Académie Goncourt to Marcel Proust 10 December [1919]

(Click on the link above to see this letter and its notes in the Corr-Proust digital edition, including all relevant hyperlinks.)

Paris, 10 December^[1]

ACADÉMIE GONCOURT 1903^[2]

Dear Sir and colleague

We have the great honour and pleasure to inform you that you have been selected today to receive the Prix Goncourt for your novel: À l'ombre des jeunes filles en fleur^[3].

Please accept, dear Sir and colleague, this expression of our most fervent congratulations

Elémir Bourges Gustave Geffroy^[4]

J.H. Rosny the elder

Léon Daudet Léon Hennique

Jean Ajalbert Henry Céard

J.H. Rosny the younger

^[5] ^[6]

Notes

↑ The eight members of the Académie Goncourt who had met at Drouant wrote that same day, 10 December 1919, to the winner of the prize. [NM]
↑ The will of Edmond de Goncourt, to found the proposed academy, was challenged through the courts in 1897 and in 1900 by his cousins. The statutes of the Literary Society were established and its "public benefit" were recognized in a decree of 19 January 1903 by Prime Minister Émile Combes, which explains the date inscribed in the letterhead. [CSz]
↑ Note the error in the title made by Gustave Geffroy who wrote the letter. [NM]
↑ Gustave Geffroy (1855-1926), one of the founder members of the Académie Goncourt, becoming president in 1912. The Academy was composed of ten members, the eight signatories of the letter, along with Lucien Descaves and Émile Bergerat. Léon Daudet, Henry Céard, J. H. Rosny Aîné, J. H. Rosny Jeune, Gustave Geffroy and Élémir Bourges all voted in favour of Proust's book, whereas Jean Ajalbert, Léon Hennique, Émile Bergerat and Lucien Descaves all voted for the novel by Roland Dorgelès, Les Croix de bois. The Académie Goncourt has created a history on its internet page, where one can view an extract of a manuscript page of the deliberations that took place on 10 December 1919, the original of which is now conserved in the public archives of Nancy, the birthplace of Edmond de Goncourt, in the Académie Goncourt archive (register of resolutions 1903-1953, ref. Z 137), where it lists those present as "Geffroy, Bourges, Hennique, the Rosnys, Daudet, Ajalbert, Céard". The list of those present, which does not include Émile Bergerat and Lucien Descaves, explains why the latter two members did not sign the letter sent to Proust. [PK, CSz]
↑ Translation notes:
↑ Contributors: Yorktaylors

[n1-1] The eight members of the Académie Goncourt who had met at Drouant wrote that same day, 10 December 1919, to the winner of the prize. [NM]

[n2-2] The will of Edmond de Goncourt, to found the proposed academy, was challenged through the courts in 1897 and in 1900 by his cousins. The statutes of the Literary Society were established and its "public benefit" were recognized in a decree of 19 January 1903 by Prime Minister Émile Combes, which explains the date inscribed in the letterhead. [CSz]

[n3-3] Note the error in the title made by Gustave Geffroy who wrote the letter. [NM]

[n4-4] Gustave Geffroy (1855-1926), one of the founder members of the Académie Goncourt, becoming president in 1912. The Academy was composed of ten members, the eight signatories of the letter, along with Lucien Descaves and Émile Bergerat. Léon Daudet, Henry Céard, J. H. Rosny Aîné, J. H. Rosny Jeune, Gustave Geffroy and Élémir Bourges all voted in favour of Proust's book, whereas Jean Ajalbert, Léon Hennique, Émile Bergerat and Lucien Descaves all voted for the novel by Roland Dorgelès, Les Croix de bois. The Académie Goncourt has created a history on its internet page, where one can view an extract of a manuscript page of the deliberations that took place on 10 December 1919, the original of which is now conserved in the public archives of Nancy, the birthplace of Edmond de Goncourt, in the Académie Goncourt archive (register of resolutions 1903-1953, ref. Z 137), where it lists those present as "Geffroy, Bourges, Hennique, the Rosnys, Daudet, Ajalbert, Céard". The list of those present, which does not include Émile Bergerat and Lucien Descaves, explains why the latter two members did not sign the letter sent to Proust. [PK, CSz]

[n5-5] Translation notes:

[n6-6] Contributors: Yorktaylors

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

CP 03973/en

Académie Goncourt to Marcel Proust 10 December [1919]

Notes

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