CURNONSKY (Maurice Saillant, known as). - Lot 78

CURNONSKY (Maurice Saillant, known as). Born in Angers. 1872-1946. Writer, journalist, he was nicknamed the Prince of Gastronomes. L.A.S. "Maurice Curnonsky" to "Cher Collabo". Paris, July 18, 1895. 3 pages 1/2 in-12 oblong. Tinted paper (hole, folds, tear at edge of right leaf, trace of sticker). VERY BEAUTIFUL DAMITIE TO A FRIEND, DATED 1895.Curnonsky, then 23, was a columnist for various newspapers and one of the "negroes" of Colette's husband Willy, to whom he had been introduced by the Veber brothers......Before taking a large part in the collective acclaim that the Gil Blas will bring to the banks of the Seine on Saturday, I'd just like to say how delighted I am at the official consecration of your noble and proud talent, which taught me to love you before I met you...When I had the honor of being introduced to you by our charming friend Veber, you were immediately so kind and welcoming to me, that I'm happy to be able to express my gratitude to you today... The astonishing dragoon captain I told you about, you know... the one who cursed me for having introduced the Enemy into my regiment's officers' library?... has just made amends himself (...): he's read you! and he was happily surprised to discover that the Enemy is not, as he confessed he'd always thought, an indictment of the army. Here's another good man whose esteem you've won!... All the more so as he was the owner of phylloxera-ridden vineyards... As for me, I knew you beforehand, and when I learned of your promotion to an Order that honors itself by admitting men like you, I felt a very lively and sincere enthusiasm, which I'm sure will be shared by all those who still have the right to call themselves young people... Isn't enthusiasm typical of our age? And then you've given me, my dear master, the most decisive argument in favor of the usefulness of ministers. I feel I'm beginning to believe in human justice... and I owe you a rare and precious sensation! As I would have said this very badly to you at our meeting next Saturday, I wanted to write it to you, and I hope that you will see in my letter only a proof of the very respectful affection and deep literary sympathy of your young collaborator... Wishing to become a journalist, Curnonsky moved to Paris at the age of 18 to study at the Ecole Normale Supérieure. When he began writing articles for newspapers, Alphonse Allais advised him to invent a pseudonym. Curnonsky, known for his gastronomic columns, founded the Académie Gastronomique in 1911 and the Académie des psychologues du goût in 1922.