A moving letter from Alfred JARRY a few weeks before his death.

Alfred JARRY (1873.1907)

Autographed letter signed to Alfred Vallette.

Three octavo pages. Autograph envelope.

 [Laval] August 30, 1907.

« We no longer need peace of mind, for the excellent reason that we no longer have any in-18s to make for the time being. »

A moving letter from Jarry, a few weeks before his death, to Alfred Vallette, director of Mercure de France.

Jarry – speaking with a somewhat absurd "we" – confirms to Vallette that he has sent the manuscript of La Dragonne to the publisher Fasquelle, who already has La Papesse Jeanne . He is also working on finishing La Chandelle Verte and seems rather optimistic about his financial situation and his health.

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“Sir, We thank you for your kind advice and apologize for our letter: indeed, we have already taken too much advantage of your courtesy on behalf of Mercure. I don't believe there will be the slightest difficulty on Thadée's side (in this regard, the manuscript was sent this morning; it even cost a considerable amount in postage). As for Fasquelle's nomadic and itinerant lifestyle, this difficulty will be easily resolved, as Alex. Natanson accompanies him very often. You will tell us that we are too optimistic… we believe this is a sign of restored health: the life of a small country landowner, or at least a provincial one, has remarkably hardened us.” We no longer need peace of mind, for the excellent reason that we no longer have any in-18 to do for the moment (Fasquelle will probably receive tomorrow, from Natanson, the Dragon – what a book! it has more than 400 pages, which is perhaps a fault – we are finishing putting The Green Candle in order, (Speculations), and he has the Greek novel [The Pope Joan].

As for Corbeil's accounts, what's the situation? There's Jobard, the bistro owner (we're not actually called Jobard!), who wrote to us very politely; and there's Creusy, who hasn't written at all, no doubt because we've paid him in large part. Dubois is more worrying, but there's nothing he can do—let's not forget that our land is alienated, and besides, we'll be there. So we'll be back soon, sir. Your advice is sound, to ask Natanson for a bit more in preparation for the trips to Paris… but we know our muscles and know that they grow back a bit faster than in humans.

As for Troulet, if he bothers us, we'll simply offer to let him keep his land,  after having him slapped with a hat , and he'll be the butt of the joke again. The Café du Tunnel will consider itself lucky, if we don't settle things immediately, if we drop by from time to time for a cheap drink and a few kind words. The only problem is that we don't see any possibility of having everything arranged for your departure in the coming week… but I think that, even if it's not a long holiday, we'll at least see you on Sunday? We shake your hand. Alfred Jarry.

As for the boat, we'll find one, we've done more difficult things, the main thing was to get back on our feet first... and that's done... although the completion of the 18mo was very contrary to the doctor's prescription: a rest cure.

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In the last months of his life, Alfred Jarry, ill and penniless, alternated brief visits to Paris with longer stays at his sister Charlotte's home in Laval. It was from this city that he sent his publisher the manuscript of La Papesse Jeanne* , which he had translated from Greek in collaboration with Dr. Saltas and which was his last completed work.