Autograph note signed.
12mo. ½ p. In French.
$4,214.00
Thanking the poet Léon-Paul Fargue for defending Aragon and his friends "against people who are a bit too quick with their tongues and quills". Aragon wrote this charming note with the heading "as soon as possible" after learning of Fargue's "courageous" act from the librarian Adrienne Monnier. With ironic hyperbole, Aragon apologizes for finding "neither clever phrases nor commonplaces", explaining that Fargue's attitude touches him so deeply that he is "reduced to" silence. The note in full: "Je ne veux pas, Monsieur, m'en remettre au hazard d'un rencontre pour vous remercier. Je viens d'apprendre de Mademoiselle Monnier de quelle façon courageuse vous nous avez défendus mes amis et moi contre des gens un peu trop prompts de la langue et de la plume. Excusez-moi de ne trouver pour vous en exprimer [!] ma gratitude ni pharses habiles ni lieux communs. Votre attitude me touche mieux et ne me laisse qu'à me taire".
Louis Aragon and Léon-Paul Fargue were among the numerous important customers and friends of the legendary book dealer Adrienne Monnier. The dispute alluded to in the note might well be the famous rupture between the Dadaists with their leader Tristan Tzara and the new Surrealist group centering on André Breton and Louis Aragon.
Two minor stains. Recipient identified on the basis of a collector's note.