From Hugo to Cocteau, David to Gauguin, Chopin to Boulez, we offer here a wide range of important autograph letters from the greatest artists of the past centuries.
Two autograph card-letters signed « Jacques » to Dominique Aury
Paris, 3rd and 7th August [1936], 2 pp. in-8°
« Hour by hour… it feels as though I can bear your absence less and less »
Period albumen print
[Paris, between late 1861 and early 1862]. Wet stamp « Et. Carjat »
Étienne Carjat’s masterpiece, the only known period print
Autograph letter signed « Gve Flaubert » to Jules Sandeau
Croisset, 26 January [1862], 2 p. in-8 on blue laid paper
« Yesterday I received a letter from Baudelaire inviting me to ask for your voice for his candidacy to the Academy »
Autograph letter signed twice « Paul Verlaine » to Léon Deschamps
Paris, 23rd August 1892, 3 p. in-12° on graph paper
« Baudelaire was my dearest fanaticism and is, that is to say, will remain one of my greatest admiration »
Autograph letter signed « Paul Verlaine » to Léon Deschamps
Paris, 19th October 1890, 1 p. in-8°
« I had accompanied, very young and all obscure as I was, the coffin of Baudelaire »
Autograph letter signed « Emile Zola » [to Léon Deschamps]
Paris, 20th March 1893, 1 p. in-8° on laid paper
« A few usual banal lines about Baudelaire… »
Period albumen print
N.p.n.d. [Paris, after 1895], cabinet format
Nice portrayal of the actress in the role of Gismonda
Autograph letter signed « René Char » to Marianne Oswald
N.p, 15th March, 2 p. in-8°
« Above all, we must talk about Albert and the abyssal emptiness that his disappearance caused. It is up to friendship to bloom this void »
Two autograph cards signed (Ledringhem, 2 & 27 Dec. 1914)
Autograph cards signed « Schneider » and « Colonel Blacque-Belair »
« I was happy to have been able to get your son the medal he deserved less for his wound than for his courage »
Autograph letter signed « Aragon » (draft), to René Char
[Paris, 10th August 1946], 1 p. 1/2 in-4°
« I do not accept to be lectured, I admit even less that it is claimed to be given to Esla. And the Olympian tone of your letter proves to me that if there are some who get lost, it is only in the image of kicking the ass »
Autograph letter signed “Degas” to collector Montagnac
Np, 27 June [18]95, 2 pages in-8°
“I pay you as follow: three pastels from me”
Autograph letter signed « G.S. » to Eugène Delacroix
[Paris] Postal mark [23rd December 1841], 1 p. 1/2 in-8°
« I saw your femmes d’Alger »
Autograph letter signed « G.S. » to Eugène Delacroix
[Nohant, 13 August 1843], 4 p. in-8°, autograph address on fourth folio
« I no longer exist, I told you. It’s been three years since I died, having committed suicide voluntarily to prevent myself from dying and not to drag a ridiculous agony »
Autograph letter signed « GS » to Eugène Delacroix
[Paris, c. 1842], 1 p. in-8, autograph address on verso « Delacroix »
« If you can come and dine with us at Mrs. Marliani’s… »
Two autograph letters signed « GS » to Eugène Delacroix
[Nohant, 6 & 7 July 1842], 3 p. in-8° in total
« I dreamed of you all night »
Autograph letter signed « A. Thiers » to Edmond Cavé
N.p., 13 Feb. 1840, 2 p. in-8°
« I know the interest you have in Madame Valmore. However, I want to… beg you to do everything you can for her »
Autograph letter signed “Ida”
[Between 1840 & 1844] Saturday, 1/2 p. in-12
“I had instructed Alexandre to present them to you, but I believe that he has forgotten my committee”
Late print showing Flaubert in bust
[Paris, c. 1910], cabinet format mounted thick cardboard
Scarce and legendary portrait of Flaubert by Nadar
Autograph letter signed « Romain Rolland » to Louis Chazai
Villeneuve (Vaud) [Switzerland], 30th January 1924, 2 p.1/2 in-8°
« I am sending you my most recent book on Mahatma Gandhi, this extraordinary man who is stirring up the new Asia, this new Christ »
Autograph letter signed « And. Malraux » to Thierry Maulnier
N.p., 25 July [1950], 2 p. in-8°
« God is dead, said Nietzsche, to which an ironic echo responds, Maybe, but not the Devil »
Autograph letter signed « Marceline Desbordes-Valmore » to Victor Hugo
N.p.n.d, [Paris, after 1840], 2 p. in-8° in black ink
« It is my fate to never dare to write except to your heart and to always knock there with a prayer »
Autograph letter signed « Emile Deschanel » to Victor Hugo
« À l’École normale » [Paris], 3 Xbre [December] 1839, 3 p. in-4°
« I can no longer bear the boredom, the disgust; I would need to hear you speak »
Autograph letter signed « Juliette » to Victor Hugo
N.p [Paris], 9th December [1846], « Wednesday morning, 10 h ½ », 4 p. in-4°
« You have omitted nothing, forgotten nothing, disdained nothing. And all this in your most beautiful style and sublime poetry »
Autograph letter signed « Juliette » to Victor Hugo
[Paris], 16th April [1847], 4 pp. in-8°
« I spend my life desiring you, regretting you and trembling »
Autograph letter to Victor Hugo
Paris, 20th April [18]77, 4 pp. in-24°
« My opinion is to delight you in everything and always and to adore you on both knees »
Autograph letter signed « Juliette » to Victor Hugo
N.p, 12 February [1849], 4 pp. in-8°
« I like the violent and expeditious genre »
Original photographe in cabinet format
[Paris, 23rd May 1885], Cabinet format: 10 x 16,50 cm
Moving portrait of the great man on his deathbed by Nadar
Original photography of Victor Hugo by Alexandre Quinet
[Veules-les-Roses, c. 1882], 11,8 x 16,4 cm
Victor Hugo’s only period print at Veules-les-Roses, at his friend’s Paul Meurice
Period albumen prints in stereoscopic view
[Jersey, c. 1853-1855], 7,5 x 6,5 cm
Hugo in stereo
Autograph letter signed « Queneau » [to Michel Arrivé]
N.p, 9th August 1964, 1 p. in 8vo, NRF letterhead
“There is a chance […] so that a carefully drawn up plan by you leads to the realization of a Jarry volume in this honored collection”
Autograph letter signed « M. Pleyel » [to Louis Brandus?]
