1 / 2
Photo 1/2 du lotPhoto 2/2 du lot
Arenberg Auctions

1045 - L.A.S. to "Mon cher Directeur" [Gaston Bérardi, director of …
See original version (French)

Estimate €200 - €250
Sale commission
Description
L.A.S. to "Mon cher Directeur" [Gaston Bérardi, director of "L'Indépendance belge"]. 3 pp. bifeuillet in-8° headed "Comité du Parti Républicain National // Cabinet du Président", s. "Georges, général Boulanger" (traces of fold due to mailing, small marg. split without loss to one fold, small marg. stains on inside pages). - Astonishing letter from the former Minister of War, leader of the Boulangist (populist) movement then in disarray, at the beginning of his exile in Brussels where he was to die on 10 October 1891, committing suicide over the grave of his mistress. In a highly ironic tone, the man nicknamed "General Revanche" proposed, on the advice of Alfred Naquet, "Prince of Talleyrand", "to make peace with you on the occasion of Saint-Gaston's Day. Please accept my sincere wishes and admit that I am a good prince, because it seems that you have contributed a great deal to my expulsion. What Belgium will gain, I see, is that Baron Déroulède, superintendent of the Beaux-Arts-Patriotiques, will no longer be celebrating his hospitaité. But you, ninny [...], what game are you playing? Once I'm in power, I'm bound to put Laguerre, Duke of Otranto and Minister of Police, in charge of gagging the French press, and you'll go back to being the only opposition newspaper, as you were under the Empire. You then shoot a hundred thousand, you smuggle in here [...] with the collaboration of the Marquis de Rochefort-Luçay, Minister of Games and Paris. Is that understood, old girl? So high five! Just wait until the job is done! Don't bother us beforehand, you can tease us afterwards! With 2 postscripts: "Bouquet d'oeillets rouges [emblem of Boulangisme] suit!" and "Pas de canailleries, ne deliver pas ma lettre à Merlin!". - Joint, 2 L.A.S. from French writers and politicians - father and son: 1. Deschanel, Émile - To "Mon cher Béra" [Léon Bérardi]. La Tuyolle, via Saint-Leu-Taverny, 16-06-1869. 4 pp. Intercedes to propose an article on the alienation of State forests in France. He had contributed to "L'Indépendance belge" during his exile in Brussels (1852-1859). - 2 Deschanel, Paul - To "My dear Gaston [Bérardi]". [1905]. 9 lines on 2 pp. A child of exile, journalist and writer, he was a Member of Parliament (1885-1920) and (short-lived) President of the Republic in 1920 (3 docs.)
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
About the sale Prints & Drawings, Photographs & Comics, Rare Books, Atlases & Manuscripts, Surrealism, Congo, Erotica & Ballets russes
Auction location
Auction time 06/26/2026 at 1:00 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
You may also like