{"id":3222,"date":"2018-02-13T04:37:25","date_gmt":"2018-02-13T04:37:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/?page_id=3222"},"modified":"2018-02-19T19:27:52","modified_gmt":"2018-02-19T19:27:52","slug":"letter-from-marcel-proust-to-paul-goldschmidt-c-december-1917","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/letter-from-marcel-proust-to-paul-goldschmidt-c-december-1917\/","title":{"rendered":"Letter from Marcel Proust to Paul Goldschmidt, [c. December 1917]"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By <a href=\"https:\/\/complit.illinois.edu\/graduate-students\">Claire Baytas<\/a>, graduate student in Comparative Literature<\/p>\n<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-3222 gallery-columns-3 gallery-size-full'><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_07_lefebvre_f20_001.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1968\" height=\"2653\" src=\"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_07_lefebvre_f20_001.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-3223\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_07_lefebvre_f20_001.jpg 1968w, https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_07_lefebvre_f20_001-223x300.jpg 223w, https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_07_lefebvre_f20_001-768x1035.jpg 768w, https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_07_lefebvre_f20_001-760x1024.jpg 760w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1968px) 100vw, 1968px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-3223'>\n\t\t\t\t1\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_07_lefebvre_f20_002_2.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1971\" height=\"2656\" src=\"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_07_lefebvre_f20_002_2.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-3224\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_07_lefebvre_f20_002_2.jpg 1971w, https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_07_lefebvre_f20_002_2-223x300.jpg 223w, https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_07_lefebvre_f20_002_2-768x1035.jpg 768w, https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_07_lefebvre_f20_002_2-760x1024.jpg 760w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1971px) 100vw, 1971px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-3224'>\n\t\t\t\t2\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_07_lefebvre_f20_002_3.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2664\" height=\"1988\" src=\"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_07_lefebvre_f20_002_3.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-3225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_07_lefebvre_f20_002_3.jpg 2664w, https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_07_lefebvre_f20_002_3-300x224.jpg 300w, https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_07_lefebvre_f20_002_3-768x573.jpg 768w, https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_07_lefebvre_f20_002_3-1024x764.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2664px) 100vw, 2664px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-3225'>\n\t\t\t\t3\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>Letter from Marcel Proust to Paul Goldschmidt, [c. December 1917]<\/strong>\u00a0<a href=\"#_ftn1\" name=\"_ftnref1\">[1]<\/a><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>My dear Paul,\u00a0<a href=\"#_ftn2\" name=\"_ftnref1\">[2]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>I have to let you know, in a few words, (to avoid your being surprised during the conversation) that I had Truelle <a href=\"#_ftn3\" name=\"_ftnref2\">[3]<\/a> contact, and I myself contacted Mme de Salverte <a href=\"#_ftn4\" name=\"_ftnref3\">[4]<\/a> to advocate strongly on Charlie\u2019s <a href=\"#_ftn5\" name=\"_ftnref4\">[5]<\/a> behalf. The trouble is that (not by my doing) this was done so late, which may make it ineffective. Henri <a href=\"#_ftn6\" name=\"_ftnref5\">[6]<\/a> and Charlie told me that I should indicate that Charlie was a personal secretary in your house. It will be easier for us to speak about this in person. If Charlie no longer has his medical certificate, you should have a new one made for him, and either send it to him, or keep it at my disposal in case Mme de S. were to ask me for it.