{"id":3262,"date":"2018-02-16T22:43:41","date_gmt":"2018-02-16T22:43:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/?page_id=3262"},"modified":"2018-02-19T19:28:24","modified_gmt":"2018-02-19T19:28:24","slug":"letters-from-le-figaro-to-marcel-proust-24-september-1918-marcel-proust-to-berthe-lemarie-5-december-1918-and-marcel-proust-to-daniel-halevy-shortly-after-5-december-1918","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/letters-from-le-figaro-to-marcel-proust-24-september-1918-marcel-proust-to-berthe-lemarie-5-december-1918-and-marcel-proust-to-daniel-halevy-shortly-after-5-december-1918\/","title":{"rendered":"Letters from\u00a0Le Figaro to Marcel Proust, 24 September 1918,\u00a0Marcel Proust to Berthe Lemari\u00e9, [5(?) December 1918], and\u00a0Marcel Proust to Daniel Hal\u00e9vy, [shortly after 5 December 1918]"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.frit.illinois.edu\/people\/benboua2\">Mouna Benbouazza<\/a>, graduate student in French<\/p>\n<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-3262 gallery-columns-1 gallery-size-medium'><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_09_lefebvre_105_001.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"184\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_09_lefebvre_105_001-184x300.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-3266\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_09_lefebvre_105_001-184x300.jpg 184w, https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_09_lefebvre_105_001-768x1251.jpg 768w, https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_09_lefebvre_105_001-629x1024.jpg 629w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 184px) 100vw, 184px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-3266'>\n\t\t\t\t1\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>Letter from <em>Le Figaro<\/em> to Marcel Proust, 24 September 1918<\/strong>\u00a0<a href=\"#_ftn1\" name=\"_ftnref1\">[1]<\/a><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: right\">LE FIGARO<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right\">26, rue Drouot <a href=\"#_ftn2\" name=\"_ftnref1\">[2]<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right\">Paris, 24 September 1918<\/p>\n<p>Sir,<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Vonoven <a href=\"#_ftn3\" name=\"_ftnref2\">[3]<\/a> forwarded me your letter, and to follow up on the copy of the article \u201cF\u00eate chez Montesquiou\u201d which I have already sent you, I am pleased to send you with with this letter a copy of your article \u201cJourn\u00e9e de route en automobile\u201d <a href=\"#_ftn4\" name=\"_ftnref3\">[4]<\/a> from 19 November 1907.<\/p>\n<p>I would be grateful if you could have the sum of 12 Fr sent to me for the price of this labor, quite difficult to execute since our bound collection is not easy to handle. (This is for the two articles, of course[.])<\/p>\n<p>Regarding your article of 16 August 1904, \u201cLa Mort des Cath\u00e9drales,\u201d it takes up 7 columns of the \u201cFigaro,\u201d and I do not have anyone available to copy it at the typewriter. If you wish, however, I could do a handwritten copy for the sum of 30 Fr, within 8 to 10 days.<\/p>\n<p>Accept, Sir, the assurances of my highest consideration.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right\">The Chief of Administrative Services<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right\">Jules Levy\u00a0<a href=\"#_ftn5\" name=\"_ftnref4\">[5]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Mr. Marcel PROUST, 102, Boulevard\u00a0Haussmann<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref1\" name=\"_ftn1\">[1]<\/a>\u00a0Letter catalogued as Proust-Series 1 \/ Lefebvre 105, Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref2\" name=\"_ftn2\">[2]<\/a> Before moving to the Champs-Elys\u00e9es in 1929, <em>Le<\/em> <em>Figaro<\/em> had its headquarters <a href=\"http:\/\/gallica.bnf.fr\/ark:\/12148\/btv1b53073427w\">on rue Drouot, in the 9<sup>th<\/sup> arrondissement of Paris<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref3\" name=\"_ftn3\">[3]<\/a> (Note by P. Kolb) Henri Vonoven was the secretary general of <em>Le<\/em> <em>Figaro<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref4\" name=\"_ftn4\">[4]<\/a> (Note by P. Kolb) \u201cImpressions de route en automobile\u201d is an article that will be republished in the\u00a0<em>Pastiches et M\u00e9langes<\/em>. Here the writer of the letter wrongly refers to the article as \u201cJourn\u00e9e de route en automobile.