Brussels, n.d « 15th January » [after 1865], 1 p. in-8°
« Will you think me too indiscreet if I ask you to send me Liszt’s piece on the Indian march of the Africaine… »
Autograph letter signed « Romain Rolland » to an art review director
Villeneuve (Vaud) [Switzerland], 15 novembre 1929, 2 p. in-8°
« I’m far too busy with my creation to be able to write articles about art at the moment »
Autograph manuscript signed « Léon Daudet »
N.p.n.d [Paris, June 1932], 4 pp. large in-4°
« Manet is the beauty of colour, the celebration of the decomposition of light through the prism »
Autograph letter signed « Bᴼⁿ de Vaux » to Robert Pinchon
Paris, 14 9bre [November] 1895, 1 p. in-8° on light blue paper
« The memory of our good days at Maupassant’s is still in my mind »
Autograph letter signed « Ste Beuve » to Auguste Lacaussade
N.p.n.d, « this 21st July », 1 p. in-8° on creamy paper
« Musset should not be judged until after having reread Byron. Then one would have the true feeling of insults and distances »
Autograph letter signed « L Davout » to his wife, Aimée Leclerc
Osterode [current Ostróda in Poland], 16 April [1807], 6 p. in-4°
« We do not know here whether the peaceful intentions of our emperor will prevail over the intrigues of our eternal enemies, but in any case we are more able than ever to make them triumph by our arms »
Autograph letter signed “Jenny” to her friend Jouslin de la Salle
N.p.n.d, 1 p. in-8 embossed to her initials
“Were you able to decipher William’s letter? As for me, I have nothing but one word is that he wanted to leave…”
Autograph letter (draft) to count Guy de Pourtalès
S.l, “Saturday 16 9bre [November] [19]29″, 2 p. in-8°
« The eternal return is only music »
Original photograph by Paul Boyer
Period albumin print (c. 1891). Carte-de-visite format (90 x 58 mm)
Very scarce original photograph of young Marcel Proust
Autograph carte-de-visite signed « A.D. » [to Gaston Calmette]
N.p.n.d. [Paris, evening of the 6 of February 1897], 1 p. in-24°
« The meeting between Marcel Proust and Lorrain »
Autograph letter signed « René Char » to Marianne Oswald
L’Isle [sur-la-Sorgue], 25 April [19]68, 1 p. 1/4 in-8°
« More than ever I understand Rimbaud to have “gone away”…»
Autograph poem signed « Paul Verlaine »
London, 1873, 1 p. in-8°, on laid paper
« O le feu du ciel sur cette ville de la Bible ! »
Les Hommes d’Aujourd’hui
Original edition, n°318, 4 pp. in-4°
Proof copy with autograph corrections by Verlaine
Period albumen print
[Liège, c. July 1893], cabinet format
Precious unpublished portrait of the artist
Autograph letter signed « LA Bourgault Ducoudray » to Henri Passerieu
Vernouillet [15 Sept. 1880], 4 pp. in-12°
« The version of La Marseillaise I prefer is the one published by Rouget de Lisle in 1825 in his collection Chants français »
Autograph letter signed « Jean Paulhan » [to Thierry Maulnier]
S.l., « Wednesday » [June ? 1945], 1 p. in-8° on NRF letterhead
« I’m glad you like my Sade »
Autograph letter signed twice to the Salacrou couple
N.p.n.d [4th july 1925], 2 p. in-8°
« Oh! Satie! Nightmare! »
Portrait of Clara Wieck-Schumann, vintage albumen print
[Vienna, c. 1870], carte-de-visite format
Famous portrait of Clara Wieck-Schumann by Fritz Luckhardt
Original photography by Alfred Lorens, S. Petersbourg
Period albumen print [c. 1874], carte-de-visite format
Superb portrait of the Russian composer, aged 33
Portrait of Paul Valéry, period film print
[Paris, c. 20’s], cabinet format
Handsome and scarce portrait of Paul Valéry by Henri Manuel
Autograph letter signed several times “Eugénie Krantz” to Edmond Lepelletier
Paris 29th January [1896], 4 p. in-12
Hospitalized a few days after Verlaine’s death and abandoned by all, Eugénie Krantz calls for desperate help
Autograph letter signed “J. Verlaine” to a gentleman (probably Edmond Lepelletier)
Rue Montholon [Paris], circa 1889, 2 pp. in-8
“I would assure you that, when he came to the Broussais hospital to visit Mr. Verlaine, he asked me for a way to sue his publisher Vanier against whom he was extremely irritated.”
Original photograph of Paul Verlaine by Otto Wegener
[Paris, 1893], cabinet format (10,8 x 16,8 cm)
Famous portrait of the poet in preparation of his candidacy for the Académie Française
Two autograph letters signed « Gve Flaubert » to Émile Zola
[Croisset, 2th May and 3rd June 1874], 5 pp. in-8°
« It’s very strong! my good man! I read it all at once, and I am giddy with it »
Autograph letter signed « Gus Flaubert » to Émile Zola
[Croisset, 25th July 1876], 3 p. in-8°
« I received yesterday from our young friend Maupassant a very pleasant epistle, and full of the detail of his lust – on a boat, with a fat woman »
Autograph letter signed « Juliette Adam » to a marquis
22 7bre [1886 ?], Abbaye de Gif [sur-Yvette], 1 p. in-8°
A rendez-vous a Juliette’s domain
Autograph letter signed « Ambrogiani Pierre » [to a journalist]
Alès, 26 Jan. [19]54, 2 pp. in-4°
« I’m preparing an exhibition in Paris for February… »
Epistolary autograph poem signed « Guillaume Apollinaire », to André Billy
Nîmes, 20th March 1915, 1 p. in-8° on Café Tortoni’s letterhead
« On his beautiful forehead shines a flame / In his hand blooms a twig »
First draft manuscript for the poem “Le Voyageur”, from the poem collection Alcools
N.p.n.d [c. 1909-1910], 2 p. in-4to, black ink, multiple corrections
« Deux matelots qui ne s’étaient jamais quittés »
Two autograph letters signed « Jacqueline » to Angelika de Kostrowitsky
[Paris, 4th and 6th January 1918], 2 p. in-8°
« The local major sent him to the hospital where he was trepanned »
Autograph poem signed « Aragon »
[Paris], 25 January [1945], 2 p. in-4°
« My love, I was in your arms »
Autograph poem: Sans mot dire
N.p.n.d [late 1919], 1 p. in-8°
« My pain is none of your business »
Autograph letter signed « Aragon » [to Elisabeth de Clermont-Tonnerre]
N.p.n.d, [1950], 1 p. in-4°
« Excuse me, Madam, for not wanting to have lunch with Thomas Mann… »
Autograph letter signed « Aragon » to Henri Droguet
N.p., [10 Nov. 1970], 1 p. in-4°
« I take a certain pleasure in this discovery »
Autograph letter signed « Aragon » to Henri Droguet
S.l., 27 March [19]69, 1 p. in-4°
« Il est certain que je ne puis, pratiquement, écrire en détail des appréciations de chaque poème reçu, même s’ils me plaisent »
Autograph letter signed « Aragon » [to Philippe Hériat]
N.p.n.d [Paris, 18th November 1968], 1 p. in-4°
« You know I was planning to come this Monday… and try to overlook an incident whose consequences were unpleasant, to say the least »
Autograph letter signed « Antonin Artaud » to his sister Marie-Ange Malausséna
Espalion, 7th April 1946, 2 pages in-8
« You would do me a great service by sending me 4 or 5 tubes »
Autograph letter signed “Antonin Artaud” to his sister Marie-Ange Malausséna
Espalion, 11th April 1946, 4 pages in-8
“High-dose heroin does not cause addiction when it is of good quality”
Autograph letter signed « Antonin Artaud » to Adrienne Monnier
Psychiatric Hospital of Ville-Evrard, 4th March 1939, 2 p. in-4° with enveloppe
« This story of look-alikes is as old as centuries, and all the great characters throughout history have found real doubles »
Autograph letter signed « de Balzac » to Charles Motte
[Paris], « 8 8bre » [October 1831], 2 p. in-8°
« Let me add seriously that I offer you my book »
Autograph poem « Ariane »
S.l., août 1860, 1 p. in-folio
« Seated on a tiger brought from the Orient / Ariane triumphs, indolent, and laughing / In the very places where her scorned love wept »
Autograph letter signed « A. Barbès » a republican writer in exile
The Hague, 6th February [18]69, 3 p. in-8° on blue laid paper
« It is abominable that France should have found herself in the direction of a tyranny capable of imprinting such a stain on its history! »
Autograph letter signed « C.B. » to his mother, Madame Aupick
[Brussels], « Monday 13th November 1865 », 4 p. in-8°
« I feel forgotten. I am sad. I’m no longer good for anything. I’m bored to death »
Autograph letter signed « Charles » to his mother, Madame Aupick
[Paris], « Wednesday » [28th October 1863], 1 p. in-8°
« I distrust the Belgians »
Autograph letter signed « Charles » to his mother, Madame Aupick
[Paris], 1st July 1853, 3 p. in-8°
« What is quite certain is that I no longer want to give anything to chance in my life, and that I claim that the will occupies the full extent of it »
[Second notice on] Pierre Dupont – Corrected proof
[Paris] 6th June 1861 [stamped], 11 p. in-8vo bradel
“The public was so tired of Victor Hugo’s tireless faculties, his indestructible beauties”
Autograph letter signed « Charles Baudelaire » to Alphonse de Calonne
[Paris], 23rd February [18]64, 1 p. in-8° on blue paper
« A heavy work, I assure you, but of which I am quite happy »
Autograph letter signed « Beaumarchais » to comedian Préville
Paris, 31st March 1784, 2 pp. on bi-folio in-8°, watermarked laid paper
« My play isn’t a big thing ; but seeing it in the theater is the result of four years of fighting »
Autograph letter signed « Beaumarchais » to Pierre-Charles-Louis Baudin
N.p, « ce 15 floréal » [4th May 1797], 1 p. small in-8°
« And I, a useless man! I beg you to accept the dreams of my hat »
Autograph manuscript for her essay Must we burn Sade ?
