"... les circonstances rapides au milieu des autres occupations ne m'ont pas permis de consulter..."

Autograph letter signed by the dandy count, four pages (43 lines), written in black ink thanking his friend Henry Lapauze and one of his acquaintances for having procured for him: "l'intéressant document" ["the interesting document"] which his overwhelming activity has not yet allowed him to read: "... avec autant d'application que je l'aurais voulu..." ["... with as much attention as I would have wished..."]
Robert de Montesquiou therefore relies on his friend's indulgence, also transmitting his apologies and gratitude to the unknown person who helped him through Henri Lapauze: "... je compte sur votre obligeance et celle de votre ami pour me permettre, une autre fois, de compléter cette lecture... veuillez bien lui transmettre ma gratitude, en même temps que le surplus de mon désir..." ["... I count on your kindness and that of your friend to allow me, another time, to complete this reading... please convey to him my gratitude, along with the remainder of my desire..."]
A small brown stain at the top of one page, a light crease at the foot of another without significance.
Henry Lapauze (1867-1925) was a journalist and art critic who became, in 1905, curator of the Petit Palais converted four years earlier into a museum and whose collections he considerably enriched by acquiring notably the Courbet, Henner, and Falguière collections with, at the twilight of his life, a marked preference for the Decorative Arts of which he was an ardent promoter.