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m writing you a very short note because I\u2019m very unwell and have gone out only for this. I advise you to not bring this up with Mme de S. and if she speaks to you about it to tell her that he\u2019s a young man in whom you\u2019re interested, who was at your house, but that <span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">she couldn\u2019t have seen him<\/span>. Because it\u2019s preferable that he not be exactly identified.<\/p>\n<p>Yours,<\/p>\n<p>Marcel<\/p>\n<p>I would appreciate your burning this letter <a href=\"#_ftn7\" name=\"_ftnref6\">[7]<\/a>. The state of Charlie\u2019s health is only too real, alas, but I don\u2019t want to seem to be protecting someone in good health if that wasn\u2019t known.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref1\" name=\"_ftn1\">[1]<\/a>\u00a0Letter catalogued as Proust-Series 1 \/ Lefebvre 020, Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref2\" name=\"_ftn2\">[2]<\/a> (Note by P. Kolb) Due the paper being the same as that of a letter from 1 December 1917, this undated letter is estimated to have been written approximately in December 1917.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref3\" name=\"_ftn3\">[3]<\/a> Jacques Truelle, a friend of Proust\u2019s. A licensed lawyer, injured in the war in October 1914, he met Proust in 1917 and became an ambassador in Madrid (see\u00a0<em>Lettres<\/em>, p. 1290).<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref4\" name=\"_ftn4\">[4]<\/a> P. Kolb identifies several individuals with this name living in Paris at the time; it is unclear which of them is the Madame de Salverte mentioned in this and several other of Proust\u2019s letters (see\u00a0<em>Corr<\/em>, vol. XVI, p.\u00a0190).<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref5\" name=\"_ftn5\">[5]<\/a> (Note by P. Kolb) Charlie Humphries, manservant of Henri Bardac.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref6\" name=\"_ftn6\">[6]<\/a> Henri Bardac, a friend of Proust\u2019s. Injured in the war and discharged in September 1914, he then became an embassy attach\u00e9 in London (see\u00a0<em>Lettres<\/em>, p.\u00a0698).<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref7\" name=\"_ftn1\">[7<\/a><a href=\"#_ftnref7\" name=\"_ftn1\">]<\/a> (Note by P. Kolb) The letter\u2019s recipient sent the letter back to Proust instead, as it was found among Proust\u2019s papers after his death.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>Marcel Proust writes this letter to Paul Goldschmidt in roughly December 1917, mainly on the subject of Goldschmidt\u2019s young English friend Charlie Humphries. Goldschmidt was a wealthy clubman from whom Proust\u2019s housemaid C\u00e9leste Albaret claims Proust occasionally accepted dinner invitations, but whom Proust, according to her, described as both \u201cboring\u201d and \u201cmuch too formal\u201d <a href=\"#_ftn8\" name=\"_ftnref1\">[8]<\/a>. Goldschmidt was also a well-known pianist <a href=\"#_ftn9\" name=\"_ftnref2\">[9]<\/a> and figure in homosexual circles at the time. On the other hand, Proust twice invited Charlie to his home in order to study his manners and dress as material for his novel <a href=\"#_ftn10\" name=\"_ftnref3\">[10]<\/a>. As William C. Carter remarks, Charlie\u2019s name may have contributed to the decision to give the surname Charles to the character Morel, a violinist who is the son of a valet and thus also of the servant class in <em>\u00c0 la recherche du temps perdu<\/em>. Ties are also possible to the name of one of Morel\u2019s lovers, the Baron de Charlus (who calls Morel \u201cCharlie\u201d <a href=\"#_ftn11\" name=\"_ftnref4\">[11]<\/a>), as well as Charles Swann\u00a0<a href=\"#_ftn12\" name=\"_ftnref4\">[12]<\/a>. The dedications Proust wrote to Humphries in two copies of his John Ruskin translations (likely during the war years) suggest Proust\u2019s particularly affectionate feelings for \u201cCharlie\u201d\u00a0<a href=\"#_ftn13\" name=\"_ftnref4\">[13]<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Henri Bardac, for whom Charlie was a manservant, was also a friend of Jacques Truelle\u2019s <a href=\"#_ftn14\" name=\"_ftnref5\">[14]<\/a>. While the exact identity of Madame de Salverte remains uncertain, in a letter to Truelle from November 1917 Proust discusses potential places to dine with Truelle and Madame de Salverte in the upcoming weeks. Perhaps Charlie was the subject of their conversation, but the reasons for their meeting are not made clear\u00a0<a href=\"#_ftn15\" name=\"_ftnref5\">[15]<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>While the exact condition of Charlie\u2019s health is not known, the question of having health records that proved one to be either fit or unfit for military service was an important one at this time. In December of 1917, France was still in the midst of the First World War: the Americans had only declared war on Germany in April, and the traumatic Battles of the Somme and Verdun had only culminated one year prior. The background context of war reveals itself in the letter through Proust\u2019s final line, where he alludes to the danger of \u201c[seeming] to be protecting someone in good health.