BENOIT, Pierre. Signed autograph letter addressed to Abel Bo - Lot 37

BENOIT, Pierre. Signed autograph letter addressed to Abel Bonnard. A charming letter concerning a temporary rivalry, as both writers were being considered for admission to the Académie française. One and a half pages, in-4 format (267 x 209 mm), Saint-Céré (Lot), November 21, [1930]. The vacant seat left by Georges de Porto-Riche, who died in September 1930, sparked a flurry of speculation. Caught up in the race, Pierre Benoit prefers to take a temporary exile from Paris. “This situation as a candidate, in Parisian circles, could cause even those who are usually the most composed [...] to lose their composure and serenity [...] as things stand, it is not too rash to believe—it seems to me—that, of the two of us, one or the other must be elected. Under these circumstances, wouldn’t the only source of bitterness that could exist between us be to see a third candidate—but who?—take advantage of our temporary rivalry”... Pierre Benoit ultimately won the seat for Porto-Riche a few months later, and Abel Bonnard was appointed to the seat for Le Goffic in 1932.