Rare letter from Louis-Ferdinand CÉLINE's youth in Cameroon. 1916.

Louis-Ferdinand DESTOUCHES known as Louis-Ferdinand CÉLINE (1894.1961)

Autograph letter signed to his parents.

Two pages in-4° on letterhead (trimmed) from Cie Forestière Sangha Oubangui.

Bikobimbo (Cameroon). September 30, 1916.

Unpublished letter to the Pléiade correspondence.

Very rare letter from young Destouches, twenty-two years old. Entangled in his role as plantation supervisor for the Sangha Oubangui Forestry Company in Cameroon, he asks his parents to send Western goods and books. For nine months, Destouches experiences the hell of solitude in a foreign land and worries every day about the misunderstood natives. It is this Africa that will be recounted in his Journey to the End of the Night. Far from the fighting, he nevertheless follows the events at the front with a cold gaze. He will be repatriated in the spring of 1917.

This letter seems to follow directly from a previous letter sent to his parents on September 30.

_____________________________________________________

“Dear Parents, I send my mail by a black man to Cribi – so that my letters are stamped. One more final list of what I'm missing.

1 liter tincture of Iodine – with a very small brush (for bites).

From dentist email – I have a native dentist here.

1 large desk pad.

3 sizes of aluminum pans.

1 small thermometer.

1 filter (called filter bottle)

A siren like Ablon's.

12 jars of orange marmalade (by Potin at 0 ^f.50 )

The Accuser by J. Claretie. Find out more from Mrs. Gini.

How much would a fairly strong Zeiss telescope or any less prismatic ?

Lactic tablets.

Ask Chevassus for a good eye wash solution. To do – for example – bi-weekly – not that I have anything, but I have a particularly fervent cult for these preventive treatments.

Another book than Chevalier's on cocoa – and one on rubber.

I'll send 200f by Cribi if that's not enough – write to me.

Your son aff- L. of the keys. Great Plantation of Dipikar by Campo. Cam. AEF  

1 aluminum bowl for washing. 1 tea set. All table service if possible – quite chic. »