Louis-Ferdinand Céline was in despair over his separation from Elizabeth Craig.

Louis-Ferdinand Céline (1894.1961)

Autographed letter signed to Lucien Descaves.

Two octavo pages on letterhead of the Clichy Dispensary.

Undated [1933]

Unpublished letter to the Pléiade correspondence.

“…I’ve been going through a nightmare for the past month…”

Beautiful letter from Céline, desperate over his breakup with Elizabeth Craig and her departure for America.

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“Dear and beloved master, I have not forgotten you. I think of you all often. But for the past month I have been going through a nightmare where I no longer dare to even see my friends for fear that they will infect each other.”

Elizabeth [Craig] fell very ill in America. Given the distance, one can only imagine the worst. Even here in Clichy, I am struggling… Finally, please know that I remain affectionate and loyal to you. Destouches.

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, muse of Louis-Ferdinand Céline, dedicatee and inspiration for Journey to the End of the Night , was the writer's first great love.

Elizabeth and Louis met in 1926 in a Geneva bookstore. She was 24, American, and a dancer. They lived together until June 1933. Shortly after the publication of * Voyage* , the breakup was final, a painful experience for Céline, for whom this affair would remain " humanly vile, truly American, alas! " He attempted to win back "The Empress" during a trip to California in 1934, where he also approached Hollywood to sell the film rights to * Voyage* . He was unsuccessful. Elizabeth's marriage in 1939 to a Jewish real estate agent, Benjamin Tankle, is considered by some to be one of the sources of the writer's antisemitism.