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an open book with a handwritten letter and a picture of a catseveral old letters are stacked on top of each other on a table
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69 - Henri Duvernois (1875–1937), writer, screenwriter and playwr…
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Estimate €300 - €600
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Henri Duvernois (1875–1937), writer, screenwriter and playwright Collection of correspondence 11 autograph letters, 1920s–1930s, addressed to René Benjamin, including: Autograph letter, Paris, undated; an ironic letter on literary success My dear Friend, How right you are! And how grateful I am to you! There is only one friend who speaks to me like this from time to time, and that is the obscure friend we carry within ourselves, whom we are quick to silence when it comes to giving you sound advice! For you, it is quite another matter. What you tell me comes at just the right time. And it is about you. And you know that I admire in you not only your strength and your talent, but also your keen literary sensibility… The truth is this: I am an old bohemian, an old idler. Everything amuses me and I let myself be distracted by everything. I sit on committees; I can’t seem to tear myself away from journalism. I spend my mornings in my office, transformed by the telephone, the post and pointless visits into some sort of absurd little shop. Amidst all this lies a grotesque ignorance – I assure you – of all my interests, both material and moral. So what pained me about your quip – I’m not saying it angered me; if I’d been angry, I’d have gone to see you straight away and poured out my heart – is that this quip was presented to me as if on the lookout for a good collaboration, an excellent theatre venture. And I was saddened, not because of the readers of *Candide*, but because I thought: ‘So this is the impression Benjamin has of me!’ I may have dabbled in the theatre, first for my own amusement and then because my books never sell more than ten thousand copies. But one has to make a living, and it’s better still to churn out a few plays than to try and achieve success with tedious books! However, I’ve found a solution: I’ve bought a little house in Antibes. I shall live there for five months of the year. At last, I shall be able to concentrate, to reflect, to no longer be hounded by the thousand trifles of literary life, and to safeguard the few fresh years I still have ahead of me, before I give my all. Your letter confirms that I’ve made the right decision. And it gives me a far purer joy than if it had been laden with the sort of compliments I was already receiving twenty-five years ago!… FIND THE FULL AND DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THIS LOT IN OUR ONLINE AUCTION CATALOGUE
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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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