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a handwritten letter written in black ink on a piece of paperseveral old letters are stacked on top of each other on a white surfaceseveral old letters are stacked on top of each other on a white surfacea close up of a piece of paper with writing on it
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117 - Georges Bozonnat (1904–1960), Swiss man of letters and journ…
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Estimate €300 - €600
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Georges Bozonnat (1904–1960), Swiss man of letters and journalist Collection of correspondence and typescripts 32 letters written by the author (L.A.S.), printed by the author (P.A.S.) and letters to the author (L.S.), 1932–1941, addressed to René Benjamin, including Letter from the author, Paris, 2 March 1932 + Paris, typescript, 7 pp., in-4; commentary on the play written and performed by René Benjamin Letter from the author, Rueil, 17 December 1935; a lengthy critique of talking films and on the future of the theatre Letter from the author, Rueil, 6 April 1938 + 2 columns: ‘Aspects of Radio Theatre’ and ‘The Glories and Misfortunes of a New Profession’, 4 typewritten pages, in-4w L.S., Rueil, 29 June 1938; comments on René Benjamin’s latest book *Chronicle of a Troubled Time* L.A.S., Paris, 15 January 1940 Dear Mr Benjamin, (...) You’ve been asking for news: nothing could be simpler. As you know, I’ve enlisted as a volunteer for the duration of hostilities, as the saying goes. And I’ve been through two or three conscription boards. That was towards the end of August – and then it was September. And so began this ‘phoney war’ – where there is no need for men. October, November: a call-up notice. I expected to leave any day. Postponed until January. At last the time has come, and it is high time. It is high time, not merely out of patriotism. It’s a deeper feeling, the sense of becoming ‘normal’—I mean, guided by faith, hope and charity. Of being able to address on first-name terms (provided one’s rank isn’t too high) a Jean-Loup from the Maginot Line. To calmly judge a franc-goujon – all the franc-goujons of this era. And who knows? I might even be lucky enough to team up with Gaspard. My father, who served as a soldier for eight or nine years, probably dreamt of revenge. This, too, is a chance for revenge that has been offered to me, and that is why I jumped at the opportunity. A fine revenge! Twenty years of rot, of compromises, of pacts, of false promises, of dashed hopes, a world just begging to be deceived – twenty years wiped out in a single stroke. I did a PhD in Geneva, heard Stresemann pontificating at the League of Nations, worked for a month at the Inter-Parliamentary Union, and pottered about with Thibaudet in Geneva’s many organisations. Yes, like everyone else, I endured that time of madness, those ‘troubled times’, as you put it, which can be compared to a play whose flawed script was always recited out of time by talentless actors who were suffering from a cold. That is what this cruel war has freed me from. You must admit that this revenge in store for us is not to be scorned. And ‘Long live the Nation!’, as Gaspard would add. Not to mention that this explanation, which is by no means complete, is not accurate. What I would really like, deep down, is to be worthy of France. To modestly repay her for the magnificent gifts she has bestowed upon me. Must we think that between her and me there is a marriage of convenience? Not even that. I was ten years old in 1914: I never wanted to do military service (oh, the profound influence of Adjutant Flick!). And besides, wars – which, incidentally, never ceased – were a thing of the past for us. It took Maurras, you, Dollfuss and that sorrowful friend of ours, Schunnig; it took the icy Bainville to rouse us. Slowly. Surely. War in Alsace and Lorraine? Everything changed then. And I went to enlist a week before Munich. It was then that this magnificent France – it is traits like that which enchant me – denied me my rights because I had shirked my military duty. All that is in the past. But perhaps you will better understand the sense of liberation I now feel. I am going to war selflessly and unburdened, cleansed for a time of all error. (...) I would like you, as a friend, to be aware of certain facts that may fade away. I’d worked hard for five or six years to be able to live comfortably. It’s hard to cut myself off, even temporarily, from that terrible solitude that is a man in Paris, without a desk, without books – without a sense of belonging. I was working to earn a window that would have had a view of the Boulevard Saint-Michel, for example, and you will know exactly which room I am referring to when melancholy comes to find me. Well, I had earned all that. I had it, after turning my life around. As for my great passion – my only one – the theatre – I L.A.S., Paris, 6 August 1941; joins the editorial team of *Je Suis Partout* 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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