Beschreibung:

PROUST, Marcel. Autograph letter signed to Lucien Daudet, n.p. [Paris], n.d. [13 February 1918] , professing his constant concern for his correspondent's worries which may however seem negligible when he learns of Proust's, and willingly agreeing to read his typescript, which he compares with the much greater difficulty of reading his own proofs of which there are 4,000 pages, or even five, to be corrected four times. He is writing to his brother [Dr. Robert Proust], but advises Daudet against [taking up a post with him], continuing 'Je sais bien que ses idées sont très belles et que son caractère est très noble et délicieux, et que les defauts de caractère dont je parle ne se manifestent qu'à de rares instants. Mais c'est trop quand cela peut déclencher toute une série de choses qui suscitent à cet instant: Il est d'ailleurs probable que vous vous entendez à merveille et il serait aussi heureux que fier de t'avoir', also writing about his health, his wish to see Léon Daudet to whom there is much he has to say; mentioning a number of mutual friends, and recalling his pleasure at seeing Lucien and his family recently with 'Mlle. de Hinnisdel' [ sic ], 'bien qu'elle ait été d'une froideur!', 12 pages, 8vo (on pale grey paper). Reassuring Daudet of Étienne de Beaumont's regard for him, Proust writes that to believe otherwise without proof is an error comparable to his own in believing that Lucien had tried to prevent his receiving the Prix Goncourt when the reverse was true, and, referring to his own distrust, 'Je ne sais jamais rien sur personne, sauf quelquefois l'hostilité des gens pour moi. Mais alors je n'en découvre pas la cause et je ne suis plus avancé'. Daudet explains in a note this reference to an occasion on which Proust accused him of having approached two members of the Academy Goncourt to prevent him being awarded the prize, attributing this to Proust's 'police' having gone too far ('Comme les êtres très méfiants, Marcel Proust était quelquefois très credule; et la flagornerie l'influençait') Cahiers , V, 214). Daudet suppressed for publication the criticisms of Robert Proust, and most of the names about which Proust gossips in the latter part of the letter. Kolb, XVII, 106; Cahiers , V (LIII).