COLETTE / Autographed Letter / The Ripening Grain / Claudine at School / 1923

  
Signed autograph letter "Colette de Jouvenel" to her dear Sacha [Paris, 1923], 2 pp. In-4° Letterhead "69, boulevard Suchet, Auteuil 06-27" Traces of folds, minimal foxing. Colette announces the upcoming release of "Le Blé en herbe" (The Ripening Seed) and regrets not having a large paper edition for her correspondent. "My dear Sacha, So you are now afflicted with acute bibliophilia. I will not discourage you: I only defend myself with severe preventive measures. I do not own any "Claudine à l'École" on large paper; not even, I believe, a single original edition of the "Claudine" series.

I have been informed of a 1st Edition, but on ordinary paper, on the rue de Châteaudun, and I did not rush to get it. "Le Blé en herbe" will soon be released, and I will send it to you, but unfortunately, I have only reserved two "large papers", one for Sidi [Henry de Jouvenel, her second husband], and one for myself. The rest already belongs to collectors, that is to say, to you.

Believe me, always sympathetically yours, Colette de Jouvenel" [she adds in the upper margin of the first page] "I am sending you back the list of books." "Claudine à l'école" is a semi-autobiographical novel that was published in 1900, initially under the pen name of Willy, and later attributed to Colette, her then-wife. With its natural and innovative style for the time, it sparked a true scandal.

"Le Blé en herbe", published in 1923, tells the sentimental and sexual initiation (through different but converging paths) of two Parisian adolescents and shocked audiences upon its release due to its non-conformism. Starting in November 1916, the Jouvenels moved into a small mansion at 69 boulevard Suchet, in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, on the border of Auteuil and the Bois de Boulogne. After their separation and Henry de Jouvenel's departure in 1923, Colette lived there until 1926.