4 autograph letters signed and 1 fragment of an autograph letter signed.
4to. Together 6½ pp. With 1 autograph envelope.
€ 550,00
Correspondence with the publisher Maurice Delamain of Librairie Stock, concerning various publication projects. The earliest letter, dated 5 March 1927, concerns the French publication of Ramón María del Valle-Inclán's play "Divinas palabras". Miomandre had originally agreed to write a preface but now writes to cancel, as his correspondence with the author "did not bring about the results" he had hoped for and he thus lacked "the necessary elements for the elaboration of a preface worthy of him" (transl.).
In a letter from 3 February 1935, Miomandre recounts his meeting with Hermann von Keyserling on Majorca and asks Delamain to help him with his connections to publish "an article dedicated to these conversations" in Le Figaro. However, nothing seems to have come from this, as Miomandre decries the "ridiculous" conduct of Le Figaro concerning his article in a letter from 2 March 1935, complaining: "One of the things that has always exasperated me in my literary life is when my enthusiasm for a cause or a man is thus impeded. Only God knows what people and things the newspapers admire". He again expresses his admiration for Keyserling, his "noble nature" and generosity, thanks Delamain for his support, and offers the text for publication.
Another project of Miomandre's was the translation of Frieda Lawrence's novel "Not I, But the Wind..." as described in a letter from 14 April 1935. Miomandre had translated the book and offered it to the Nouvelle Revue française according to the author's wishes. Responding to a letter by Delamain from 27 March, Miomandre expresses his disbelief that the translation was rejected at the last minute when it had already been submitted, as Delamain must have told him. Should it be the case, he would be willing to consider a publication with Stock, but for the moment he still considered himself "committed to the N.R.F.". Miomandre's translation of the novel was published neither by the N.R.F. nor by Stock. In the second part of the letter, he informs Delamain that his manuscript for the "philosophical and lyrical fanatsy on Empedocles", entitled "Théophanie", was with a Parisian bookseller. On this letter, Delamain penned a damning characterization of Miomandre that was probably based both on their professional relationship and Delamain's questionable practice of graphology: "M. is a fine poet, a delicate mind, highly cultured, and witty. He never gave what was expected of him - he only excelled in small articles of Parisian and elegant life. Here we see his weakness, his naivety and his impotence. A sorrowful, chimerical, feminine, anguished, malevolent mind - and some neurosis".
The interesting fragment can be dated to the 1940s, as Miomandre mentions that Frieda Lawrence is in New Mexico. On the verso he describes his close relationship to plants and a book project "for friends of nature" relating to his home in Majorca under the title, "Dans mon coin de Majorce".
The letter from 1927 on stationery of the monthly "paris-américa" and the letter dated 2 March 1935 on stationery of the "Hotel Formentor", Majorca. Two letters stamped by Librairie Stock. The letter from 14 April 1935 in two pieces. Stronger browning, stains, and occasional minor tears. No text loss.
