Albert CAMUS - Autograph letter signed to a novelist.

Albert Camus (1913.1960)

Autograph letter signed to a novelist.

A page in-4°. Slightly exposed edges.

Cabris (Alpes Maritimes). January 30 [1950]

Beautiful letter from Camus, in convalescence, illustrating his role as literary mentor for the generation of writers who succeeded him.

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“Dear Sir, I really enjoyed reading your book. There is a lot of intelligence and sensitivity there in a deliberately modest form. The characters of François, Pierre and Claire seem completely successful to me. I will only quibble with you about a few formal oversights that I have, moreover, with a pretension that can only be excused by the interest I have in you, highlighted in your manuscript. I also believe that you would benefit from removing the crude language, which is fashionable, but which clashes with the profound modesty of your book. That said, I am willing to do whatever you ask. Would you like me to help you publish it? I will try to do this despite my distance from Paris and I may succeed. What happens to your friend Claude Ravard? He also told me about a novel... But when I returned from South America, I had to stay in bed for two months and I'm here, undergoing treatment, for many more weeks. I don't know if he tried to see me but if he did and if he was unable to meet me, these are, unfortunately, my reasons. In any case, share with him my faithful memory and do not doubt my sympathy. Albert Camus in CABRIS (Alpes Maritimes). »

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Albert Camus, suffering from tuberculosis, left Paris and its deleterious climate to spend a good part of the years 1950 and 1951 in Cabris, near Grasse. He lives there in Les Audides , a house lent by a friend of André Gide.