"jouer des comédies pour oublier que le monde s'entretue"
9 autograph letters signed and 1 autograph inscription signed.
Various formats. Together 11½ pp.
€ 1,500.00
Correspondence with the publishers of two of Benjamin's comedies, Maurice Delamain and Jacques Boutelleau, better known as Jacques Chardonne, at Librairie Stock.
The earliest letter in the collection, dated 30 October 1929, contains instructions for the title-page of the libretto of "La Pie Borgne", following the adaptation of the 1922 play as a "Comédie musicale" by Henri Büsser.
On 27 January 1930, Benjamin acted as an intermediary, sending Delamain the manuscript of a "short book on a cat" by an unnamed author.
Again on his own behalf, on 21 June 1934, Benjamin offers a comedy to Jacques Chardonne, despite his exclusive contract with Plon, arguing that they are "not made for publishing theatre". For comparison, he mentions the Stock publication of Paul Raynard's "La Francerie": while his piece "relies on a completely different temper", it "reaches a similar conclusion". The publication of this piece did not materialize.
The half-title of Benjamin's novel "Chronique d'un temps troublé" (Plon, 1938) is inscribed to Delamain: "À l'ami charmant qu'est Maurice Delamain, ce livre qui n'a qu'une idée, parbleu, c'est de lui plaire !".
In a letter from 20 June 1938, Benjamin asks for three copies of "La Pie Borgne" ahead of a meeting with Édouard Bourdet of the Comédie-Française: "Je voudrais essayer que le Théâtre Française, qui ne peut pas arriver à jouer mon Balzac, s'intéresse à cette minuscule histoire. Et comme je vais voir Bourdet...".
A similar request for "3 brochures of the Pacha and 2 of la Pie Borgne" followed on 4 January 1942, this time on behalf of Benjamin's daughter, who wanted to perform comedies with her friends so as to "forget that the world is killing each other", which he fully understands: "Voilà que ma fille, avec des amies, veut se mettre à jouer des comédies pour oublier que le monde s'entretue. Je ne crois pas qu'elle ait tort. Il n'y a rien de dégoûtant pour l'esprit comme de penser à l'usage que les hommes font de la vie !".
The war reached Benjamin as early as 1939, during the so-called Phoney War, as his son was stationed in "the bad corner of the Saar", leavinghis gather sleepless with worry. Benjamin asks Delamain for names and addresses of French refugees in the Charente Department (where Delamain owned a house) who had been evacuated from the Alsace and Lorraine regions in order to be able to help them privately. The letter starts: "Dans ce drame horrible, je me suis résigné à une horreur qui est une collaboration régulière. La mienne s'exerce à Candide tous les huit jours. La question des réfugiés lorrains et alsaciens m'émeut beaucoup. on me dit que le Charente en a reçu des quantités [...]".
Five of the letters stamped by Librairie Stock. Occasional minor tears and creases. Some browning.
