COLETTE remembers with emotion her female serval from Chad, Bâ-Tou.

Sidonie Gabrielle Colette , known as COLETTE (1873.1954)

Signed autograph letter.

Two pages in-4° on blue paper. Autograph envelope.

Paris. [August 3, 1944 according to postmarks].

“A pure wild beast, from Chad with its intact wild beast character, a marvel that had no domesticated ancestors. »

Colette remembers with emotion her female serval from Chad, Bâ-Tou, given to her by Philippe Berthelot in 1921.

_____________________________________________________________

“ It was not a cat, but a beautiful little beast , as big as a hunting dog, that your uncle had given me. A pure fawn, coming from Chad with its intact fawn character, a marvel that had no domesticated ancestors. Why couldn't I have kept it! She was a 21 month old female, magnificent. She scratched the plate of sawdust like a clean cat. In its country of origin, these charming beasts eat sheep. Anything that smelled a little like wool drove her crazy. If I find (a duplicate) a photograph of her, I will give it to you. You will come see me later, if God gives me life. Currently I have a pretty harsh treatment of deep bites. And I will sign whatever pleases you. You belong to a name that is so dear to me . Tell “Aunt Helene” [H. Berthelot] that she remains for me the very type of the perfect friend. Everything is completed in her; her good grace, her character, with a firmness that she conceals. Tell him a thousand tender things from me, and believe me, Sir, very cordially to you. Colette »

_____________________________________________________________

There is no need to further develop Colette's love for cats. Let us simply recall this other memory of Colette for Bâ-Tou:

« She brought together her eyebrows at the sight of me, jumped to the ground and began her wild walk, from the door to the window, from the window to the door, with this way of turning and changing feet, against the obstacle, which belongs to her and all her brothers. But her master threw her a ball of crumpled paper and she began to laugh, with a disproportionate leap, an expenditure of her unused strength, which showed her in all her splendor. She was as tall as a spaniel dog, her thighs long and muscular attached to a broad kidney, her forequarters narrower, her head quite small, topped with ears lined with white, painted, on the outside, with black and gray designs. reminiscent of those which decorate the wings of twilight butterflies. A small and disdainful jaw, mustaches as stiff as the dry grass of the dunes, and amber eyes set in black, eyes with a look as pure as their color, eyes which never weakened before the human gaze, eyes who have never lied... One day, I wanted to count the black spots that embroidered her dress, the color of wheat on the back and head, ivory white on the stomach; I could not.

– She comes from Chad, her master told me. It could also come from Asia. It's an ounce, no doubt. Her name is Bâ-Tou, which means “the cat”, and she is twenty months old. »