CP 04853/en

Marcel Proust to Henri de Régnier [Friday 12 December 1919]

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

My dear sir and friend,

I was deeply touched by the warm congratulations in your letter for such a minor achievement. Despite my current state, I had intended, truly, to write back, until I received charming congratulations from Madame de Régnier which delighted, yet distressed me all the same. . Thus presented with a question of academic concern, I shall take the liberty to discuss such matters in my correspondence to you. And as for Madame de Régnier, to avoid repetition for my part, I shall write her my thanks tomorrow, telling her that I had discussed the academic aspects with you earlier and will bother her no further. I say, “no further”, of course, with the knowledge that, you and your wife being one, she will doubtless learn of the contents of this letter no later than you. Madame de Régnier tells me that the Prix Goncourt is mine but she would almost be tempted to regret it because she was working on my behalf for the Grand Prix de l’Académie. If it came from any other person, I would have believed it to be a retrospective kindness, without any truth. But I know — since the distant times of the “Canaques” — that she is frankness itself. I was also touched beyond words, and on the other hand very perplexed, I am going to, if my strength can sustain me to the end of this letter, tell you why. I don’t exactly remember the time when I told you about the Grand Prix de littérature (and how could I have hoped that Madame de Régnier would work for me when you had taken a stand — and you told me it with extreme frankness and delicacy — for someone else) but it seems likely to me that I didn’t speak to you about the prix Goncourt. Here’s the reason: I wasn’t thinking of it at all and hadn’t sent my books to the academicians. However (I believe since my correspondence with yourself) as I was saying to Reynaldo Hahn (who has left Léon Daudet) how much I regretted that he did not like my books nor comprehend their veiled yet rigorous composition, Reynaldo replied to me that, to the contrary, as someone had spoken of the Prix Goncourt and of a candidate, Léon Daudet had replied “that is not my view: I find the works of Proust to be superb, Du côté de chez Swann and Jeunes filles en fleurs and I’ll vote for him.” When I learnt this, I sent my book to the members of the Goncourt jury, on the off chance, but afterwards I was informed and received the assurance that the Prix Goncourt, if it excludes the award of La Vie Heureuse, does not exclude in any case the award of the Academie Française. I add that I believed I had no chance at winning the Prix Goncourt. I learned gradually that Mr Élémir Bourges and Rosny aîné thought highly of my books, but I did not know that they would advocate for them. I did not even know when the Prix Goncourt was. And when Léon Daudet came to announce that I had won it, it was like receiving a Christmas present in a year where I did not expect to receive any. Unfortunately Madame de Régnier’s letter (but will I be able to get to the end of this letter) seems to indicate that, contrary to what I was told, the Prix Goncourt excludes those from the Academy. If this is the case (she didn’t tell me this, but her letter seems to imply it), can I expect it for next year? I will be greatly interested in knowing, here’s why.

Vous me direz votre avis et je vous envoie, en vous demandant de les agréer et de les partager avec Madame de Régnier, mes hommages de respectueuse et reconnaissante admiration.

Marcel Proust