MAURIAC, François (1885-1970)
Autograph carte-de-visite signed « FM » [to Thierry Maulnier]
N.p.n.d. [Paris, after 1930], 2 p. in-16°
« This dear Cocteau is an impostor—a charming impostor…. »
Fact sheet
MAURIAC, François (1885-1970)
Autograph carte-de-visite signed « FM » [to Thierry Maulnier]
N.p.n.d. [Paris, after 1930], 2 p. in-16°
Tiny fold on top left corner, tiny smudges
A charming note from the writer playfully referring to Jean Cocteau, four years his junior.
« Cher ami (je ne vous appelle pas cher monsieur, moi !) je suis bien tranquille avec vous. Rien que de noble sort des êtres nobles, qu’ils soient abbés […] !
Ce cher Jean Cocteau est un imposteur, un charmant imposteur… Mais on n’est très charmant à son âge. La jeunesse permet tout… mais au soir de la vie, il faut rendre le son de sa vérité.
Je serai chaudement avec vous deux après demain soir
Votre FM »
Mauriac’s homosexual attraction—long kept secret—was brought to light by Jean-Luc Barré in 2009 in his Intimate Biography of the writer. Rejected by Cocteau in their youth, Mauriac later offered a somewhat ambiguous tribute to his memory upon his death in October 1963: « For fifty-three years I had not seen Jean Cocteau, but I watched him from afar with affection, with irritation. He got on my nerves. I never admired him completely, if I may put it that way […] »
Provenance :
Thierry Maulnier’s estate