"... je vais relire avec dévotion ces pages qui m'ont déjà ému..."

Autograph letter signed by Reynaldo Hahn, dandy, composer and great love of Marcel Proust (22 lines in black ink) regarding the biography that Léon Daudet devoted to his father Alphonse in 1898.
Trace of fold inherent to mailing.
Reynaldo Hahn congratulates Léon Daudet for the rational pertinence and clarity of the biography: "... où l'on retrouve tout ce qui était définissable et analysable en Alphonse Daudet..." ["... where one finds all that was definable and analyzable in Alphonse Daudet..."] while regretting nonetheless that he had only imperfectly captured the author of Lettres de mon moulin : " ... ce que vous n'avez pu fixer c'est le mystère brûlant et doux qui émanait de lui, et qui s'est évanoui à tout jamais..." ["... what you could not capture is the burning and sweet mystery that emanated from him, and which has vanished forever..."]
In order to temper this criticism, he wishes to warmly thank Léon Daudet for having evoked in the work his friendship with Alphonse Daudet: "... je suis si fier de l'affection qu'il me témoignait..." ["... I am so proud of the affection he showed me..."]