégé a small job in Geneva. [In Marcel Proust's handwriting:] My dear Clément, here I take up the pen and cease my dictation, for this fiction of "your protégé" that I had adopted with my maid (not to say that it was you) makes writing too difficult. So an offer for our consul. I neither accepted nor refused, before consulting you, because as no one here knows that you're a mayor, perhaps this job in Geneva would be detrimental to you? To meet the most pressing needs, I'm sending you a money order for 400 francs. But I advise you not to delay any longer in doing what I advised you to do a long time ago. WRITE TO MATHIEU DE NOAILLES WHOSE WIFE [ANNA DE NOAILLES] MORE OR LESS KNOWS THE LEADERS OF THE SOCIETE DES NATIONS, AND WHO HAS GREAT PRESTIGE WITH THEM. For Mathieu de Noailles, you are me, so a letter from you will benefit from the good feelings they may have for me. But it will make a better impression if you write it, and in addition to all the reasons I've already given you for this, there's another, which is that I, WHO HABITUALLY DON'T SEND MY BOOKS (I DON'T KNOW WHY, BECAUSE I LOVE HER INFINITELY) TO MADAME DE NOAILLES, SENT HER THE LAST one, the day before my accident. If I'm the one writing to her for you, she might think that's why I sent her my book. Besides, it's not her but your old friend Mathieu that you should be writing to (I'd advise you not to blame me, but if you do, tell me so I don't make any blunders)... As for continuing to wait for the exchanges to change, that would be crazy, as I told you last year. Nobody can predict anything on this subject; if they recover, so much the better, but act without counting on this miracle because otherwise you'll be selling all your stocks one by one at a low price, you'll be eating all your wheat. I beg your pardon for speaking so frankly, but I SEE SO WELL FOR MYSELF THE TERRIBLE DIFFICULTIES OF CURRENT LIFE, MY SUCCESS (?) HAVING BEGUN ONLY AT A TIME WHEN PUBLISHERS WERE NO LONGER PAYING, and mercantilists renting out homes, for anyone who, like me, has done the folly of moving, ten times their true value. Excuse the rambling of this word, but for the past month I've only been able to have ice cream, which we fetch from the devil, and which is a dish more expensive than nourishing. So it took a letter from my dear Clément - a letter that plunged a dagger into my heart - for me to write..." MARCEL PROUST'S YOUTH FRIEND AND ONE OF THE INSPIRATIONS OF THE RESEARCH, LE COMTE DE MAUGNY (1873-1944) received the writer several times between 1893 and 1905 at his Château de Maugny on the shores of Lake Geneva, and remained in epistolary contact with him until his death. Marcel Proust transposed the memories of these stays into his Recherche. Clément de Maugny had also married a Polish aristocrat, Rita Busse, who published a collection of his drawings in 1919, with a letter from Marcel Proust as a preface. GOUVERNANTE DE MARCEL PROUST, TEMOIN PRIVILEGIE DE SA VIE, ET UN DES MODELES DE LA CUISINIERE FRANÇOISE DANS LA RECHERCHE, CELESTE ALBARET (1891-1984) de

Estim. 1 000 - 1 500 EUR

Lot 98 - RADIGUET (Raymond). Signed autograph poem entitled "Puisse un caillou sensible..." dated "août-septembre 1921". 4 quatrains and a dispatch of one verse on one p. in-4. Last poem published during his lifetime - one month before his death - in the magazine Les Feuilles libres, with illustration by Pablo Picasso. "May a pebble sensitive to the tears of the torrent Tell you the reason why all hearts wear out, You, peacock, who, from your wheel, a feather, O my Muse, Plucked it from a dying man's hand... ATTACHED: MALRAUX (André). Autograph letter signed. S.l., "le 24". - WASSERMANN (Jakob). Handwritten copy of a poem.

Estim. 300 - 400 EUR

Lot 99 - RILKE (Rainer Maria). Autograph letter signed to a "verehrter Herr Professor" ["dear professor"]. Paris, August 13, 1907. One p. 1/2 in-12 square. Rainer Maria Rilke, a native of Prague, was a contributor in his youth to the German-language Prague magazine Deutsche Arbeit, founded in 1901 by August Sauer and published until 1920. The present letter accompanied an article (to be replaced, if necessary, by a poem of his own) and part of his text Aus dem Traum-Buch, later translated into French as Le livre des rêves. "Herr Prof. Sauer theilte mir neulich mit, daβ die Redaktion der "Deutschen Arbeit" für das Oktoberfest auf mich rechnet. Ich versprach gerne, Sie nicht im Stiche zu lassen. Vielleicht kommt DER BEITRAG, den ich Ihnen mit der gleichen Post übersende, noch rechtzeitig in Ihre Hände. Ich weiβ nicht, ob ich in Ihren Sinne gewählt habe. Passt es nicht, so tausche ich meine heutige Sendung gegen EIN GEDICHT um: Sie werden mir sagen, wie es Ihnen lieb ist. Empfangen Sie inzwischen, wie immer, den Ausdruck meiner Wertschätzung und meiner ganzen Ergebenheit... Gleichzeitig ein eingeschriebener Manuscript : AUS DEM TRAUM-BUCH (17 Blätter)."

Estim. 300 - 400 EUR

Books & manuscripts

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