N.p.n.d [1951], 7 pages in-4 on grid paper
« Sade’s eroticism is no longer just an individual attitude; it is also a challenge for society »
Autograph manuscript (fragments) with an A.l.s for La Longue Marche
[Paris, 1956] 15 p. in-4° on graph paper, with two envelopes
« China is not a political entity; I guess with joy, that it has a sky, its colors, its trees, a flesh »
Autograph note signed « S. de Beauvoir » to Berthe Mandinaud
[Paris, 16 July 1956], 1/4 p. in-4°
« With my thanks »
Autograph letter signed « HB » to Joë Bousquet
Revel, Tuesday 11 Sept[ember] 1945, 1 p. in-4° on pink paper
« I write like an articulated doll »
Autograph quote signed « Henry Bernstein »
S.l.n.d., 1 p. in-8° oblong
« The greatest deeds have been done in silence and solitude »
Autograph quote signed « Louis Bertrand »
Paris, 25 August 1937, 1 p. in-8°
« The Revolution is nothing but organized plunder and assassination »
Autograph letter signed « Karen Blixen » to Negley Farson
Rungstedlund, Rungsted Kyst, 20.12.1957, 3 pp. in-8°
« The greatest passion of my life has been my love for the Africans! »
Autograph letter signed « Léon Blum » to Louis-Alfred Natanson
N.p.n.d., [Paris, 14 December 1894], 3 p. 1/2 petit in-8° on cream paper
« You see, my poor Fred, we are too sensitive beings. We end up suffering even from things that are indifferent to us »
Autograph letter signed « Despreaux » to Claude Brossette
Paris, 6 March 1705, 3 p. small in-4°
« To make a good epigram, one had to say in conversation the word intended for the ending, and see if it struck »
Autograph card signed « PB » to André Dubois
[Cologne, 10 IX 1952], 1 p. in-8° on a postcard’s verso
« What shall I tell you about the journeys in this divine valley that Victor Hugo has not already said? »
Autograph letter signed « Ant Bourdelle » [to André Fontainas]
Paris, November 1928 [in reality 25th December], 4 pp. in-4°
« The two Beethoven »
6 autograph letters signed, all adressed to Variétés journal
Carcassonne, 1946-1947, 21 pages in-8
« Only the future could give the value of the link I want to see between color and its cosmic reality »
Autograph letter signed « Georges Braque », to Daniel Wallard
N.p, 19th February 19[44], 4 p. in-12°
« I will now get back to work, of which I have the violent desire »
Autograph postcard signed « Robert Brasillach » to Thierry Maulnier
[Lyon, 1933 or 1934], 1/2 p. in-12°
« We read Nietzsche aloud to one another »
Autograph letter signed « Robert Brasillach » to Thierry Maulnier
[Prison de Fresnes], 30 January 1945, 1 p. in-8°
« Believe that all this keeps me warm company in my cell and makes me neglect the iron chains »
Autograph letter signed « Robert Brasillach » to Thierry Maulnier
[Paris, late 1930s], 1 p. in-8°
« Live a slave or die! »
Autograph manuscript signed « AB. »
Paris, 16 May 1966, 1 p. in-4°
« It is enough to recall that, when it first appeared, the words ‘black humor’ made no sense »
Autograph letter signed « G Caillebotte » to Claude Monet
N.p.n.d, Friday [Petit-Gennevilliers, after 1887 ?], 3 pp. in-8°
« I have covered a lot of canvases and wasted a lot of colour »
Autograph letter signed « C.L. Dodgson » to Mr Burton
Eastbourne, Aug[ust] 25 [18]77, 2 p. in-12° with pink ink
« I hope you will excuse the liberty… I took a few days ago in making friends with your little daughter »
Autograph letter signed « Mary Cassatt » to Achille Segard
Villa Angeletto – Grasse, 14th April [1913], 6 p. in-8° on mourning paper
« And then I wanted to be such a great painter, Titian or Rembrandt, just that… »
Autograph letter (fragment ?) [to Robert le Vigan]
N.p.n.d [c. 1955], 1 p.1/2 in-4°
« Neither Jews, nor blacks, nor whites, nor Indians exist in the face of yellow miscegenation »
Autograph letter signed « LD » to Jean-Gabriel Daragnès
Copenhagen, 19th March [19]47, 2 p. in-4°
« Everything eventually comes to light »
Autograph letter signed « Louis » to his wife Lucette Destouches
[Vestre Faengsel Prison, Copenhagen], 16 February [194]6, 2 p. in-folio
« I will soon be found to be the Main Person responsible for all the Jewish martyrs… »
Autograph letter signed « LF » to Jean-Gabriel Daragnès
N.p, [Danemark], « le Dimanche » [25th June 1950], 4 p. in-folio
« I think we’re going to get back on a lease with life »
Period film print
[Winter 1944, Berlin area?], 5,9 x 9 cm
« Chez les Nibelungen police »
Autograph letter signed « Destouches » to Évelyne Pollet
Paris, 14 Sept. 1933, 2 p. in-8°
« I see that you’ll end up knowing The Voyage by heart. As for me, I’ve never reread it and never will. I find it all boring and flat to the point of making me want to throw up. »
Autograph postcard to his parents
[Flanders], 16 Oct[ober] [19]14 (postmark), 2 pages in-12°
« This cursed war »
Autograph letter signed twice, « Des » and « Louis », to his wife Lucette
Københavns Fængsler’s prison, 22nd August 1946, 2 pp. in-4°
« Unfortunately, I no longer have enough years, months to live to puke all that I have swallowed in these months of resentment, humiliation and hatred »
Autograph letter signed « Blaise » to Louis Brun
[Biarritz], 7th January 1933, 2 p. in-4to with envelope
« I’m not writing for an award »
Autograph letter signed « René Char » [to Marianne Oswald]
L’Isle-sur-Sorgue, 15th Oct[ober] [19]49, 1 p. in-4°
« Life is constantly oscillating between fire and dung »
Autograph letter signed « R. Char » to Marianne Oswald
N.p.n.d, 2 p. in-8°
« Read my poems, they are composed for this, but do not ask me to show myself, nor to flaunt my poetic existence »
Autograph musical quote signed « Gustave Charpentier »
N.p., July 1936, 1 p. in-4°
« Louise, Act 1, Scene 3… »
Autograph letter signed “Thre Chasseriau” to M. Lanthy
Wednesday at noon [14 September 1853], 1 p. in-8 with autograph address
“I am very embarrassed at the moment”
Autograph letter signed « Le Vte de Chateaubriand » to Abel
Paris, 29th 7bre [September] 1815, 4 pp. in-8°
« I demanded freedom of thought, which brought Buonaparte’s fury and his new threats to have me shot »
Autograph letter signed « C » [to Louis de Fontanes ?]
[La Vallée-aux-Loups] 9 7bre [September] 1813, 3 p. in-8°
« I am as old as Herod. I only dream of the history of the past. I’m only in love with Agnès Sorel »
Autograph letter signed « Chateaubriand » [to Hippolyte La Morvonnais ?]
