CP 05641/en
Léon Faisans to Marcel Proust [25 October 1914 ?]
(Click on the link above to see this letter and its notes in the Corr-Proust digital edition, including all relevant hyperlinks.)
I the undersigned[1], being a doctor at Beaujon Hospital[2], certify to having given repeated medical attention[3], over fifteen years, to Monsieur Marcel Proust, for an asthma that gave rise to bouts of dyspnoea of such violence, severity and persistence in duration, that he is obliged to spend most of his time in bed or in his bedroom, and which preclude him from engaging in regular occupation. As a consequence of his illness and the medications to which he is subjected almost continually, M. Marcel Proust has furthermore been subject to perennial nervous disorders and has demonstrated most notably a state of asthenia, sufficient to require complete immobility. I consider that he is incapable of withstanding the slightest fatigue and that he is unfit for any form of military service.
Paris 25 November 1914[4].
L. Faisans
Notes
- ↑ Copy in the hand of Céleste Albaret. The original document has not been found. [FP]
- ↑ Beaujon Hospital, situated in the 8e arrondissement of Paris until 1937, served as a military hospital during the Great War. [FL]
- ↑ The letters that have been found merely indicate that Proust had wished to consult doctor Faisans in 1902, and that he had corresponded with him subsequently (CP 00728 / Kolb, III, no. 110; CP 01091 / Kolb, IV, no. 195; CP 01093 / Kolb, IV, no. 197). [PK, FP]
- ↑ The date copied out by Céleste Albaret is almost certainly incorrect. In a letter to Dr Pozzi [between 6 and 12 November 1914] (CP 05412), Proust confirms that he had received certificates from Dr Faisans and from his "usual doctor", Dr Bize. Lawrence Joseph draws attention to this "anomaly" in his article about Proust's letters to Samuel Pozzi (Bulletin Marcel Proust, no. 51, 2001, p. 28, n. 52). The most plausible hypothesis is that Céleste Albaret, making out a copy in early November, had inadvertently written "25 November" instead of "25 October". A date of 25 October would place this certificate alongside the first certificate signed by Dr Bize, which carries the date of 23 October (CP 05638). [FL, FP]
- ↑ Translation notes:
- ↑ Contributors: Yorktaylors.