CP 03098/en: Difference between revisions
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
No edit summary |
Yorktaylors (talk | contribs) No edit summary |
||
| Line 22: | Line 22: | ||
<references> | <references> | ||
<ref name="n1"> | <ref name="n1"> Lionel Hauser had written in pencil, at the top of this letter, the date "15(?) May 1916", just as in his reply, on 17 May 1916, he indicates that he had "received your letter of the 13th inst., and the one of 15(?)." (CP 03099; Kolb, XV, no. 35). If, on the 17th, Hauser had judged that Proust's letter must have dated from Monday 15 May (and not Tuesday 16), it was because, in all likelihood, it must have been deposited at his bank Monday 16 (not through the post, which would have allowed Hauser to look at the postmark, but delivered by Céleste Albaret), and on Tuesday 16 he had been taking tactful steps to try to get Proust a lower interest rate, as he explains in his reply of 17 May. But could this letter, which follows on from that of Saturday 13 May, date from Sunday 14 or Monday 15? As Proust explains in it he had just received some documents from the Rothschild Brothers bank (see note 4 below), documents that he had not yet received Saturday 13 May at the time of his previous letter to Hauser (CP 03097; Kolb, XV, no. 33), the present letter must therefore date from [Monday 15 May 1916]. [PK, FL] </ref> | ||
<ref name="n2"> | <ref name="n2"> Édouard Delessert (1828-1898), writer and director of various companies, son of Gabriel Delessert, former commissioner of the Paris, Valentine and Laborde police. He was a member then vice-president of the board of directors of the Ouest railway company, and member of the board of directors of the Northern Spain railway company. A member of the Jockey club, he had a reputation for being pleasant and witty. - Robert Dreyfus had identified Édouard Delessert as the author of Sens dessus dessous, an anonymous booklet that Marcel Proust had written an account of in Le Banquet, no. 2, in April 1892 ("Un livre contre l'élégance" [A Book Against Elegance], EA, p. 346-347). [PK, FP] </ref> | ||
<ref name="n3"> | <ref name="n3"> Reference to his letter to Hauser of Saturday 13 May 1916 (CP 03097; Kolb, XV, no. 33). [PK] </ref> | ||
<ref name="n4"> Note | <ref name="n4"> These documents have not come down to us. - The expression "In the meantime" indicates that a certain lapse of time has taken place between the moment Proust wrote his previous letter to Hauser, Saturday 13 May, and the moment he finds this letter on his table, the day he received the documents sent by Rothschild Frères. Note the Proust uses the present tense ("In the meantime de Rothschild Frères are sending me [...]") and not the past tense, which suggests that he has only just received the post. The convergence of these two factors lead us to date this letter [Monday 15 May 1916], since on Tuesday 16 Hauser had already received it (see note 1 above). [FL] </ref> | ||
<ref name="n5"> Translation notes: </ref> | <ref name="n5"> Translation notes: </ref> | ||
Revision as of 10:52, 7 January 2023
Marcel Proust to Lionel Hauser [Monday 15 May 1916]
(Click on the link above to see this letter and its notes in the Corr-Proust digital edition, including all relevant hyperlinks.)
My dear Lionel
I realize that the dates of my letters are sometimes the date of their writing, but not the date of their mailing. (Monsieur Delessert, director of the Nord, said: “Our trains rarely arrive on time but always leave at the time set on the timetable” [2]. I cannot even say the same of my letters, since I find on my table this one which was intended for you.)[3] In the meantime, de Rothschild Frères are sending me the enclosed bulletin and statement[4] which may be useful to you. I am sending these just in case you need them and I am not replying to the Rothschild Banking House, since my answer will be precisely what you will have me sign.
With my most grateful and best wishes
Marcel Proust
Notes
- ↑ Lionel Hauser had written in pencil, at the top of this letter, the date "15(?) May 1916", just as in his reply, on 17 May 1916, he indicates that he had "received your letter of the 13th inst., and the one of 15(?)." (CP 03099; Kolb, XV, no. 35). If, on the 17th, Hauser had judged that Proust's letter must have dated from Monday 15 May (and not Tuesday 16), it was because, in all likelihood, it must have been deposited at his bank Monday 16 (not through the post, which would have allowed Hauser to look at the postmark, but delivered by Céleste Albaret), and on Tuesday 16 he had been taking tactful steps to try to get Proust a lower interest rate, as he explains in his reply of 17 May. But could this letter, which follows on from that of Saturday 13 May, date from Sunday 14 or Monday 15? As Proust explains in it he had just received some documents from the Rothschild Brothers bank (see note 4 below), documents that he had not yet received Saturday 13 May at the time of his previous letter to Hauser (CP 03097; Kolb, XV, no. 33), the present letter must therefore date from [Monday 15 May 1916]. [PK, FL]
- ↑ Édouard Delessert (1828-1898), writer and director of various companies, son of Gabriel Delessert, former commissioner of the Paris, Valentine and Laborde police. He was a member then vice-president of the board of directors of the Ouest railway company, and member of the board of directors of the Northern Spain railway company. A member of the Jockey club, he had a reputation for being pleasant and witty. - Robert Dreyfus had identified Édouard Delessert as the author of Sens dessus dessous, an anonymous booklet that Marcel Proust had written an account of in Le Banquet, no. 2, in April 1892 ("Un livre contre l'élégance" [A Book Against Elegance], EA, p. 346-347). [PK, FP]
- ↑ Reference to his letter to Hauser of Saturday 13 May 1916 (CP 03097; Kolb, XV, no. 33). [PK]
- ↑ These documents have not come down to us. - The expression "In the meantime" indicates that a certain lapse of time has taken place between the moment Proust wrote his previous letter to Hauser, Saturday 13 May, and the moment he finds this letter on his table, the day he received the documents sent by Rothschild Frères. Note the Proust uses the present tense ("In the meantime de Rothschild Frères are sending me [...]") and not the past tense, which suggests that he has only just received the post. The convergence of these two factors lead us to date this letter [Monday 15 May 1916], since on Tuesday 16 Hauser had already received it (see note 1 above). [FL]
- ↑ Translation notes:
- ↑ Contributors: Emciver, Longyuh