Paris, 18 July 1834, 2 p. in-8° à l’encre noire
« Soon I will be lying on my little island of sand and I will hear the sound of your footsteps and the waves »
Autograph letter to Léonce de Lavergne
Paris, 6th August 1838, 3 p. 1/2 small in-4° on bifolio
« I walked on this beach where Bonaparte took his last step »
Autograph letter signed « P. Cl. » [to Joseph Desclausais]
W[ashington], 15th March 1933, 3 p. 1/4 large in-8°
« I thought you were theological, and I see that you know less than a 12-year-old »
Two autograph letters signed « Jean Cocteau » to Henri Duvernois
N.p.n.d, c. 1912, 2 p. in-4°
« Not an article about “Dance”. It’s funny! »
Autograph letter signed “Ton Jean” to Marianne
Milly, Monday 20th May [1958], 1 page in-4 adorned with an original drawing
“I have to do a job with Karajan at the Opera House”
Autograph letter signed “Jean C” to Henri Duvernois
[Ville de Monts] Indre-et-Loire, 26 September 1913, 1 p. in-8
“I have a hundred eyes to read Nounette“
Autograph letter signed « Jean Cocteau » to Henry de Montherlant
Milly[-la-Forêt], 1 November 1962, 1 p. in-4°
« The only strange thing is that we are under this dome which refused Chateaubriand Hugo Vigny Balzac… »
Autograph letter signed twice « Jean Cocteau » and « Jean » to Michaël Smithies
Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, 3rd June 1956, 6 pages in-8° with envelope
« Art escapes progress »
Autograph letter signed « Votre Colette » to the Guillermet
S.l, [15th April 1946], 2 p. in-8°
« If at least my book (L’étoile Vesper) had come out in time, you would have had it for your birthday »
Pièce autographe signée « Colette »
S.l., mai 1937, 1 p. in-8° carrée
« Colonel, Jules-Joseph Colette’s daughter… sends you her very cordial greetings. »
Autograph manuscript (fragment) for La Chatte
N.p.n.d. [early 1933], 1 p. in-4° on blue Japan paper
« Her new pride, which seemed to give credit to the next night, to the following days, was doubtless content with today’s licenses »
Autograph letter signed « Colette » to a friend
[11th December 1949], 2 p. in-4°
« The Goncourt, my works, and my ills have turned me away from my best friends »
Autograph letter signed « Colette de Jouvenel » to a colleague
[Paris], n.d (between November 1916 and December 1926), 1 p. in-4°
« I only spent a few hours in Nice… »
Autograph letter signed « votre Colette » to the Guillermet couple
[Paris], 24 [December 1950], 2 p. in-8° on blue paper
« My dear Guillermets, he holds a place, this Maurice! I’m making myself thin »
Autograph letter signed « Colette Willy » to Alfred Diard
N.p.n.d (between 1893 and 1906), 1 p. in-8°
« A box of Velvet Soap… »
Autograph letter signed « ta Colette » to Marguerite Moreno
[La Treille Muscate – Saint Tropez, September 1929], 4 pp. in-4°
« She has boyish shirts and young negress breasts—the most beautiful, you know. And she swims underwater like a little shark »
Original drawings and autograph poem
N.p.n.d [c. 1935], 1 p. in-8° (16 x 20,5 cm)
« I empty my evil »
Original silver print enriched with a signed autograph inscription
[Portlligat, 1977], 13,8 x 14,4 cm
Nice print depicting Dalí in conversation, doubly autographed by him and enriched with an original drawing
Period film print
[Portlligat, c. 1977] 27,3 x 19 cm
Spectacular signature of the artist on a print representing one of his most emblematic works
Autograph carte-de-visite signed « A.D » to Gaston Calmette
N.p.n.d [Paris, between 1885 and 1897], 1 p. in-24°
« Here, my dear Calmette, is the answer requested »
Autograph letter signed « E Delacroix » to a unknown recipient
[Paris, 6 rue de Fürstenberg], 15 July 1863
« I am keeping the room and unable to get out »
First draft autograph manuscript with corrections
N.d.n.p (c. 1985), 1 p. in-4 numbered “8”
“It is probably necessary to go back to Lukács, whose History and Class Consciousness already posed the question of a new subjectivity”
Autphraph letter signed « Michel Déon » to Thierry Maulnier
Paris, 19 May [19]78, 1 p. 1/4 small in-8°
« As you know, I am a candidate for Jean Rostand’s seat in the election of June 8 »
Autograph letter signed « A Derain » to a gallerist
Lisieux, 31st May 1915, 1 p. in-4° on graph paper
« Since the war I have been very abandoned by the painting world, I even wonder if I will ever do paint again »
Autograph poem : « Romance » [Seule au Rendez-vous]
N.p.n.d [after 1833], 1 p. 1/2 in-8°
« Ô menteur ! qui disait sa vie / Nouée au fuseau de mon sort »
Autograph poem signed « Mᴺᵉ Valmore Desbordes »
N.p, 15th April 1841, 3 pp. large in-4°
« From there comes to you the pure flow of harmony / Transparent organ of the soul and genius »
Period albumen print
[Paris], after 1866, cdv format (5,6 x 9 cm)
Elegant portrait of the artist, with autograph dedications on both sides of the mounting
Autograph letter signed “Marie Dorval” to a doctor friend
20 April 1825, 1 p. ½ in-8
“You seemed to want to see les Enfants d’Edouard“
A set of twenty-two autograph letters, of which three are signed, to Alfred de Vigny
[Paris, Reims, Versailles and Rouen], 72 p. in various formats, two autograph envelopes
« All those words in your letter are so many stabs in my heart »
Period albumen portrait by Vezenberg & Co
Saint Petersburg [1879], cdv format
Very scarce portrait of the author of Crime and Punishment
Autograph letter signed « Druon » to Thierry Maulnier
N.p., 3rd March [19]85, 2 p. in-4°
« But where are the thinkers, in the great French tradition that goes from Montaigne to Valéry? »
Autograph letter signed “A Dumas” to an unknown recipient
N.d.n.p [Paris], 5 pages in-8 on two double sheets
“They send me back to my Dame aux camélias, to my cocottes”
Death notice of Paul Eluard
[Charenton, 18 November 1952], 1 p. in-4° in-4 (27,2 x 21 cm)
Scare death notice of Paul Eluard
Autograph poem signed « Paul Eluard »
N.p.n.d, 2 p. in-folio on thin green paper
« The eyelid of the sun lowers on your face »
Facile. Poèmes de Paul Éluard. Photographies de Man Ray
Paris, G.L.M. [Guy Lévis-Mano], 1935
First edition, one of 200 “hors commerce” copies – With autograph inscription by Paul Éluard to René Bertelé
Autograph poem signed « Paul Eluard »
N.p, 1942, 1 p. in-folio (21 x 31 cm) on brown paper
« The night before his death / Was the shortest of his life »
Autograph manuscript signed « Paul Eluard »
N.p.n.d, 1 p. in-4°
« Poetry is a reflection of the world. What I say is what I see and I must necessarily find an echo in the hearts of my fellow men »
Autograph poem signed « Paul Eluard »
N.p.n.d, 1 p. in-8°
« Garcia Lorca was put to death »
Autograph poem signed « Paul Eluard »
N.p.n.d. [1944], 1 p. in-4° on graph paper
« Celle qui ressemble aux morts / Qui sont morts pour être aimés »
Autograph letter signed « Votre Eluard » to Joë Bousquet
[Arosa 4 Nov. 1928], 4 p. in-4°, with envelope
« Day by day, my body eats my head. I can’t wait to leave this place. Too many nerves, too many nightmares »
Autograph letter signed « Paul Eluard » [to René Char]
[Davos], 30 Jan. 1935, 1 p. in-4°
« I thank you for what you promise me for Nusch »
Autograph letter signed « ton Gve Flaubert » to Maxime Du Camp
[Paris, 13 October 1869], 2 p. in-8° on beige laid paper
« Another one gone! The little band is dwindling! The few castaways from the Raft of the Medusa are disappearing! »
