Premium Artcurial
47
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MERMOZ Jean
See original version (French)
47
-
MERMOZ Jean
See original version (French)
Estimate €1,800 - €2,000
Voluntary lot
Description
MERMOZ Jean
16 letters ‘Jean’ (2 ‘JMermoz’), Hirson, February–July 1914, to his ‘dear mum’, in Paris and Mézières; 49 pages in various formats (in-8, in-12 and in-16), 2 with a vignette of the Hirson (Aisne) Upper Primary School, 4 envelopes (some imperfections, the last one very faded).
Letters from the young boarder.
He is a boarder at the Hirson Higher Primary School and describes his daily life: the cold, punishments, corporal punishment, the food, games (football), break times, dirty laundry (he’s run out of collars), vaccinations, lessons, his marks… He’s struggling with geography: ‘We’re learning the departments. We have at least two pages to learn almost by heart. […] The problem is, I can’t remember them’ (14 February)… His report card (which he copied out) was average, but he reacted: ‘You know I have a lot of self-respect. I was ashamed of myself. I got back to my studies. I got good marks’ (8 March). His father is coming to see him and he’ll be going into town: ‘Tomorrow there’s going to be an aeroplane race and one of them will be landing. There’ll be a car race as well’ (14 March). ‘I’m top of the class in spelling and I’m good at maths’ (22 March). He isn’t keen on going to Reims: “We’ll just be visiting the same old places again, that is, the Pommery cellars and the cathedral”; he’d rather save his money for the end-of-year trip (2 June). He works hard, and in June he sits his certificate exam: ‘I came third or fourth in the district with 51 out of 72 or 54 – I can’t quite remember. I failed the drawing section – do you know why? Because I’d drawn shadows in my picture. It was a candlestick. It’s funny, a drawing without shadows’… (18 June). He’s revising for the entrance exam, and will be going to the cinema in the evening (25 June)… Etc.
Source: - Jean Mermoz (1901–1936);
- Gabrielle Gillet-Mermoz (1880–1955);
- Then passed down through the family
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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