Marcel Proust (1871-1922) - photo 1
Marcel Proust (1871-1922) - photo 2

Marcel Proust (1871-1922)

Lot 155
15.12.2023 11:00UTC +00:00
Classic
Sold
£ 6 930
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
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ID 1108954
Lot 155 | Marcel Proust (1871-1922)
Estimate value
£ 3 500 – 5 000
Marcel Proust (1871-1922)
Autograph letter signed ('Marcel Proust') to Anatole France, [postmarked 2 January 1899]
In French. One page, 132 x 112mm, on a blue 'carte pneumatique', autograph address panel. Provenance: collection of M. Alfred Dupont (as noted in A. Maurois, February 1949: see below); Dr Max Thorek (1880-1960) – his sale, Parke Bernet, New York, 15 & 16 November 1960, lot 486; Mrs. Philip D. Sang – Sotheby's New York, 14 February 1986, lot 506; Frederick R. Koch Foundation – Christie's New York, 7 June 1990, lot 104.

Praising Anatole France for his public stance in the Dreyfus Affair. Proust wishes his fellow writer a happy new year, adding 'Indeed, no year has ever been as fine for you as the one just finished ... The courage which you so nobly praised, no one has had it to a higher degree than you ... And in fact, you became involved in public life in a way unknown this century, neither like Chateaubriand nor like Barrés, not to make a name for yourself but when you had one, to make it weigh in the scales of Justice. There was no need for this for me to admire you...'.

Je vous souhaite une bonne année et une bonne santé. Du reste, aucune année ne fut si belle pour vous que celle qui vient de finir. "Ce fut alors qu'on donna à Alexandre ce nom de Grand...". Le courage que vous aviez si noblement chanté, personne ne l'a eu à un plus haut degré que vous, et vous ne pouvez plus envier au tragique grec d'avoir connu des victoires autres que les victoires littéraires. Et en effet, vous vous êtes mêlé à la vie publique d'une manière inconnue à ce siècle, ni comme Chateaubriand ni comme Barrés, non pas pour vous faire un nom, mais quand vous en aviez un, pour qu'il fût un poids dans la Balance de la Justice. Je n'avais pas besoin de cela pour vous admirer comme homme juste, brave et bo[n]. Comme je vous aimais je connaissais to[ut] ce qui était en vous. Mais cela a manifesté à d'autres des choses qu'ils ne savaient pas et qu'ils admirent autant que la prose de Thaïs parce que c'est aussi noble, par harmonieux et beau.

Proust claimed to have been responsible for encouraging Anatole France to sign Zola's petition in support of the Alfred Dreyfus's innocence, and France went on to be one of the most prominent Dreyfusards. The Dreyfus Affair figures prominently in the second, third and fourth volumes of A la recherche du temps perdu. First published in A. Maurois, 'Jeunesse de Marcel Proust', Hommes et mondes, Vol. 8, No. 31 (Feb. 1949), pp. 234-5.
Artist:Marcel Proust (1871 - 1922)
Place of origin:France
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
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