Autograph letter signed « Gve Flaubert » to Paule Sandeau
[Croisset], Saturday [16th November 1867], 3 p. in-8° on blue laid paper
« After that one, good evening! I will say goodbye to the bourgeois for the rest of my life »
Two autograph letters signed « Gve Flaubert » to Émile Zola
[Paris, 15 Nov. & 1st Dec. 1871], 2 p. in-8°
« I just finished your atrocious and beautiful book! I’m still dizzy. It’s powerful! Very powerful! »
Autograph notes for Charlotte for Ever
N.p.n.d [c. 1985-86], 1 p. in-4°
« Navy Blue Leather Glove… »
Autograph quote signed « Gainsbourg »
N.p.n.d. [1980s], 1 p. in-folio (15,5 x 29,5 cm) oblong
« A Pascal, chauffeur de taxi qui m’a taxé un Pascal »
Autograph proof signed for Je Pense Queue
N.p.n.d. [Paris, c. 1986], 1 p. in-4°
« J’les prends les petites bêbêtes / Teckel chow-chow ou en levrette »
Proofs with autograph corrections, signed « SG »
N.p.n.d. [Paris, 1986], 8 p. in-4°
« Caresses and punches in the face are the thick and thin strokes of love. »
Autograph manuscript
N.p.n.d. [Paris, 1990], 3 p. in-4°
« Oh, I would love to / Drown in the pond / Like Ophelia / Forget the time / Let myself slip without / Thinking of forgetting »
First draft autograph manuscrit
N.p.n.d. [Paris, early 1990], 3 p. in-4°
« J’ai de la peine / Je sens o je sens et le sang / qui se glace dans mes veines »
Original drawing titled « Poesia »
N.p.n.d, 1 p. in-8° on double folio
Touching drawing of the poet soberly titled « Poesia »
Autograph letter signed « Paul Gauguin » to a collector
[Paris, 1st or 2nd Nov. 1893], 1 p. 1/2 in-12°
« The exhibition will be launched on the 9th »
Autograph letter signed « Paul Gauguin » to Daniel de Monfreid
[Tahiti], November 1895, 3 p. 1/4 in-4°
« Every night frenzied girls invade my bed; yesterday I had three to function »
Autograph poem signed « Théophile Gautier »
[N.p.n.d], 1 p. in-8° in black ink on blue laid paper
« And on the mournful, doleful hill / I see my final dwelling-place »
Autograph poem signed « Théophile Gautier »
« [Paris], 10 Xbre [December] [185]1 », 2 p. in-8° (autograph on 1st and 4th pages)
« Ses yeux, où le ciel se reflète / Mêlent à leur azur amer / Qu’étoile une humide paillette / Les teintes glauques de la mer »
Receipt signed « Théophile Gautier »
[Paris], 19 April 1841, 1 p. in-8°
Receipt from the poet for an article about to the Salon of 1841
Fragment of an autograph poem
N.p.n.d [Paris, prison de la Santé – 1943], 1/4 p. in4°
« My quail bundled up, crushed under my fingers »
First draft manuscript
N.p.n.d [c. 1955], 3/4 p. in-4° in blue ink
« Beautiful girls of France, get your asses ready! »
Autograph manuscript (first draft)
N.p.n.d [1971], 4 p. 1/2 in-4°
« The target remained the same: a Negro who thinks »
Autograph letter signed « Maurice Genevoix » to a colleague
Châteauneuf s/ Loire (Loiret), 24 January 1927, 1 p. in-4°
« I’m lazy enough »
Autograph letter signed « Alberto Giacometti » to David Thompson
Paris, 2th August 1956, 3 p. in-8°
« Because of sculpture I am forced to neglect painting »
Autograph letter signed « André Gide » to Élie Allégret
La Roque, [late] August [18]93, 3 pp. in-4°
« I am frightened to see how much a woman can lie to herself »
Autograph card signed “André Gide” to Michel Levesque
La Souco, 14th February [19]30, 1 p. in-12°
“I’ll see if there’s still a copy of Un Esprit non prévenu…”
Autograph letter signed “André Gide” to Joseph Billiet
Cuverville, 15th MArch 1919, 2 p. 1/2 in-4
“It is about finding happiness beyond, beyond distress”
Autograph postcard signed « Jean Giono » to Anna Robin
Manosque, [31st August 1941], 1 p. in-8°
« I owe a great deal of my happiness to you »
Autograph letter signed « Edmond de Goncourt » to a lady
N.p, 5 7bre [September] [18]93, 2 p. in-8°
« I received a slightly furious letter from Madame Daudet, regarding a Figaro interview in which I had said that a man of letters ought to remain unmarried »
Period albumen print
N.p., c. 1885, cabinet format (13,7 cm x 9,5 cm)
Autograph note signed « E. de Goncourt » to a gentleman
N.p., 23 Oct. 1860, 1/2 p. in-8° on laid paper
« I leave you complete freedom »
Autograph letter signed « J. de Goncourt » to a lady
Château de St Gratien, 29th July [18]68, 1 p. in-8°
« We are very sensitive to the testimony of affection that you give us »
Autograph letter signed « Julien Gracq » to Thierry Maulnier
Caen, 4th November [1945], 1 p. in-8° in violet ink on lined paper
« I learned from a press clipping… that you did not receive Un Beau ténébreux »
Autograph postcard signed « Juan Gris » to André Level
[Loches, 2 Oct. 1916], 1 p. in-8°
« I try to do the landscapes well but it seems bad to me »
Autograph letter signed « SDG » to Oscar Méténier
[Château] d’Alteville [Germain Lorraine], 31 August 1884, 2 p. in-8°
« My next book will definitely be titled Rosa Mystica, and will be preceded by a substantial prose preface in which I will set forth my ideas on poetry and poets »
Autograph letter signed « Stanislas de Guaita » to Oscar Méténier
Château d’Alteville, n.d. [14 June 1884], 2 p. in-8°
« Donne moi quelques renseignements sur ce qui se passe à Paris ; moi je moisis à la campagne »
Autograph letter signed « Yvette Guilbert » to a gentleman
S.l., 16 Sept . 1892, 4 p. small in-8°
« No need to study the songs… the prompter is there. Nor even to understand them. That’s the audience’s business… »
Autograph quotation signed « Sacha Guitry »
S.l.n.d., 1 p. in-8° oblongue
« The hardest thing to do in a play is the intermissions »
Autograph postcard signed « Hélion » to Raymond Queneau
Rockbridge baths, Virginia, USA, 8 August 1936, 1 p. in-12°
« Europe, seen from afar, is incomprehensible, sickly, and tragic »
Autograph letter to Alphonsine Masson
[Marine Terrace, Jersey], 5th August [1855], 4 pp. small in-12°
« And every night I look up there, I make signs of intelligence to the heavenly eyes of the night, and it seems to me that I see her »
Autograph inscription signed « Victor Hugo »
N.p.n.d. [print : Spring 1880], 12,7 x 9 cm
« I think with happiness of all the charming things you have done for my dear grandchildren »
Autograph aphorism signed « Victor Hugo »
N.p.n.d.., 1/2 p. in-8° oblong
« To dream is happiness; to wait is life »
Autograph letter signed “Victor Hugo” to a critic
28 January [1870], H[auteville] H[ouse], [Guernesey], 1 p. in-4
“I dedicate, like Aeschylus, my works to time”
Autograph draft of a poem fragment
N.p.n.d, [Guernesey, c. 1854], 1 p. in-12° on thin blue paper
« Ils ouvrent cette nuit que nul rayon ne perce / Ils y font brusquement tomber à la renverse / Les pâles cadavres béants ! »
Original photograph by Pierre Petit
Period albumen print (1861). Name card format
The very first photograph of Victor Hugo with a beard
“Mini” autograph letter signed « V. » to Émile Allix
H[auteville] H[house], 25th July [1862], 2 p. small in-24° on blue paper
« I’m going to see my Charles in a few days. It will be a deep joy, and I deserve it a little after this heavy work »
Autograph fragments for a satirical poem
S.l.n.d [Guernesey, 1870], two teared strips in-4°
« Brunet was once a clown. He was radiant / Above humans by dint of stupidity »
Draft of an autograph poem
N.p.n.d [Guernesey, 1859], 1 p. in-8° (140 x 145 cm)
« Never mind O traitor! at point-blank range my book shoots you! »
