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several old books are stacked on top of each other with writing on themmany papers that are sitting on top of each otherseveral old papers are stacked on top of each other on a tablefour different colored notebooks with writing on them and one with writing on thema letter written in french on a piece of paper next to a piece of papera letter from a man to a woman on the left and a letter from a man on the rightseveral old papers are stacked on top of each other on a white surfaceseveral papers are stacked on top of each other on a white surfacetwo old papers with writing on them sitting on top of each othera group of old papers with handwriting on them sitting on top of each otherseveral pieces of old paper with writing on them and a picture of a man sitting in a chairseveral old letters are stacked on top of each other on a white surfaceseveral old black and white photographs of people standing in front of a buildingnewspaper with a picture of a man in a suit and tieseveral old books are stacked on top of each other on a white surfaceseveral old french newspapers are stacked on top of each otheran open book sitting on top of a table next to a piece of papertwo books are sitting on a table in front of a white background
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123 - René Benjamin, a tour of Europe (Italy, Germany, Spain), the…
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Estimate €1,000 - €2,000
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Description
René Benjamin, a tour of Europe (Italy, Germany, Spain), the temptation of the ‘Man of Destiny’, 1936–1939 A collection of manuscripts, correspondence, documents, press cuttings and miscellaneous items FIND THE FULL AND DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THIS LOT IN OUR ONLINE AUCTION CATALOGUE Travels and lectures in Spain, June and October 1937, October 1938 File containing press cuttings, booklets and leaflets, including ‘Médiation en Espagne?’, Paris, 1938; ‘Rouge et Or (Franco’s Spain)’ by Georges Planes-Burgade; ‘Ayuda a Madrid’, Ministry of Propaganda Handwritten notes on loose sheets by René Benjamin, used in the preparation of his articles and lectures, including an interview with René Casteran, Consul in Bilbao, 5 pages, in-8; ‘Spain: questioning airmen, trying to understand the purpose of these appalling bombings; since the targets are missed, people’s property is destroyed first – why be barbaric?’ Various news bulletins from the Republican side, typewritten, 1936 5 small in-12 notebooks, over 400 pp. of notes in pencil by René Benjamin taken during his travels in Spain in June and October 1937, and in October 1938; including an account of his private meeting with General Franco on 29 June 1937 Safe-conduct granted to René Benjamin, issued in Salamanca on 22 June 1937 by the General Headquarters of the Generalísimo (Francisco Franco) Incoming correspondence from members of Acción Española, a cultural journal and political movement of the monarchist, Catholic and counter-revolutionary right of the 1930s, including 2 L.A.S. José Ignacio Escobar y Kirkpatrick, 6th Marquis of Las Marismas, one of the founding members and leading figures of the movement; 20 L.A.S. items and a photograph, 1937–1948, Armand Magescas, a Maurrassian royalist activist and close friend of leading figures of the Spanish radical right such as Eugenio Vegas Latapié (founder of the journal *Acción Española*) or the politician José Calvo Sotelo, a correspondent for the conservative Spanish newspaper *ABC* in the Guéthary area, who acted as an intermediary in organising René Benjamin’s L.A.S., letterhead of the Royal College of Spain in Bologna (Italy), 3 August 1938, Juan de Borbon (Bourbon) y Battenberg (1913–1993), Infante of Spain, 2 pages in-8 L.A.S., Seville, 25 November 1937, Juan Lafita y Díaz, director of the Archaeological Museum of Seville, 2 pages in-8; concerning the destruction suffered by monuments and churches: ‘our art destroyed by the new barbarians’ ’ Letter, Talavera de la Reina, 2 September 1937, letterhead: ‘La Legión Bandera Juana de Arco’, Jean Courcier, Captain commanding the 17th Bandera of the Spanish Foreign Legion; appeal for material aid, as the battalion is desperately short of medical supplies + In Nationalist Spain, The Joan of Arc Battalion, typescript, 2½ pages, in-4 + lists of medical supplies The ‘Jeanne d’Arc Battalion’, officially known as the Bandera Jeanne d’Arc (the 17th Bandera of the Spanish Foreign Legion), was a military unit made up of French volunteers who had gone to fight for Franco’s Nationalists, formed in May 1937 in Talavera de la Reina, which numbered between 300 and 500 men; it was the only officially organised French-speaking military unit within Franco’s army *The Heart of Spain, 1938–1939*, a handwritten draft by René Benjamin, approx. 65 pp. in-4 + 21 pp. in-8 A Visit to the Prince of Asturias, Heir to the Spanish Throne; Preface to a History of the Spanish National Revolution, 1939; 2 handwritten drafts by René Benjamin, 10 and 16 pp. in-4 15 small-format photographic prints taken by René Benjamin during his visit to Spain (Bilbao), including a view of René Benjamin flanked by Escobar, Marquis of Las Marismas, and the chauffeur Draft letter, 28 April 1939, to General Franco File entitled ‘Journey through some countries and some minds of Europe’, containing Press cuttings and handwritten notes on loose sheets, in-8 ‘Germany’, handwritten draft, 35 pages, in-4: the exterior order, discipline friendliness total lack of taste Hitlerism the regime Hitler The regime’s achievements Love of work Enjoyment of work the organisation of leisure these totalitarian regimes the enforced mediocrity of such a regime Racism, the Jews – relations with the Church the Anschluss anti-Bolshevism Consent German resentment Germany’s view of France, handwritten draft, 17 pages in-4 Red Victory at the League of Nations, typescript, 5 pages, quarto Hitler’s Education, handwritten draft, 7 pages, octavo Small notebook in-12, Germany, Nov. 1936, over 80 pp. of notes in pencil by René Benjamin during his trip to Germany in November 1936 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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