PORTIER (Paul). - Lot 248

PORTIER (Paul). Bar-sur-Seine, 1866 – Paris, 1962. French zoologist and marine biologist, associated with Charles Richet’s work on anaphylaxis. Autograph letter signed “P. Portier,” addressed to “My dear Franck” [colleague]. Bourg-la-Reine, October 1952. 2 pages, in-8. A charming letter, written in a tone that is at once affectionate, lucid, and slightly disillusioned, in which the scholar thanks his correspondent for the documents entrusted to him and expresses his delight at reconnecting with “[his] dear friend Franck, with his generous heart.” Very quickly, the tone takes an introspective turn: Portier subtly contrasts his friend’s altruism with his own limitations, confessing with frankness tinged with irony the effects of aging—“Old age is selfish. I do try to fight it, but it doesn’t do me much good.” The letter also contains an interesting reflection on the concepts of “nonviolence” and “peace,” whose semantic evolution in the postwar political context he observes with a certain wariness, believing that their appropriation by certain parties has altered their perception. The whole is punctuated with witticisms, particularly in a postscript where Portier playfully writes on a piece of “cellar” paper that he assumes dates back to the reign of Louis XV, concluding with humor that he is hardly “up to date.” A charming and revealing account of the personality of a great scholar in his twilight years, blending personal reflections, moral musings, and witty remarks.