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref5\" name=\"_ftn2\">[5]<\/a>\u00a0P. Kolb identified the signature as \u201cJules Ley\u201d or \u201cJules Levy.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>This letter from 24 September 1918, typewritten by the chief of administrative services of <em>Le Figaro<\/em>, references three articles published there between 1900 and 1907<em>.<\/em> Proust, who also published in literary magazines when he was younger, was an occasional contributor to the prestigious newspaper before he started work on his novel. In 1904 <em>Le Figaro<\/em> published \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/gallica.bnf.fr\/ark:\/12148\/bpt6k286706d\/f3.item\">La mort des cath\u00e9drales<\/a>,\u201d [The Death of Cathedrals], a piece where Proust vehemently criticizes the French government\u2019s project to deprive cathedrals of their religious use, transforming the buildings into museums, for example, in the context of the movement towards church and state separation. For Proust, who regarded cathedrals as pillars of French memory, this move represented an attack on history. The 1907 article \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/gallica.bnf.fr\/ark:\/12148\/bpt6k287911r\/f1.zoom\">Impressions de route en automobile<\/a>\u201d [Impressions of the road from an automobile] described the sights and sensations that Proust experienced during a road trip with his driver and companion Alfred Agostinelli. Proust also wrote articles where he satirized the social circles he frequented. \u201cF\u00eate chez Montesquiou,\u201d for exemple, portrays his extravagant friend <a href=\"http:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/letters-from-robert-de-montesquiou-to-marcel-proust-25-december-1916-and-marcel-proust-to-madame-straus-27-december-1916\/\">Robert de Montesquiou<\/a>. Excerpts from his translation of John Ruskin\u2019s <em>The Bible of Amiens<\/em> also appeared in <em>Le<\/em> <em>Figaro <\/em>in 1900.<\/p>\n<p>In September and October 1918, Proust was working on assembling various articles that had appeared in <em>Le<\/em> <em>Figaro<\/em> for a collection titled <em>Pastiches et M\u00e9langes <\/em>to be printed by his new publisher, the <em>Nouvelle Revue fran\u00e7aise<\/em>, a process that turned out to be long and difficult. Proust, who did not keep personal records of his articles, requested that the newspaper have some of his articles copied from their archives, and sent to him, among them \u201cLa mort des cath\u00e9drales.\u201d Here, the author of the letter underlines that the article \u201ctakes up 7 columns of <em>Le Figaro<\/em>\u201d and that he \u201ccould do a handwritten copy for the sum of 30 francs\u201d <a href=\"#_ftn6\" name=\"_ftnref2\">[6]<\/a> to emphasize the difficulty of the work. The letter exemplifies the administrative difficulties that often accompanied Proust\u2019s editorial relationships.<\/p>\n<p>The header bears the logo of <em>Le<\/em> <em>Figaro<\/em> (at the top left of the page), the letter \u201cF\u201d crossed by a quill; notice also the stamp of the Chief of Administrative Services (bottom right), after the closing salutations and above the signature.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref6\" name=\"_ftn1\">[6]<\/a>\u00a0Equivalent to approximately 42 euros or 52 U.S. dollars today.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<div id='gallery-2' class='gallery galleryid-3262 gallery-columns-4 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_09b_lefebvre_07_001_1.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2139\" height=\"2918\" src=\"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_09b_lefebvre_07_001_1.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-2-3269\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_09b_lefebvre_07_001_1.jpg 2139w, https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_09b_lefebvre_07_001_1-220x300.jpg 220w, https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_09b_lefebvre_07_001_1-768x1048.jpg 768w, https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_09b_lefebvre_07_001_1-751x1024.jpg 751w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2139px) 100vw, 2139px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-2-3269'>\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_09b_lefebvre_07_002_2.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2155\" height=\"2904\" src=\"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_09b_lefebvre_07_002_2.