Beschreibung:

PROUST, Marcel. Autograph letter signed ('ton Marcel Proust et pas Prévost') to Lucien Daudet, n.p. [Paris], n.d. [May 1916] , writing of their decision to 'tutoyer' each other, 'il m'est doux de m'habituer à mettre à la 2 e personne du singulier au lieu de celle du pluriel, les verbes qui s'adressent à toi, et j'espère surtout pouvoir me perfectionner grace à la methode orale, par de fréquents Berlitz avec toi'; and referring to the apparently catastrophic visit of an unidentified woman friend to some friends of Lucien's, 'j'aurais simplement voulu, comme dit le tragique Grec, "ne pas être né"'; and he is reminded of Marcel Prévost whom he has observed making visits of this kind but less innocently, and also mentioning Jammes whose dealings with his neighbour seem elegant compared to Prévost's, 4 pages, 8vo . The decision to 'tutoyer' each other had been taken on Lucien Daudet's last visit to Paris ( Cahiers , V, 149). Concerning the unfortunate visit which has caused Proust to agonise, Daudet recalled that an old friend of Proust's had called on some friends of his whom she knew only slightly, 'ce que n'avait rien de tragique si même de genant pour personne'. Proust on a number of occasions shows a marked antipathy to Marcel Prévost (whose name Daudet discreetly suppressed for publication). His feelings may have been intensified because letters for him were mistakenly directed to Prévost's address. Kolb, XV, 103. Cahiers V (XXVI).