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a handwritten letter written in black ink on a piece of paper
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Estimate €800 - €1,000
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Description
MERMOZ Jean L.A.S. ‘Ton Jean’, Buenos Aires, 15 August 1928, to his ‘dear little Mummy’; 2 pages, in-4, on Aeroposta Argentina letterhead. Plans to cross the Andes. He is delighted that his ‘dear little Mum’ has decided to go for a course of treatment at Mont-Dore. He is furious that the post takes so long: ‘Fortunately, I expect that before long we’ll be doing everything by aeroplane; then it’ll work. We’re currently more advanced in aviation than in maritime matters’. On the subject of money, ‘I have so many ideas in my head that I often find it painfully difficult to come back down to earth. I end up losing touch with the practical realities of life, and you must forgive me once again, my dear Mum, for this unintentional selfishness. So, you know, you must bring me back down to earth and pull me out of this slump. I’m daydreaming far too often; I need to snap out of it. Things are moving fast here. Lots and lots of work. I’m leaving Rio in three days’ time, to take a direct flight to Bolivia with my Director, from there on to Paraguay, then cross the Andes at 5,000 metres to get to Chile. In a fortnight I’ll be back, and on my return I might make arrangements to go to France. This is a make-or-break moment. Either I’ll finally realise my dream this year, or we won’t speak of it again until next spring’... He shares a flat with his friend Étienne and Mr de Nogaret, the French vice-consul: “We have a cook and a maid, and we feel right at home. I have a new dog, a wolfhound, which was given to me by a Brazilian woman from Rio. His name is Pinïaoh. Another future boarder for you later on. I’m less bored than I was at the start. Am I getting married?!… Very often, and I’m all the better for it in the best of all possible worlds. I prefer it that way, as my serious relationships always end in drama”… Correspondence, no. 144. Source: - Jean Mermoz (1901–1936); - Gabrielle Gillet-Mermoz (1880–1955); - Then passed down through the family
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About the sale Historical Memories
Auction location
Auction time 11/03/2026 at 11:00 AM
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