BERGSON (Henri). - Lot 45

BERGSON (Henri). Born in Paris. 1859-1941. Philosopher. Nobel Prize for Literature in 1927. L.A.S. "H. Bergson" to "Cher Monsieur" [Bernard Grasset]. St Cergue [Switzerland], August 17, 1924. 1 p. ½ in-12. Pinholes. After thanking his correspondent for his interesting communication, he regrets not being able to agree to join his project for a French Institute of Advertising and Applied Psychology because, he explains ... for several years now, I have made it a principle not to enter any association whatsoever. I could not now make an exception without offending all those to whom I have invariably declared, when they wished to speak to me, that I had imposed an absolute rule on myself in this respect...The author of numerous works, Bergson published Le Rire, an essay on the meaning of comedy, in 1900.As early as 1937, Bergson was alarmed by the wave of anti-Semitism about to sweep the world, and when the Vichy regime promulgated its anti-Jewish laws, he gave up converting to Catholicism in solidarity with other Jews. Although very weakened by crippling rheumatism, he was taken to the Commissariat on rue de Passy and registered as an "Israélite", which he had been exempt from because of his fame and his distance from Judaism.Linstitut Français de Publicité et de Psychologie appliquée set out to determine the laws of the art of persuasion, first and foremost in the industrial and commercial fields, in order to help France's influence in the world.