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-2-3271\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_09b_lefebvre_07_002_2.jpg 2155w, https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_09b_lefebvre_07_002_2-223x300.jpg 223w, https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_09b_lefebvre_07_002_2-768x1035.jpg 768w, https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_09b_lefebvre_07_002_2-760x1024.jpg 760w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2155px) 100vw, 2155px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-2-3271'>\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_09b_lefebvre_07_002_3.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2912\" height=\"2148\" src=\"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_09b_lefebvre_07_002_3.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-2-3272\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_09b_lefebvre_07_002_3.jpg 2912w, https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_09b_lefebvre_07_002_3-300x221.jpg 300w, https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_09b_lefebvre_07_002_3-768x567.jpg 768w, https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_09b_lefebvre_07_002_3-1024x755.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2912px) 100vw, 2912px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-2-3272'>\n\t\t\t\t3\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_09b_lefebvre_07_001_4.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2907\" height=\"2161\" src=\"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_09b_lefebvre_07_001_4.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-2-3270\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_09b_lefebvre_07_001_4.jpg 2907w, https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_09b_lefebvre_07_001_4-300x223.jpg 300w, https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_09b_lefebvre_07_001_4-768x571.jpg 768w, https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_09b_lefebvre_07_001_4-1024x761.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2907px) 100vw, 2907px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-2-3270'>\n\t\t\t\t4\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>Letter from Marcel Proust to Berthe Lemari\u00e9, [5(?) December 1918]<\/strong>\u00a0<a href=\"#_ftn7\" name=\"_ftnref1\">[7]<\/a><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Dear Madam,\u00a0<a href=\"#_ftn8\" name=\"_ftnref1\">[8]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>I would be pleased to know if you and your son, and your loved ones, as well as everyone at the Revue <a href=\"#_ftn9\" name=\"_ftnref2\">[9]<\/a> escaped the flu. I would also like to know the address of Gaston Gallimard <a href=\"#_ftn10\" name=\"_ftnref3\">[10]<\/a>. You did give it to me but I do not know, after having written it in front of you, on a piece of paper, what I have done with it. Now I have started a long letter to him but I do not know where to send it.<\/p>\n<p>You may have thought you were sending me my manuscript, except for the Pastiches. Yet what you sent me is incomplete. I cannot find \u201cSentiments filiaux d\u2019un parricide\u201d <a href=\"#_ftn11\" name=\"_ftnref4\">[11]<\/a> (it matters little because I do not wish to make any change to it; it would only be annoying if you had lost it, because there are no copies of these articles[)]. However I could have another copy made, based on the text collected and bound by Daniel Hal\u00e9vy. But I believe this is only a mistake and you must have it. Additionally, I had taken apart two\u00a0<em>Bibles d\u2019Amiens<\/em> and two\u00a0<em>S\u00e9same et les Lys<\/em> to rewrite the parts that will be published, so that my corrections were not front and back. However you sent me only one manuscript of each. I would then have to write on the backs. But I found another <em>Bible<\/em> and another <em>S\u00e9same<\/em> from the bookshop. I will redo the pages. And I am only telling this to ask you to excuse a delay of a few days. Nothing has come from<em> Le C\u00f4t\u00e9 de Guermantes <\/em>yet. Please accept, dear Madam, my profound, respectful and grateful affection.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right\">Marcel Proust<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref7\" name=\"_ftn2\">[7]<\/a>\u00a0Letter catalogued as Proust-Series 1 \/ Lefebvre 007, Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref8\" name=\"_ftn3\">[8]<\/a> P. Kolb dates this letter from \u201ca few days before 8 December, 1918, likely 5 December 1918\u201d (<em>Corr<\/em>, vol. XVII, p. 494).