Arthur MAYER Interesting autograph letter signed. 1913

  

Autograph letter signed on letterhead of the newspaper Le Gaulois, with its envelope on Le Gaulois letterhead, addressed to the artist Georges-Antoine Rochegrosse in Algeria. Two-page letter on a sheet folded in two to make four pages. An interesting letter in which Arthur Mayer asks the artist Georges-Antoine Rochegrosse for a frontispiece to personalize an old book he owns:

Dear Master and friend,

One of my friends gave me, for New Year’s dinner, a charming little Sallust, which has the special feature of being dedicated and signed by Aimée de Coigny, the woman celebrated by André Chénier. It is a little gem. I would like to be able to add a frontispiece worthy of the gem; “gem” and “jewel” are both fitting.

Arthur Mayer was a French writer and press magnate who was notably director of the newspaper Le Gaulois. A knowledgeable bibliophile, he liked to give his books a distinctive character, notably by commissioning original works from artists of his time, such as Claude Monet, who created two paintings to decorate the covers of an original edition of Émile Zola, or, as here, the artist Georges-Antoine Rochegrosse.

Condition: wear and tears to the envelope, slight wear, otherwise very good condition.