"... je ne bouge jamais de Rivières..."

Autograph letter signed by Pierre-André Benoit (13 lines in black ink written from his château at Rivières-de-Theyrargues in the Gard region which he has occupied since 1970) addressed to bookseller Pierre Clerc who had sent him New Year's wishes for 1986.
Envelope included.
In turn, Pierre-André Benoit extends his wishes for the year ahead and writes that he finds it difficult to leave his retreat in the Gard at Rivières-de-Theyrargues : "... je ne bouge jamais de Rivières..." ["... I never leave Rivières..."] and therefore favors a telephone appointment with his correspondent: "... oui par téléphone prenons rendez-vous et j'espère bientôt..." ["... yes by telephone let's make an appointment and I hope soon..."]
Poet, painter, engraver, Pierre-André Benoit or P.A.B. was above all a typographer and printer who created more than 400 illustrated works bringing together the greatest post-war poets with the most talented painters of the second half of the 20th century.
P.A.B.'s productions were first created on a small press installed in his apartment in Alès. They would bring together his friends the poets René Char, André Breton, Paul Eluard, Paul Claudel, Erik Satie, Tristan Tzara and his painter friends Joan Miro, Georges Braque, Jean Dubuffet, Francis Picabia, Marcel Duchamp and Pablo Picasso. In 1949, he began using celluloid engraving which allowed him to make the prints himself and create the books in their entirety. From his modern château at Rivières-de-Theyrargues, in the Gard, he would end up illustrating his works himself while continuing to work with his faithful friends Camille Bryen and Pierre Alechinsky.