Autograph letter signed « Victor Hugo » to M. Lafeuillade
Paris, 12 8bre [October] [1873], 1 p. 1/2 in-8° on blue paper
« The money generated by the sale of the poem La Libération du territoire will not pass through my hands »
Poème autographe [signed]
N.p.n.d, 1 p. in-8° on laid paper
« It’s all right, little man, oh yes! do it, harder »
Autograph card signed « GHuÿsmans » to André Godard
Ligugé, 5 July 1901, 2 p. in-12°
« Une fois les moines partis d’ici, je ne me vois guères y séjournant et la perspective de rentrer dans la bagarre n’a rien qui m’allèche »
Autograph letter signed “Vincent d’Indy“, enhanced with autograph CV
Bruxelles, 24th November 1896, 5 p. 1/2 small in-8
“So I’m just sending you a very simple story of organist, timbalier, conductor of hearts, composer…”
Autograph letter signed “Ingres” to M. Beroggi
N.d.n.p, Saturday, 1 p. in-12
“Our modest dinner next Monday, with too unworthy accompaniment of a Haydn Sonata”
Autograph letter signed « Max Jacob » to Raymond Trillat
[St Benoît-sur-Loire], 12th September [1942], 2 p. in-4°
« Here daily visits to such an extent that a report was made (denunciation) to the police… »
Autograph letter signed « Max Jacob » to Pierre Lagarde
[Paris], 11 March [19]36, 1 p. in-4°
« Tell Serge that my star isn’t that bright, my nose is shorter, and my chin has no fang »
Autograph letter signed « Max Jacob » to Pierre Lagarde
St Benoît sur Loire, 6th April 1942, 1 p. in-4°
« What would you say if one of your own was in a concentration camp and died there… »
Autograph poem signed « Max Jacob » to Pierre Lagarde
St Benoît sur Loire, 17th August 1936, 1 p. in-4°
« Will love come back? »
Autograph letter signed « Max » to Pierre Lagarde
[St Benoît sur Loire], 10th August [19]42, 1 p. in-4°
« I can suffer more from my gossip, my sensual glances, than from the persecution of the Jews »
Autograph letter signed « Max Jacob » to Marcel Thiébaut
Monastère de St Benoît-sur-Loire, 16th May 1924, 2 p. in-8° on bi-folio
« You have exuded the character of my heroes better than I have done myself »
Typed letter signed twice « Jack » and « Jack Kerouac » to Granville H. Jones
[Northport, New York, 22 November 1960] 2 p. in-4°, with envelope
« It is the only thing too that has made me happy in three years, since the publication of On the Road and the subsequent sickeningness of ‘being famous’ »
Autograph carte-de-visite
N.p.n.d [March 1927], 1 p. in-24°
« Have you received the “Cœurs purs” »
Autograph manuscript
N.p., [c. 1881], 1 p. small in-8°
« The Rubens figures — robust people, solidly shaped, immortally fresh… the Rembrandts — sickly, leprosy-obsessed maniacs »
Autograph manuscript « Danse Macabre »
N.p.n.d., [c. 1879 ?] 1/2 p. in-12°
« And I see the silent minuet of the dead dancing around me… »
Autograph letter signed « Lamartine » to Victor de Laprade
St-Point, 3 Nov. 1858, 4 pp. in-8°
« If no one fights for me, I will fight for myself »
Letter signed « Lamartine » to M. Meyer
Paris, 21st May [1842], 1 p. small in-8°
« I have not received the comments on Montesquieu’s Persian letters of which you were kind enough to mention to me »
Autograph letter signed « Lamartine » [to Jean-Marie Dargaud]
[Castle of] Monceau, 25 [August 1850], 4 p. in-8°
« I know very well that the inconveniences of temper disappear after death, and that only the memory of loyal virtues and attachment remains »
Autograph letter signed « Marie Laurencin » to Roger Nimier
St-Benoît-sur-Loire, 30th August [1952], 3 p. 1/2 in-12° with an original drawing
« The little bit of library – Mauriac – Proust – Gide – Bernanos etc. »
Autograph letter signed « DH Lawrence » to George Conway
Hôtel Beau Rivage, Bandol, 29th December 1928, 2 p. in-8°, with envelope
« Some people were much scandalized by Lady C. but many took it in the right spirit, and remain staunch to me »
Autograph letter signed « Violette Leduc » to Yvon [Belaval]
S.l., 6 november [19]57, 1 p. in-8° on lined paper
« Simone de Beauvoir is an extraordinary friend »
Autograph letter signed « Claude Lévi-Strauss » [to Thierry Maulnier]
Paris, 1st March 1977, 1 p. 1/4 in-4°
« Votre envoi… fait regretter que la jeune philosophie (la moins jeune aussi) ait perdu le secret d’une langue aussi ferme, claire et pure »
Original photograph by Julien Ganz
Period albumen print (1882), cabinet format
Striking and unpublished portrait of the musician
Autograph manuscript
N.p.n.d., 1 p. 1/4 in-4° and 1/4 p. in-8°
« Faūko – gueule, ouverture, orifice »
Autograph letter signed « Ton oncle Maillol » to his nephew Gaspard Maillol
Banyuls-sur-Mer, 8 J[anuary] [19]18, 4 pp. in-8°
« Until the last minute I was, so to speak, overwhelmed with work »
Autograph letter signed « André Malraux » to a critic
Np, 30th [1933], 1 page in-8
“I understand, of course, the mistrust that a book about China can inspire”
Autograph letter signed « And. Malraux » to Ventura García Calderón
Marrakech, 21st April [1952], 2 pages in-8, l’Hôtel de la Mamounia à Marrakech letterhead
“I have long thought that in literature any personal attack is futile”
Autograph card signed « Edouard Manet » to Eva Gonzalès
N.p.n.d., 1 p. in-24
« I have to go to a funeral and won’t be able to go to the studio »
Late film print on postcard
N.p. [1875 ?], 9 x 11,6 cm
Handsome portrait of Maupassant in bust
Autograph letter signed « Guy » to Lucie Le Poittevin
[Antibes or Cannes, late 1886 or early 1887], 2 p. small in-8°
« I sail a lot, fencing with rage, I walk, so I do all the exercises, except… affection. But I don’t need it »
Autograph letter signed « Laure de Maupassant » [to Robert Pinchon]
Nice, 29 Sep[tember] 1901, 3 p. in-8°, mourning paper
« The poor old lady in exile would welcome the former guest of Étretat, who would bring so many dear memories of the people and things that had disappeared »
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…. »
Autograph letter signed « François Mauriac » to Jacques Boulanger
[Paris] 89 rue de la Pompe, 31 Oct[ober] 1920, 1 p. in-12°
« Friends are telling me today about a very kind review you gave of my novel »
Autograph letter signed « M » to André Malraux
[Paris, 6th February 1928], 1 p. petit in-8°
« Grasset doesn’t like your novel, and Paulhan admires it very much »
Autograph letter signed « François Mauriac » to Thierry Maulnier
N.p.n.d. [Paris, late 1938 ?], 2 pp. in-8°
« I’m telling you this morning, to you whom I consider the brightest mind of your generation – the only one on our side who can stand up to Sartre… »
Autograph poem
S.l.n.d, 1 p. in-4°
« I was slowly following the path of My Life / Far from the World lost and drowned in Envy »
Autograph poem signed on the verso of a period albumen print
N.p, 18th Nov[ember] 1895, (12,3 x 17 cm)
« Bei der Abendsonne Wandern / Wann ein Dorf den Strahl verlor »
Autograph letter signed « Joan » to Maria [San Lazzaro]
Folgarolas 9, Barcelona, 23rd December 1955, 1 p. in-4°
« I was awfully busy preparing my next exhibition »
Autograph manuscript signed « F. Mistral »
N.p.n.d, 2 p. petit in-8° on laid paper
« With her hair girded with the Arlesian diadem, the chapel of her breasts half-open to the sun, she went into the crowd, spreading admiration. she was human beauty »
Autograph letter signed « F. Mistral » [à Thérèse Boissière, (née Roumanille) ?]
