Verba Volant, Scripta Manent (Epistolary Art)

"Chère Madame,
Mille excuses pour le malentendu qui est de ma faute, sans doute.
Je ne me souvenais pas du tout que vous n'étiez pas libre ce soir. Si vous l'êtes demain samedi, j'en serais heureux. J'ai couru à Châtelet et suis parvenu à faire changer le jour...

Autograph letter in German signed by Rainer Maria Rilke to actress Else Hotop, to whom he writes under her stage name, Elya Maria Nevar. 2 1/2 pages written on a bifolium watermarked “Sackleinen”. Autograph envelope enclosed, addressed to ‘Else Hotop’ bearing postmarks dated November 3, 1918.Published in Freundschaft mit Rainer Maria Rilke, 1946, p. 35.

A precious piece of Rilke’s correspondence, reflecting the delights of an enchanted afternoon spent during WW1 with the actress Elya Nevar, one of his most fervent admirers.

Autograph card signed, 7 lines in black ink.
A stain in the left margin affecting the first letter of the third line.
In this note, Huysmans questions the address of Dom Besse, Benedictine monk, French writer and historian, which he had previously communicated to his correspondent and for which he seems to have made an error.
As a precaution, he details it to him again.

Autograph letter dated and signed by Emile Zola, addressed to his friend the physician Maurice de Fleury, dated in his hand October 15, 1893. 1 page 1/4, 19 lines in black ink on a double sheet. Horinzontal and vertical folds due to mailing. Stain on verso, not affecting the text.

A most unusual invitation from the master of Naturalism, who wishes to organize a luncheon with two eminent specialists in nervous diseases: "Vous êtes bien aimable de m'inviter à déjeuner. Mais cela va vous faire perdre du temps et à moi aussi [...] pourquoi ne prendriez-vous pas un rendez-vous pour deux heures et demie par exemple, avec M. Gille de la Tourette, soit jeudi, soit...

Manuscript note by Philippe Soupault, 22 lines in mauve ink on a sheet, headed with this inscription: "Les séances", devoted to the famous "sleep" sessions conducted in André Breton's studio consisting of oneiric writings or texts dictated by a dreamer.
The manuscript notes contain three deletions and corrections.
Philippe Soupault considers his attempts questionable and even labels them as imposture, distancing himself from any active participation in these practices: "Neither Aragon nor I participated actively in the experiments called sleep sessions, while Breton accepted with great interest Crevel's suggestion to engage in experiments he had discovered among...

First edition of the French translation by A. J. B. Defauconpret. Illustrated vi­gnette on the title page of each volume, with two illustrations in each volume (60 in total) by Louis Marckl after Noël Bertrand.
Green half shagreen binding, spine with five raised bands elaborately framed in gilt and blind, spine-ends stamped with a gilt rosette bearing cabbalistic signs, marbled paper boards, marbled endpa­pers and pastedowns, speckled edges, contemporary bindings.
Spines slightly lightened, some corners slightly dulled, more pronounced foxing on some volumes, a tear not affecting text to pp. 303-304 of vol. 2, a restored tear and a marginal lack of paper not af­fecting text to pp...

Amusing autograph letter signed and addressed to Thierry Maulnier, some twenty lines in blue ink written on a sealed letter, celebrating his election to the Académie française on 13 February 1964, the day before this letter was written.

The address, the recipient's name and the sender's name are cast in the form of a quatrain :

"A Thierry l'Immortel

 Dont Jacques est l'origine

 Ce billet temporel

 Afin qu'un oeil devine : au figaro rond-point des Champs-Elysées Paris."

Jacques Audiberti congratulates his friend : "... moi l'un de tes plus anciens...