<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref9\" name=\"_ftn4\">[9]<\/a> The <em>Nouvelle Revue fran\u00e7aise <\/em>was a literary periodical founded in 1909.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref10\" name=\"_ftn2\">[10]<\/a>\u00a0(Note by P. Kolb) Proust was looking for Gaston Gallimard\u2019s address in New York, where he was traveling at the time.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref11\" name=\"_ftn1\">[11]<\/a>\u00a0\u201cFilial Sentiments of a Parricide.\u201d For this 1907 article, Proust was inspired by the murder of Madame van Blarenberghe, a friend of his family, by her son Henri. The article was requested by the director of <em>Le<\/em> <em>Figaro<\/em>, Gaston Calmette.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>This letter is part of a sustained correspondence between Proust and Berthe Lemari\u00e9, a secretary at the <em>Nouvelle Revue fran\u00e7aise <\/em>and the assistant of Gaston Gallimard. From 1911, Gallimard directed the <em>Revue<\/em> and launched an affiliated publishing house, initially named after the <em>Revue<\/em> and later named after him. In 1916, Proust left his previous publisher Grasset for Gallimard. By the end of 1918, Proust was working on assembling his <em>Figaro<\/em> articles for a collection to be titled\u00a0<em>Pastiches et M\u00e9langes<\/em>; at the same time, he was\u00a0finishing <em>Le C\u00f4t\u00e9 de Guermantes.<\/em> Proust and the <em>Nouvelle Revue fran\u00e7aise <\/em>agreed to publish <em>Pastiches et M\u00e9langes<\/em> in 1919, to be printed at the same time as\u00a0<em>\u00c0\u00a0l\u2019ombre des jeunes filles<\/em> <em>en fleurs <\/em>and<em>\u00a0<\/em>a reedition of\u00a0<em>Du c\u00f4t\u00e9 de chez Swann<\/em>. Accordingly, Proust communicated regularly with Berthe Lemari\u00e9.<\/p>\n<p>Proust\u2019s impatience on the progress of these projects is apparent in this letter. He had sent his articles from <em>Le<\/em> <em>Figaro<\/em> and was waiting for proofs from the printer Gallimard had found, La Semeuse. Here, Proust explains that he \u201ccannot find \u2018Sentiments filiaux d\u2019un parricide\u2019\u201d\u00a0among the articles sent to him by Berthe Lemari\u00e9; he thinks that \u201cthis is only a mistake and you must have it.\u201d Once again, we see that Proust did not keep archives of his articles.<\/p>\n<p>In June 1918 <a href=\"#_ftn12\" name=\"_ftnref2\">[12]<\/a>, Proust had submitted the full manuscript of <em>Le C\u00f4t\u00e9 de Guermantes,<\/em> but in this letter he bemoans that \u201cnothing has come from <em>Le<\/em> <em>Cot\u00e9 de Guermantes<\/em> yet.\u201d Proust was regularly complaining to Gaston Gallimard, even as the latter was frequently traveling to New York, where he had joined a theatre company in its effort to promote French culture in the context of the First World War.<\/p>\n<p>Overall, however, Proust and Berthe Lemari\u00e9 maintained a polite, even warm, correspondence. In this letter, Proust hopes that \u201call the Revue has escaped the flu,\u201d referring to the <a href=\"https:\/\/virus.stanford.edu\/uda\/\">deadly influenza pandemic that struck Europe in 1918 and 1919<\/a>. The epidemic, which killed tens of millions of people around the globe, as well as the recently ended war, are factors that surely exerted pressure on the printing work and contributed to delays.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref12\" name=\"_ftn2\">[12]<\/a> See Proust, letter to Gaston Gallimard, 7 November 1918 (<em>Corr<\/em>., vol. XVII, p. 441-442).<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<div id='gallery-3' class='gallery galleryid-3262 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_09c_proust_75__001_1.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2074\" height=\"2899\" src=\"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_09c_proust_75__001_1.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-3-3274\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_09c_proust_75__001_1.jpg 2074w, https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_09c_proust_75__001_1-215x300.jpg 215w, https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_09c_proust_75__001_1-768x1073.jpg 768w, https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_09c_proust_75__001_1-733x1024.jpg 733w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2074px) 100vw, 2074px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-3-3274'>\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_09c_proust_75__002_2.