Maillane, 4th June 1901, 1 p. 1/2 in-8°
« I asked the félibre Bacquié-Fonade if by chance he would know where your father had published his Carmagnole »
Autograph letter signed « Claude Monet » [to Alice Hoschedé]
N.p.n.d, « Saturday 6h » [c. 1882-1883], 2 p. in-8°
« The weather here is dreadful, foggy enough to be seen and yet I have worked all the same, but it is sunshine that I would like, and it is very rare »
Original drawing signed
N.p., 25 April 1937, 1 p. in-4° on laid paper
« Joie de vivre, joie de peindre… »
Autograph letter signed « Montherlant » [to Thierry Maulnier]
S.l., 3 Dec. [19]50, 4 p. in-8°
« And I don’t understand either why you call me a psychoanalyst playwright… »
Autograph letter signed “Adrien” to Alcide-Joseph Lorentz
[Paris], 6 January 1858, 1 p. in-8 à with embossed letterhead
“I have urgent matter to deal with…”
Autograph card signed « Nadar » to [Henri ?] Cazalis
Draveil, 12 January [18]93, 1 p. small in-8°
« My poor afflicted one and I send our warmest regards with our best wishes.… »
Autograph letter signed « Nadar » to Ernest Vaughan from journal L’Aurore
Marseille, 26 8bre [October] [18]99, 2 page in-12
« And then I no longer see Clemenceau in my Aurore »
Autograph letter signed on letter-head “Nadar” to Mayor of 8th arrondissement of Paris
Paris, 17 January 1883, 1/2 p. in-8
“Mr. Nadar has the honour to present his respects…”
Autograph letter signed « Gérard de Nerval » to actor Pierre Bocage
[Paris], « ce mardi » [19 October 1852], 1 p. in-8°
« It seems to me that the cause is not lost »
Autograph letter signed « Jacques Offenbach » to Philippe Gille
N.p.n.d. [after 1868], 1 p. in-8° (with autograph envelope)
« In the past, one would certainly have noted in your paper the rather curious fact of a musician or some writer rehearsing three pieces at the same time »
Billet autographe signé « JP. » [à Thierry Maulnier]
S.l.n.d. « Mardi » [fin des années 1940], 1/2 p. in-12° oblongue
« Votre Sartre… est bien juste »
Autograph letter signed « Benjamin Peret » to René Alleau
Paris, 12th February 1958, 1 p. in-4
“These failures are inherent to my condition as an independent and revolted intellectual….”
Autograph letter signed « Pupuce » to Yves Montand
Metz, 5th April 1946, 2 pp. in-4° on the Hôtel de Metz’s letterhead
« When I get on stage, people are screaming and I haven’t sung yet, you can see that my reputation goes a long way… »
Autograph letter signed « Eydith » to Yves Montand
« Nevers, 16th May 1945 at noon and twenty three minutes », 2 p. 1/2 in-8°
« I love you to death »
Autograph letter signed « Édit Piaf » to a friend
Paris, 6th June 1946, 1/2 p. in-4° on her letterhead
« I wish you in life to be as happy as I am right now, even with a man who doesn’t love me! »
Autograph letter signed « Picasso » to Max Pellequer
[Château de] Vauvenargues, « le 24.[0]6.[19]59 », 1 p. in-8° in oil pastel
« You just left this morning and already I’m bothering you again »
Autograph letter signed « Picasso » to Max Pellequer
[Château de] Vauvenargues, « 13.[0]5.[19]59 », 1 p. in-4°
« A thousand greetings from both of us for both of you»
Autograph letter signed « C. Pissarro » to Théo Van Rysselberghe
[Bruges, Hôtel du] Singe d’Or, 3rd July [18]94, 2 p. in-8°
« I still have in my ear the sound of the waves and the color of the sea in my eye, you must have had beautiful effects last night »
Autograph letter signed « C. Pissarro » to Noël Clément-Janin
Paris, 19th Feb[ruary] 1892, 1 p. 1/2 in-8°, with envelope
« Turner, Delacroix, Corot, Courbet, Daumier, Jongkind, Manet, Degas, Monet, Renoir, Cézanne, Guillaumin, Sisley, Seurat ! This is our march. »
Autograph letter signed « F Pompon » to his friend Fabre
Paris, 19 Dec. [19]32, 1 p. in-4°
« My joy is at its peak »
Autograph carte-de-visite
N.p.n.d., [Paris, late 1920s], 1 p. in-24°
« Deeply touched by your congratulations »
Autograph letter signed « R. Ponchon » to Eugène Fasquelle
[Paris, 3 Nov. 1924], 1 p. in-8° on blue paper
« I humbly admit that this small income, which somehow seemed to fall from the sky, was for me the guarantee of food and bread »
Autograph letter signed « Jean Potocki » to Firmin Didot
Tulczyn, 1st December [1810], 1 1/4 p. in-4°
« I realize every day that it is difficult to see clearly in science when you are so far from the home of the enlightenment »
Autograph letter signed « Francis Poulenc » to Frederick Woods
[Saint-Raphaël], 3rd April 1960, 1 p. in-12°
« Excuse me, but I don’t have the time or the inclination to talk about the Bal Masqué »
Autograph letter signed « Francis Poulenc » to [Philippe] Parès
Cannes [1928 ?], 1 p. 1/2 in-4° on light blue paper
« Will I have the joy of hearing the trio’s trials already? You know that nothing in the world amuses me more »
La Pluie et le beau temps
First edition
Paris, Gallimard, Coll. “Le Point du jour”, 1955
First edition, inscribed by the author on two pages, enhanced with small colorful drawings
Autograph poem : Chant funèbre d’un représentant
[Saint-Paul-de-Vence, 14th April 1953], 4 p. in-plano (25 x 43,7 cm)
« I was sick of death / and without even dying / like others seasick / without being able to vomit it »
Autograph letter signed « P.-J. Proudhon » to Gustave Chaudey
Passy, September 11, 1863, 3 p. in-8°
« I no longer have any confidence in the present generation; I work without hope for the satisfaction of my conscience »
[5th December 1904], original period film print. Round photography (159 mm diameter), mounted on thick paper frame in the photographer’s name.
