ARCHIVES. HENRY DE MONFREID. - Lot 223

ARCHIVES. HENRY DE MONFREID. "Memoirs", letters and fragments of typescripts. 1931-1938. IMPORTANT LOT. Entitled "1931-38 Lettres, fragments de tapuscrits". A modern-day buccaneering aristocrat of whom Joseph Kessel said: "at first glance, you could tell that his real clothes were the fire of the sun, the wind of the open sea". One of the last true adventurers of the modern age. A very interesting and rich collection assembled by Henry Vaucaire, who was a friend and co-editor of his memoirs. The set includes a collection of letters from Henry de Monfreid (13 L.A.S.), a manuscript by Michel Vaucaire, and two letters from the Grasset publishing house. To these we add fragments of typescripts. All assembled in a cardboard folder with indications by Michel Vaucaire, then preserved in a blue half cloth undersleeve, with typewritten title page and blue slipcase. Michel Vaucaire wrote a short, signed explanation of the origin of this set on the cardboard sleeve: "I had been put in touch with Monfreid by the journalist Claude Blanchard, who had been sent to Ethiopia by the 'Petit Parisien' [...] Monfreid entrusted me with his notes, diary fragments and a number of letters [...] I would write a book based on all these documents, which I did. I came up with the title of the 1st volume: "Secrets of the Red Sea". My contribution was much smaller for the 2nd volume and nil for the following ones [...]". The correspondence section includes: 13 autograph letters signed by Henry de Monfreid to Michel Vaucaire. La Franqui (Leucate), Diré Daoua, Harrar, Neuilly sur Seine, Letters dated July 17, 1931 to August 16, 1938. 17 pp. gd in-4 and in-8. A document on mourning paper. Some envelopes preserved. The letters exchanged during 1931 deal mainly with his work. July 17: "Having no other thing to do than to come to an agreement with a definitive publisher, I will wait for a sign from you before coming [...]"; July 22: "Let's have the bailiff speak; I await your instructions and a sign to return to Paris [...]"; August 26, 1931: "Keep me informed as the manuscript's net progresses, if any 'holes' appear, I am in a position to give you the elements to fill them [...]". Interspersed between the letters of July 22 and August 26, we find this autograph contract signed by Michel Vaucaire, dated August 14, 1931. 1 p. gd in-4. It details the agreement between Michel Vaucaire and Henry de Monfreid. Among Michel Vaucaire's obligations are the following: "To find a publisher for Henry de Monfreid's memoirs, and to include in this work the acknowledgements that the publisher deems necessary. He will also correct the typographical proofs. [...] Michel Vicaire will receive 25% of other payments from the publisher [...]. Michel Vicaire also undertakes to take care of an English translation, once the question of "Pearls, arms, Hashish" has been settled [...]". The letters exchanged during 1932 are written from Diré Daoua (auj Dire Dwa), in Harrar, the last one in the middle of the crossing. This correspondence deals with the progress of the volumes. February 3: "I have just sent the manuscript to my wife [...] Is Grasset willing to publish it [...]. I believe the 2nd volume to be far superior to the first, but this is only my impression. [...]"; on May 10, aboard the "André Lebon", he asked for fewer copies than planned to be sent to Djibouti, and confirmed that he was still working on the "3rd volume"; on June 15, he said, "Let's get on with it, since the current is with us... . I'm working on Volume III [...] I hope to be finished by ½ September. He sends a reply to a "stupid" article in the Courrier Colonial; on August 8, he mentions the English translation of his work. Etc. The second folder consists of duplicate fragments. A red folder (torn in two) bearing Monfreid's handwritten indications: "Henry de Monfreid mémoires - Prière rapporter à Monsieur de Monfreid 7 allée Borghèse, Neuilly ou à M. Vaucaire 23 rue de la Ferme Neuilly"; a loose leaf bearing notes in blue pencil (chapters of the book); an empty envelope bearing M. Vaucaire's address. Finally, eight folders corresponding to fragments mostly from his book "Secrets de la mer Rouge". Fragment of the duplicate entitled "Le dernier voyage 1914" 9 pp. in-4, numbered, not sequentially numbered. The first page bears the title "Le dernier voyage", followed by pages 2, 15, 46 to 51 without interruption. Some handwritten corrections in black ink. Indications in blue pencil on the folder