\u201d This letter thus indicates that Proust likely intended to shield Charlie from conscription.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref8\" name=\"_ftn2\">[8]<\/a> <em>Monsieur Proust: A Memoir<\/em>, p. 187. (In French, \u201cassommant,\u201d \u201c[Goldschmidt] est bien trop collet mont\u00e9,\u201d in\u00a0<em>Monsieur Proust: Souvenirs recueillis par Georges Belmont<\/em>, p. 229.)<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref9\" name=\"_ftn3\">[9]<\/a>\u00a0See <em>Corr, <\/em>vol. XII, p. 147-9, or <em>Lettres<\/em>, p. 614. A performance by Goldschmidt and Georges Enesco on April 9, 1913 of C\u00e9sar Frank\u2019s <em>Sonata for piano and violin<\/em>\u00a0(1886) is often cited as an important moment of inspiration for the\u00a0<em>Recherche<\/em>\u2019s famous Vinteuil Sonata.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref10\" name=\"_ftn4\">[10]<\/a> <em>Monsieur Proust: A Memoir<\/em>, p. 187 and 240. (In French,\u00a0<em>Monsieur Proust: Souvenirs recueillis par Georges Belmont<\/em> p. 229 and 286.)<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref11\" name=\"_ftn4\">[11]<\/a>\u00a0See for example <em>Sodome et Gomorrhe<\/em>, p. 399.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref12\" name=\"_ftn4\">[12]<\/a>\u00a0Carter, p. 650.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref13\" name=\"_ftn5\">[13<\/a><a href=\"#_ftnref13\" name=\"_ftn5\">]<\/a>\u00a0Mauriac Dyer, p. 54.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref14\" name=\"_ftn5\">[14<\/a><a href=\"#_ftnref13\" name=\"_ftn5\">]<\/a> See\u00a0<em>Lettres<\/em>, p. 1290.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref15\" name=\"_ftn5\">[15<\/a><a href=\"#_ftnref13\" name=\"_ftn5\">]<\/a> See <em>Corr<\/em>, vol. XVI, p.\u00a0287-88.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Works cited<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Albaret, C\u00e9leste. <em>Monsieur Proust: A Memoir<\/em>. Trans. Barbara Bray. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1976.<\/p>\n<p>\u2013 \u2013 \u2013. <em>Monsieur Proust: Souvenirs recueillis par Georges Belmont<\/em>. Paris: Robert Laffont, 1973.<\/p>\n<p>Carter, William C. <em>Marcel Proust: A Life<\/em>. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2000.<\/p>\n<p>Mauriac Dyer, Nathalie. \u201cLa collection oubli\u00e9e de Georges Van Parys\u00a0: Une d\u00e9dicace \u00e0 Hubert de la Rochefoucauld, deux d\u00e9dicaces \u00e0 Charles Humphries et une lettre \u00e0 Jean Cocteau.\u201d <em>Bulletin d\u2019informations proustiennes<\/em>, 47, 2017, 47-55.<\/p>\n<p>Proust, Marcel. <em>Correspondance<\/em>. Ed. Philip Kolb. Paris: Plon (21 vols), 1970-1993.<\/p>\n<p>\u2013 \u2013 \u2013. <em>Lettres<\/em>. Ed. Fran\u00e7oise Leriche with Caroline Szylowicz. Paris: Plon, 2004.<\/p>\n<p>\u2013 \u2013 \u2013. <em>Sodome et Gomorrhe<\/em>. Paris: Gallimard (folio), 1989.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>(<a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/2018\/02\/19\/proust-and-the-great-war-part-2\/\">Back to list of letters<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Claire Baytas, graduate student in Comparative Literature Letter from Marcel Proust to Paul Goldschmidt, [c. December 1917]\u00a0[1] My dear Paul,\u00a0[2] I have to let you know, in a few words, (to avoid your being surprised during the conversation) that I had Truelle [3] contact, and I myself contacted Mme de Salverte [4] to advocate [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":320,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3222","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3222","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/320"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3222"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3222\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3490,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3222\/revisions\/3490"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}