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a white sculpture of a man ' s face on a white surfacean old photo of a baby laying on a bed with its head on a pillowa pile of old letters and papers sitting on a tableseveral old letters are stacked on top of each other on a white surfacea lot of papers that are sitting on top of each otheran old book with a brown leather cover and a red ribbonan open book on a white background with a red ribbonan open book with a handwritten poem on it sitting on top of a tablean open book with a picture of a man on itan old book with a handwritten letter on it sitting on top of a tablean open book with a handwritten poem on it sitting on top of a tabletwo drawings of a man ' s head and a woman ' s facetwo drawings of a house and a cow in a field
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179 - The final moments of René Benjamin: literary and artistic tr…
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Estimate €1,000 - €2,000
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The final moments of René Benjamin: literary and artistic tributes, 1948–1949 Lot comprising correspondence, first editions, a death mask and miscellaneous items FIND THE FULL AND DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THIS LOT IN OUR ONLINE AUCTION CATALOGUE Over 260 letters (both sent and received), 1948–1949, addressed to Elisabeth Lecoy, René Benjamin’s widow, and her family in the aftermath of René Benjamin’s death, including letters from numerous writers, artists and journalists, amongst them: Simon Arbellot – Marcel Bouteron – Roger Deleplanque, director of Éditions de l’Elan – Emmanuel Fougerat – Antoine de Lévis-Mirepoix – Robert Milliat – Henri Pourrat – Marguerite Storrs – Jean des Vallières – Pierre Varillon – etc. Autograph letter, Tours, 21 October 1948, from Canon Aristide Cormier, an account of René Benjamin’s final moments René Benjamin’s final moments: on Monday 4 October at 12.30 pm, I received a telephone call from the clinic where René Benjamin was being treated. ‘Come at once; the patient is very unwell.’ I arrived at the clinic five minutes later. The doctor was waiting for me in the corridor by the door to the room: ‘Hurry up,’ he said to me. I entered, deeply moved, and my eyes immediately met those of my friend. His face lit up and he said to me: ‘At last, you’re here! I’ve been waiting for you so that I might die.’ I heard his confession and granted him absolution, and he himself asked me for the Last Rites straight away. Then began the most harrowing death throes I have ever witnessed. Gasping for breath, as he was choking, the dying man faced death with complete lucidity. He did not defy it, for he had accepted it in advance, but I can say that he looked upon it without weakness, reassuring me and, as it were, counting the steps it was taking towards him. What a great thing death is, yet how difficult it is to die. My God! When will it be over? The thought of God never left him. He said to me again: ‘All my life I have sought God. How at peace I am now that I have found Him! I have always loved Him without knowing Him. I am finally going to see Him.’ A few moments later: ‘Death is very near; I can no longer see you.’ Clasping his hands together, he said to me once more: ‘In a few minutes, you will clasp mine together like this. I feel my heart growing weak. This is the end. My children, my children, all of you whom I have loved, farewell! Farewell!’ He fell silent. These were his last words. A few minutes later, it was over. It was around 1.15 am. His agony lasted just over an hour... L.A.S., Paris, 5 October 1948, René Fauchois, writer and playwright Letter from the author, Paris, 5 October 1948, Marthe Allard, widow of Léon Daudet Letter from the author, Paris, 5 October 1948, Maxime Weygand, general and writer, member of the Académie Française Letter from the author, 17 October 1948, Jean Tharaud, writer Letter from the author, 19 October 1948, Alfred Droin, novelist and poet Letter from the author, prison infirmary, Fresnes, 5 November 1948, Louis Thomas, writer, novelist and polemicist 2 letters from the author, Roland Engerand, poet and writer La Fabrice, Saint-Cyr-sur-Loire, 21 January 1949 ( ) Enthusiasm, rebellion: these two virtues so hard to find in our time, at least in their noble sense! All that remains is false, manufactured enthusiasm—pseudo-enthusiasm driven by self-interest, whose aim is to feign fervent passion for a subject that, once established, allows one to cash in. There are now only base acts of rebellion against the noble values that stubbornly stand in the way of the prevailing spinelessness and undermine the commonplace mediocrity—mediocrity elevated to a matter of state. This whole edifice of hypocritical calculations, is swept aside imperiously by your father, once again, in his final words—sometimes with incisive and profound phrases, sometimes by tackling head-on some of those puppets who, despite his contempt for them, have nevertheless caused him so much harm. That Descaves, the epitome of the ‘small-minded’ sort, that cynical, mischievous fellow. Yet how he finds solace, in the meantime, in the joy of admiring a Léon Daudet, a Sacha Guitry! Consumed by his need to admire and cherish, by his worship of greatness, he exults whenever he can bestow laurels upon a man. He even doubles the wreaths ( ) *Mon ami Benjamin*, a unique typescript written by his Pyrenean mountaineer friend Raymond Ritter (1894–1974) following the death of René Benjamin, 89 pp., in-4; an account of moments shared with the writer (lectures, exhibition visits, excursions, etc.), a unique testimony that outlines the main traits of René Benjamin’s personality Death mask of René Benjamin created by Marie-Thérèse Mabille, an artist from Tours Signed ink sketch, 24.5 x 29 cm Plaster cast of the mask, 24.5 x 15 cm Photograph of the mask taken by the Studio des Cèdres in Tours, 2 copies 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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