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a close up of a piece of paper with writing on itan old handwritten letter with a black ink writing on it
BOISGIRARD - ANTONINI

93 - SEGALEN (VICTOR)
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Estimate €600 - €800
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Description
SEGALEN (VICTOR) A very fine autograph letter signed ‘Victor Segalen’, Brest, 2 October 1908, 4 pp. in-8, to his friend Émile Magne, combining friendly exchanges with literary reflections. In it, Segalen discusses his reading and encourages his correspondent in his work, whilst offering a valuable insight into his own concerns at the time: absorbed by the study of the Chinese language, he expresses his growing fascination with the exotic and his search for new imagery. This correspondence, with its lively and spontaneous tone, sheds light on the emergence of his aesthetic and his literary and intellectual choices on the eve of his great journeys. ‘My dear friend, I am postponing by a month everything I might have to say to you about your current work, of which your last letter gives a fine foretaste; and this is because, as I shall certainly be spending the three winter months in Paris, I shall have the leisure to converse peacefully with you. These past few days, whilst rummaging through a few tonnes of old books—from which I may extract fine accounts of travels and a few authors whose works are worth more than the weight of the paper— I came across some fragments by Scarron, which are, unfortunately, too disjointed to expect that you will find them to your liking (Virgil in Burlesque Verse by Mr Scarron, dedicated to the Queen, Lyon, MDC. LXXX, 1 vol., and: Suite du Virgile travesti, M.DCCLII). I am sending them to you nonetheless, just in case. At the same time, I was leafing through a rather good edition of Cyrano from the middle of the century, and, faced with the astonishing diversity of this wit—which has not yet been put in its proper place—I was surprised that, rather than a certain lady whose charm lay, in reality, solely in that piquancy which you know how to make the most of, I was surprised that you did not consider resuming what you had begun—as your debut, I believe, in literature—on the occasion of Rostand’s fantasy. I do not believe that the current publication of the *Mercure* robs you of this task, provided it is carried out with the careless haste that mars the said ‘collection’. / As for me, thoroughly absorbed by this childish Chinese language—which is even more complicated than its reputation suggests—I am setting my own writing aside for a while, even if it means returning to it later with greater relish. I need imagery. I shall certainly turn more and more to matters of the exotic. But this interpreting exam, which is meant to provide me with them, is at times very time-consuming. / My wife, who is in excellent health, will accompany me to Paris and is looking forward to seeing, fully rested, Madame Magne and young Georges, to whom I am only too happy to restore his true gender. Please convey my respectful regards and accept my warmest regards.’
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About the sale Charity sale in aid of the Petits Frères Des Pauvres charity
Auction location
Auction time 10/25/2026 at 10:00 AM
Pictures credits:
Boisgirard Antonini
See original version (French)
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