One of the last portraits of Jeanne Weil Proust, less than a year before her death
Autograph “Carte-télégramme” signed « Marcel Proust » to Fernand Gregh
[Paris], « Monday morning », postmark [7 Nov. 1892], 1 p. in-16°
« Would you do us all the pleasure of coming to dinner… just with Mr. Bergson, and especially not in formal wear »
Original drawing, inscribed to Reynaldo Hahn : « R.H. (Bininuls) »
N.p.n.d [c. 1909 ?], 1 p. in-8° in black ink on laid paper
Precious drawing by the writer, dedicated to his « Bininuls »
Autograph pastiche-poem signed « Marcel Proust »
N.p.n.d [c. summer 1908], 2 p. in-8°, mourning paper
« Seigneur, si vous daignez m’admettre dans les Salles / Où le Juste rompra le Pain Essentiel, / Que de marbre aussi pur étincellent vos stalles ! »
Autograph letter signed « Marcel » to Reynaldo Hahn
N.p.n.d « Monday » [7th January 1907], 8 p. in-8° on mourning paper
« If you write to Montesquiou, tell him that the truth is out of his dilemma, in full improbability for those who do not know my life… »
Autograph letter signed « Marcel Proust » to Robert de Montesquiou
N.p, [December 7, 1904], 4 pp. in-8°, mourning paper
« The truly unsightly land is not that which art has not sown, but that which, covered with masterpieces, knows neither how to love them nor even how to preserve them »
Autograph letter signed « Marcel Proust » to Marie Scheikévitch
[Paris], 1st February 1915 (post mark), 4 p. in-8° in black in on laid paper
« In the meantime, I can’t stop thinking about you… »
Autograph letter signed « Marcel Proust » to Marie Scheikévitch
[Paris, 21st November 1918], 4 p. in-8°
« The human condition is so treacherously wicked… »
Autograph letter signed « Ernest Psichari » to Maurice Reclus
Paris, 11th June 1902, 8 p. in-folio
« My only intention was, I swear, to couple words adrift, with harmony and rarity, as much as possible »
Autograph letter signed « Jules Renard » [to Georges Moreau]
S.l., [Paris], 2 Nov. 1894, 1 p. in-12°
« I’m pleased to have a copy of Poil de carotte sent to you, as requested »
Autograph-card letter signed « Jules Renard » [to Georges Moreau]
[Paris], 14th June 1895, 1 p. 1/2 in-12°
« The unpublished chapter of Poil de Carotte… »
Autograph manuscript signed twice « Rimbaud », to Armand Savouré
Harar, 30 March 1890, 1/2 p. in-4°
Unpublished receipt from Harar intended to Armand Savouré, the last before Rimbaud ceased all activity with him
Autograph letter signed « Rimbaud » to his family
Aden, 10th September 1884, 4 pp. in-8° on laid paper
« And since every man is a slave in this miserable fatality »
Autograph letter signed « Jacques Rivière » [to André Salmon]
Paris, 3rd May [1921 ?], 2 p. in-8°
« I will fix you soon »
Autograph letter signed « Jacques Rivière » to Mme Boissier
Frontignan, 20 Nov. 1918, 4 pp. in-8°
« The events suddenly became so beautiful, so wonderful, that they almost took my breath away »
Autograph manuscript signed « Romain Rolland »
N.p, April 1928, 1 p. in-4°
« Too many abuses, old and new, have an interest in hindering the awakening of the Soul »
Autograph letter signed « Fély » to Octave Uzanne
[Paris, c. 1890], 1 p. in-12
« Since this morning, I have met three Jews with otter necks whom my grandfather had had beaten fifty years ago »
Autograph letter signed « Félicien Rops » to a gentleman
Paris, 28th May [1891 ?], 3 p. in-8°
« All of them: Sculptors, poets, musicians, painters, apart from a score of ‘brain-seeing’ people are a band of Monkeys and lemurs who should be taken away gently… and shot »
Autograph letter signed « de Sade » to his aunt Gabrielle-Eléonore de Sade
N.p [Paris ?], 22nd April [1790], 3 pp. in-8°
« My room was searched and I lost everything… precious works, the fruit of fifteen years’ work, I have saved nothing »
Autograph letter signed « Françoise Sagan » to « Henri »
Paris, 167 blvd Malesherbes [c. 1950s], 3 pp. in-4°
« I’ll be happy to fail with you »
Autograph letter signed « C. Saint S » [to Louis Gallet]
S.l, 5 February, 2 p. in-4°
« This piece did not amuse me to do »
Autograph letter signed « C. Saint-Saëns » to a friend
Hammam R’Ihra [close by Algiers, Algeria], 18 Dec. 1911, 6 pp. in-4°
« If you could see it — such delightful landscapes, such lush vegetation, such sunshine by day and such stars by night!… Just one day of travel, a few hours by train, and then you find paradise! »
Autograph letter to Emmanuel Arago
[Nohant, 3rd January 1836], 3 p. in-4°
« Should we be angry against humanity? I used up all my indignation when I was younger. Nothing surprises me anymore, neither the bad nor the good »
Autograph letter signed “GSand” [to Paul Porel]
Nohant, May 28 [18]76, 1 page in-8 in black ink
« I still hope to go to Paris before the Odéon closes »
Autograph manuscript signed « G Sand » for her novel Consuelo [fragments]
[Nohant and Paris, between late 1842 and early 1843] 27 p. in-8°
« End of Consuelo »
Autograph preparatory manuscript for Les Mots
N.p.n.d [c. 1953-1955], 1 p. in-4°
« I became someone, an Other »
Autograph manuscript for « Les Communistes et la paix »
N.p, [c. late 1953 – March 1954], 6 p. in-4°
« It is misery that drives the peasant to the city factories. And this misery is provoked »
Two autograph manuscripts for « L’Engagement de Mallarmé »
N.p, [1952], 2 p. in-4° in blue ink on graph paper
« Creature or creator, there is no other choice »
First draft autograph manuscript
N.p.n.d [summer 1949?], 8 p. in-4°
« Existentialism: man is outside himself in the world, outside the present in the future, he is produced by causes but he goes beyond and judges causes… »
First draft autograph manuscript
N.p.n.d. [c. 1957-1959], 33 p. in-4° on graph paper
« A machine is a monster »
Autograph letter signed « Sempé » to Gérard Leman
Paris, 15th January [19]68, 1 p. in-4° with autograph envelope
« I work so slowly… »
Autograph letter signed « P.S. » to Henry van de Velde
N.p.n.d (c. 1911-1912), 1 p. 1/2 in -8°
« Since the death of my dear mother, I have deferred to those who, like her, never do me so much good »
Autograph letter to Claire de Duras
N.p.n.d, “Sunday” [after 1815], 1 p. in-12°
« Will you go this evening to visit Mde de la Châtre ? »
Autograph letter signed « Dubois » to his sister Pauline Périer-Lagrange
[Brunswick], « 29 8bre [October] 1808 » 5 p. in-4°
« I liked music as an expression of love. It seems to me that none of the women I’ve had have given me such a sweet moment… »
Autograph letter to his sister, Pauline Périer-Lagrange
N.p, « Sunday », [13rd May 1810], 3 p. 1/4 in-4°
« My days here are filled by a woman, whom I am not in love with, but whom I constantly think about »
Autograph letter signed « Robert Louis Stevenson » to Hubert Smith-Stainer
Edinburgh, [Pitlochry, 6th June 1881], 3 pp. in-8°
« Two or three nights under the stars… »
Autograph letter signed « André Suarès » [to Thierry Maulnier]
La Varenne, 14th May [19]45, 2 p. in-8°
« I come out of Hell, where I was suspended for five years »
Period photographic print, signed twice
N.p, 22 Dec[ember] 1952, 23,5 x 17,3 cm
Nice and large autographed print of the writer
Autograph letter signed « Your boy H » to his mother Adèle Zoë Tapié de Céleyran
[Villiers-sur-Morin, fall 1886], 4 p. in-12
« I fly from ladder to ladder »
Original drawings. Ink on paper [Dog and cat]
N.p.n.d [c. 1876-1880], 1 p. in-4° in black ink
Charming drawings by young Toulouse-Lautrec
Autograph letter signed « P.V » [à Maurice Noël]
N.p.n.d, « Saturday », 1 p. in-8°
« If Le Figaro finds it too abstract, send it back to me »
Vintage print with autograph dedication, signed « Paul Valéry »
S.l., June 1926, 16,5 x 11 cm
Elegant portrait of the poet in a three-quarter view
Autograph letter signed « J.V. » to Aurélien Scholl
[Londres], 29 8bre [October] [18]77, 6 pp. in-8°
« I am thinking of letting my political hopes lie dormant, and returning to my profession »
Autograph letter signed « P Verlaine » to Adrien Remacle
Paris, 22 7bre [September] 1895, 1 p. in-8° on laid bi-folio
« Please note that I live at 39 rue Descartes »
Autograph letter signed « P. Verlaine » to Armand Gouzien
Paris-Montmartre, [September-October 1871], 2 p. in-8°
« My wife, who is pregnant, was horribly unwell last night and I was on my feet and on my teeth »
Autograph poem signed « Alfred »
N.p.n.d, 1 p. in-folio
Nice autograph poem signed from his early years
Autograph letter signed « Alexandrine Zola » to Gabriel Thyébaut
[Paris], 7 8bre [octobre] 1906, 8 pp. in-8° à l’encre violette sur papier de deuil
« I always think I die at every step, when I go up to this study in which life has also gone »
Autograph letter signed « Emile Zola » to Joseph Canqueteau
Paris, 10th March 1885, 2 p. in-8°
« The seminal idea of Germinal is already very far away… »
Corrected proofs for his novel The Beast within
Paris, January 1890, 45 proofs printed on recto
« I love you, I will never let anyone hurt you… See, how good it is to be so, one in another ! »
Autograph letter signed « Emile Zola » to a colleague
Paris, 12th November [18]93, 1 p. 1/2 in-8°
“When I have finished a book and given it to the public, it no longer exists for me. All my passion collapses”
Autograph letter signed « Emile Zola » [to Albert Lacroix]
Paris, 13 Sept[ember] 1867, 2 pp. in-8°
« I’m counting on a horror success »