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2069\" height=\"2878\" src=\"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_09c_proust_75__002_2.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-3-3275\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_09c_proust_75__002_2.jpg 2069w, https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_09c_proust_75__002_2-216x300.jpg 216w, https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_09c_proust_75__002_2-768x1068.jpg 768w, https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_09c_proust_75__002_2-736x1024.jpg 736w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2069px) 100vw, 2069px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-3-3275'>\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_09c_proust_75__002_3.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2868\" height=\"2104\" src=\"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_09c_proust_75__002_3.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-3-3276\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_09c_proust_75__002_3.jpg 2868w, https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_09c_proust_75__002_3-300x220.jpg 300w, https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_09c_proust_75__002_3-768x563.jpg 768w, https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_09c_proust_75__002_3-1024x751.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2868px) 100vw, 2868px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-3-3276'>\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 Daniel Hal\u00e9vy, [shortly after 5 December 1918]\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"#_ftn13\" name=\"_ftnref1\">[13]<\/a><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: right\">102 boulevard Haussmann\u00a0<a href=\"#_ftn14\" name=\"_ftnref1\">[14]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>My dear friend<\/p>\n<p>My heartfelt thanks. Unfortunately it is too fine, since I cannot send this magnificent piece of work to the printer, and I must have it copied <a href=\"#_ftn15\" name=\"_ftnref1\">[15]<\/a>. As soon as the copy is done<em>, <\/em>I will send you back your booklet <a href=\"#_ftn16\" name=\"_ftnref1\">[16]<\/a>. I wrote you, at the beginning of the war, a letter <a href=\"#_ftn17\" name=\"_ftnref2\">[17]<\/a>\u00a0where I expressed my great admiration of your article \u201cLes Trois Croix\u201d <a href=\"#_ftn18\" name=\"_ftnref2\">[18]<\/a>, which I had been unable to read without crying. You never answered me. I have read many beautiful things of yours since then. \u201cFrom so far away, from so far away\u201d\u00a0<a href=\"#_ftn19\" name=\"_ftnref2\">[19]<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>It is not a second volume of Swann I have finished but the last four volumes. I will initially only release the second, at the same time as the collection of pastiches and articles (if I can find them). It seems to me that you used to call me Marcel and I preferred that to Proust. But one should not ask for such things. Please especially thank Madame Hal\u00e9vy and give her all my respects.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right\">Gratefully yours,<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right\">Marcel Proust<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref13\" name=\"_ftn2\">[13]<\/a>\u00a0Letter catalogued as Proust-Series 7 (Items by Proust) \/ Item Proust 75-002, Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref14\" name=\"_ftn2\">[14]<\/a>\u00a0P. Kolb dates this letter from \u201cshortly after 5 December 1918\u201d (<em>Corr<\/em>, vol. XVII, p. 498-499).<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref15\" name=\"_ftn2\">[15]<\/a>\u00a0(Note by P. Kolb) The text in question is \u201cSentiments filiaux d\u2019un Parricide.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref16\" name=\"_ftn2\">[16]<\/a>\u00a0This was not done: seven months later, in July 1919, <a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/letter-from-marcel-proust-to-daniel-halevy-19-july-1919\/\">Proust writes to Hal\u00e9vy<\/a> that he still has the booklet \u201cbeside [his] bed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref17\" name=\"_ftn2\">[17]<\/a>\u00a0Letter from Marcel Proust to Daniel Hal\u00e9vy, evening of 16 November 1914 (<em>Corr<\/em>., vol. XIII, p. 331).