Catulle MENDES (1841–1909, novelist, poet, playwright, and c - Lot 453

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Lot n° 453
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Catulle MENDES (1841–1909, novelist, poet, playwright, and c - Lot 453
Catulle MENDES (1841–1909, novelist, poet, playwright, and critic) / Signed autograph letter, 1 page, small 8vo, to his son Primice (1896–died for France, 1917), with a handwritten note at the top by another hand reading “St. Germain-en-Laye, February 1, 1909,” just a few days before his death on February 8: “My dear little one, although you have completely neglected to ask me about my health, I’m taking this opportunity to give you an update at a time when things are almost good—after seven months, by a miracle I no longer hoped for, my ear ailment suddenly stopped the day before yesterday! Will it start up again? Is this just a temporary respite? In any case, I have a little hope. But what I cannot hope for is that my hearing will ever regain the acuity necessary for the work I do—the work that puts food on our table. In any case, we must never speak of this. If word were to get out, we would all be lost - “Try not to forget the old man who loves you deeply.” (This final letter to Primice gives much food for thought, since less than a week later, Catulle’s dismembered body was found in the Saint-Germain-en-Laye railroad tunnel —It was assumed that he had opened the train door, thinking he had arrived—We can see in this letter how much his condition worried and distressed him—No doubt his deafness had returned, which may have led him to commit an act of desperation) / Enclosed: 2 other autograph letters from Catulle-Mendès to his son Prémice: “My dear little man, my dear Prémice, I don’t have time to give you a hug before I go to rest for two or three days in Versailles. Your good Dad is working hard. If I’m not back by Wednesday evening, come to Versailles on Thursday morning. I’ll bring you back to Paris on my way to rehearsals—Give me a big hug—Your Dad” (1 p. in-12) — “My dearest Primice, why don’t you write to me? Did you receive the writing case sent by Melchior? The Wise Man is—Your old fool, Catulle Mendès"
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