Autographed letter signed to a colleague.
Beautiful letter on the preparation of his acceptance speech at the French Academy. May 2, 1939.
» Imagine what I'm crossing out, copying, crossing out again, and copying from this great work
750€
Charles Maurras (1868-1952)
Autographed letter signed to a colleague.
Four pages in-8°. May 2, 1939.
A beautiful letter about preparing his acceptance speech at the French Academy.
“Sir and dear colleague, can you imagine how much I am crossing out, copying, re-crossing out, and re-copying in this great work ? I am quite embarrassed (…) as sensitive as Henri Bordeaux, who had the heroism to begin working on this response first! (…) However, I am making progress (…) I hope to have it completely finished in a few days (…) I do not believe I have offended any propriety, and I am nevertheless striving to express all that I see as true, strong, and suggestive in the thoughts and actions of my predecessor (…) Please count, sir and dear colleague, on my desire to hasten, first and foremost to respond to the great honor bestowed upon me by the Academy …”
Maurras was received into the Academy on June 8, 1939 by Henry Bordeaux, in seat 16, succeeding the lawyer Henri Robert.
Hailing Marshal Pétain's rise to power as "a divine surprise ," he became, during the Occupation, an apologist for the Vichy government and an inspiration for the policy of Collaboration. Convicted in 1945 by the High Court of Justice of Lyon to life imprisonment and national degradation, he was interned in Riom, then in Clairvaux.
His conviction automatically entailed his expulsion from the Academy (Article 21 of the ordinance of December 26, 1944); however, it was decided at the session of February 1, 1945 , that Maurras's seat would be declared vacant, without actually voting on his expulsion. Thus, Charles Maurras, like Marshal Pétain, was not replaced in the Academy until after his death.