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a close up of a piece of paper with writing on itseveral old letters are on top of each other on a white surfaceseveral old letters and envelopes sitting on top of each othera close up of a bronze plaque with a man ' s facebronze plaque commemorating the battle of the sommes in francetwo books are open on a white surface with a black and red titlean open book with a handwritten note on it sitting on top of a table
ROUILLAC

38 - Paul Bourget (1852–1935), writer and essayist, member of the…
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Estimate €150 - €300
Sale commission
Description
Paul Bourget (1852–1935), writer and essayist, member of the Académie Française Collection comprising correspondence, a medal and two publications 9 letters from the author/to the author, 1915–1926, addressed to René Benjamin, including: Letter from the author, Royat, 21 July 1917; a fine letter tracing literary lineage Letter from the author, Le Plantier de Costebelle, Hyères, 10 January 1920; another letter from the mentor, expressing concern, asking Benjamin not to engage in day-to-day political satire, but to transform his targets into sociological types, as Balzac did with *La Comédie Humaine*. Just as I was receiving your letter, my dear colleague, I was reading in *L’Action française* a piece by you, taken from *L’Éclair*, on the senatorial campaign of one of our worst politicians, and I thought: here indeed is a gift for portraiture in the style of Saint-Simon; but Saint-Simon had before him as his model the King and the great lords—an entire social group representing the French high era—and so, consequently, the personalities, however mediocre they might be, held great significance. Whereas models such as the despicable individual depicted here are misfits of interest solely for the causes they represent. That is what Balzac understood. He saw that the human woodlouse has no artistic value unless linked to groups whose flaws it epitomises—flaws which are themselves manifested by some great social law. To seek to depict life directly, when it is all too mediocre, is to prepare dungeons for a future historian of manners. That is not to create a work of art in the fullest sense. This is the objection I submit to you—with some unease, why hide it from you!—regarding the direction you are giving to your rare talent (...) Please forgive my remarks. Each person’s path is shown to them by an inner genius that needs no advice. Please regard my remarks solely as the intellectual concern that your elder owes you. Autograph letter, Paris, 4 December 1924; René Benjamin is recognised as the standard-bearer of the intellectual legacy of Paul Bourget’s doctrine Paul Bourget Le Tapin Paris, Librairie Plon, 1928 Paperback, 19 x 12 cm Signed autograph copy Presentation to Paul Bourget at Balzac’s house of a commemorative medal marking the fiftieth anniversary of his literary debut on 15 December 1923 Paris, Librairie Plon-Nourrit, 1924 Paperback, 20 x 12.5 cm Paul Roussel PAUL BOURGET on the obverse To Paul Bourget, who for fifty years has served and honoured French literature. His admirers and friends FIND THE FULL AND DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THIS LOT IN OUR ONLINE AUCTION CATALOGUE Commemorative bronze plaque, 1923, to celebrate his literary jubilee, 8 x 6.5 cm
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About the sale René Benjamin, the 20th-century Balzac scholar
Auction location
Auction time 10/06/2026 at 2:00 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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