<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref18\" name=\"_ftn2\">[18]<\/a>\u00a0Daniel Hal\u00e9vy, \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/gallica.bnf.fr\/ark:\/12148\/bpt6k485470r\/f2.item\">Les Trois Croix<\/a>,\u201d [The Three Crosses],\u00a0<em>Journal des D\u00e9bats<\/em>, 17 November 1914, p. 2. The article describes the heroic death of a British officer near <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/First_Battle_of_Ypres\">Ypres, in West Flanders<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref19\" name=\"_ftn2\">[19]<\/a>\u00a0(Note by P. Kolb) This is an allusion to an article by Daniel Hal\u00e9vy published nearly a year earlier in <em>Journal des D\u00e9bats<\/em>, on 30 December 1917. That article,\u00a0\u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/gallica.bnf.fr\/ark:\/12148\/bpt6k488482p\/f2.item\">Avec les Am\u00e9ricains<\/a>,\u201d describes French women coming out of their houses to watch American soldiers entering their town. One woman standing next to Hal\u00e9vy whispers, \u201cDe si loin, tout de m\u00eame, de si loin !\u201d [From so far away, still, from so far away !] (<em>Corr<\/em>, vol. XVII, p. 43 and 499).<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>This letter from Proust to his friend Daniel Hal\u00e9vy starts by evoking the missing article \u201cSentiments filiaux d\u2019un parricide.\u201d Proust knew that Hal\u00e9vy had a copy of the article. Hal\u00e9vy, indeed, raved about the article when it was published and had it bound in a \u201cplaquette,\u201d a thin booklet. Since Berthe Lemari\u00e9, the secretary of the <em>Nouvelle Revue fran\u00e7aise<\/em>, did not have the article, as we can see in the previous letter, Proust had to request Hal\u00e9vy\u2019s copy. This letter thanks Hal\u00e9vy for having sent it, and Proust refers to the booklet as a \u201cmagnificent piece of work.\u201d He also mentions the \u201cbeautiful things\u201d he has read from Hal\u00e9vy, who published articles in newspapers and literary or political magazines, including pieces about the war.<\/p>\n<p>A more negative tone clouds this positive exchange by the end of the letter. Proust remarks that \u201cit seems to me that you used to call me Marcel and I preferred that to Proust.\u201d He also reminds Hal\u00e9vy that he had written him a letter expressing \u201cgreat admiration\u201d of an article Hal\u00e9vy had published at the beginning of the war, never to receive an answer. The fact that Proust refers to the beginning of the war is significant, as the conflict has just ended a few weeks prior. Proust and Hal\u00e9vy had a fluctuating relationship. They were from similar backgrounds, with mixed Jewish and Catholic roots, and both pursued a literary career, but Hal\u00e9vy especially seemed to have voluntarily distanced himself from the relationship as they grew older. This letter suggests that their once-close friendship had cooled by 1918\u00a0<a href=\"#_ftn20\" name=\"_ftnref2\">[20]<\/a>.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref20\" name=\"_ftn1\">[20]<\/a>\u00a0See Virginie Greene\u2019s biographical notice on Daniel Hal\u00e9vy in <em>Lettres<\/em>, p. 1242-1243.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Works cited<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Proust, Marcel. <em>Correspondance<\/em>. Ed. Philip Kolb. Paris: Plon (21 vols), 1970-1993.<\/p>\n<p>Proust, Marcel. <em>Lettres<\/em>. Ed. Fran\u00e7oise Leriche with Caroline Szylowicz. Paris: Plon, 2004.<\/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 Mouna Benbouazza, graduate student in French Letter from Le Figaro to Marcel Proust, 24 September 1918\u00a0[1] LE FIGARO 26, rue Drouot [2] Paris, 24 September 1918 Sir, Mr. Vonoven [3] forwarded me your letter, and to follow up on the copy of the article \u201cF\u00eate chez Montesquiou\u201d which I have already sent you, I [&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-3262","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3262","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=3262"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3262\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3491,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3262\/revisions\/3491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3262"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}