Marcel PROUST – “The prospect of being interned…”

Marcel Proust (1871.1922)

Autographed letter signed to Max Daireaux

Seven pages in-12°. (Paris. May 1909)

Reference: Kolb, IX, no. 43.

"Did you receive the letter in which I sent you those idiotic and obscene verses from Cabourg? I hope these horrors haven't lost their way!"

My dear friend, I would be happy to pass on some of your fantasies to Le Figaro if I can, and I thank you for giving me this pleasure. I am perhaps the least suited man for this, barely getting up once a month. And I am in such a difficult situation with all of Paris (that is to say, with the five or six people I know) that at times the prospect of being committed to a sanatorium appears to me as a "solution" that would at least put an end to the excuses. This is to say that to send these fantasies, I would have to preface my letter with countless "I don't know what you must think, etc.," implying that your fantasies are the only thing keeping me alive. But my friends are understanding and will be kind. The drawback is not being there in person. The useful man is the one who has your fantasies in his pocket for a few evenings in a row. Then, when Fauré hasn't sent his article, he takes it out and has it published. After five or six times, you're "in the know" and doing it yourself. In this respect, Caillavet, whom I believe you know, has the advantage over me (among a thousand others) of being "at Le Figaro" and able to do what I'm telling you. As for Chevassu, he's the editor of the Supplement. That is to say, I'm next to him about as much as a flea next to the Eiffel Tower . Nevertheless, in my capacity as a flea, I gladly seize the opportunity to demonstrate my zeal and will do everything in my power to get your fancies published and transform this accidental collaboration into a permanent one. But I remember the time when I used to deliver articles to Cardane and each time some new development forced him to say to me, with a despairing air: "Alas, my dear friend, you understand, don't you, that with this Moroccan affair, we can't publish your fine article. There's a plethora of them." (...) Cardane was becoming increasingly desperate. Alas, this excellent man is dead, dead before me, which seemed against all odds. Did you receive the letter in which I sent you the silly and obscene verses from Cabourg? I hope these horrors haven't lost their way! Ask me whenever you like for a box at the Théâtre des Arts. And send me a "fantasy" whenever you wish. The ones I read in Comedia were quite witty. Thank you for sending them to me, and my heartfelt regards. Marcel Proust. If you happen to want to call one evening, you have very little chance of me being available, or even awake. But anyway, if you have a telephone, you can try (29205), but I warn you that I will be in bed when you see me, as I don't get up once a month .

Proust met the young Max Daireaux (1884-1954) in Cabourg in 1908. Often playful and amusing, Proust's letters reveal him both eager to please the young man he hoped to introduce to Le Figaro and saddened by his lack of visits. Over time, Proust became less bothered by the distance the young writer kept between them, though he remained nostalgic for their time together in Cabourg. He offered him advice on his writing and recounted amusing anecdotes that inspired certain passages in In Search of Lost Time .