PORTIER (Paul). - Lot 245

PORTIER (Paul). Bar-sur-Seine, 1866 – Paris, 1962. French physiologist and biologist; co-discoverer, with Charles Richet, of the phenomenon of anaphylaxis. Autograph letter signed “P. Portier,” addressed to “My dear Franck.” Bar-sur-Seine, October 1, 1954. 2 pages, in-8 format, on letterhead of the Oceanographic Institute, with a vignette. A letter of great intellectual interest, revealing a scholarly and literary side of the scientist, centered on a discussion of the *Odyssey* and the episode of Odysseus’s bow. In it, Portier responds to a certain skepticism expressed by his correspondent by sending him a copy of Anne Dacier’s translation of this episode, while also mentioning a parallel version by Charles-Marie Leconte de Lisle that he keeps in Paris. The letter is particularly notable for its detailed discussion of Louis Ménard, whom Portier describes as an exceptional mind—a Latinist, a Hellenist “without rival,” and a chemist who contributed to Marcellin Berthelot’s work on explosives. This portrait, drawn from personal memories, attests to the richness of the intellectual circles in which Portier moved. He also mentions an impromptu lecture on the *Odyssey*, the outline of which he intends to track down, humorously summarizing his interpretation: “Ulysses was the Tartarin of Antiquity.” This delightful turn of phrase illustrates the scholar’s free-spirited and decidedly iconoclastic nature. In the margins, a biographical note recalls the unique career of Louis Ménard, a former classmate of Charles Baudelaire who switched from literature to chemistry, and his role in the experiments of the “Club des Hashischins.” A rich and original work, at the intersection of science, philology, and literature, revealing the breadth of Paul Portier’s intellectual curiosities.