PROUST (Marcel). Autograph letter signed "Marcel Proust" to - Lot 190

PROUST (Marcel). Autograph letter signed "Marcel Proust" to Mme Jean Vittoré, sister-in-law of Alfred Agostinelli. S.l., "27mai" [1915]. 4pp. in-12; faded document with splits at folds. "Madame, I have asked some friends I have in Nice [Madame Catusse] to look after flowers for poor Alfred's birthday, and I take the liberty of having them sent to you. They will be delivered to 50rue de la Paix on the 30th on my behalf, and you will be kind enough to tell the bearer where the grave is, unless you want to take care of dropping them off yourself, as I know, because Alfred always told me, that you have a devotion to remembrance and you devoutly go to the cemetery. This dreadful war, which has taken away almost all my friends, killed in their prime, and two cousins, the worries I have for my brother and other relatives at the front, none of this weakens my sad and tender memory of Alfred. I miss his presence infinitely, I loved his mind and his heart so much! But if, without ever seeing him, I at least knew he was alive, happy somewhere, able to obtain from life all that his beautiful gifts deserved, I would easily console myself with this separation. But to think that he is no more, that an unjust and stupid death has destroyed such beautiful hopes, that is what I will never get used to. I beg you to express to his family the very painful feelings with which my heart goes out to them on the 30th. Had it not been for the war, I would have liked to visit his grave this year. I ask you at least to make it bloom for me. Please accept, Madam, my best regards..." One of Albertine's models in La Recherche, Alfred Agostinelli had died in a plane crash on May 30, 1914, off the coast of Antibes. He had been Marcel Proust's chauffeur in Normandy in 1907 and 1908, then his secretary in 1913. His departure after just a few months had devastated the writer, who loved him deeply. In a vain attempt to bring him back, Marcel Proust had financed his dream of learning to fly airplanes: the accident of 1914 put an end to his hopes of a reunion, but played a decisive role in his decision to compose a cycle of Albertine in La Recherche.