Colette, signed autograph letter, Claridge, 1930

  
Creases, foxing, slight losses and tears. Date and handwritten notes in another hand. Charming letter from Colette evoking her father and her imminent move to the Claridge, with envelope and stamp preserved. Size: 26 x 21 cm (envelope: 11 x 13.5 cm). Nothing could have moved me as much, Madame, as your letter and this discreet and precise reminder of the man who saved my father. I know very well that you will not want to part with the precious photograph, but if you would consent to entrust it to me, I would have it reproduced. Thank you, Madame, and please believe in my respectful sentiments.

From November 1 and for several months, Hotel Claridge, Avenue des Champs-Élysées. 12 Place de la Chapelle de Jaude.

In another letter to this same Madame Paul Proust, Colette specifies that the latter’s father is “a good man to whom my father (and I) owe our lives.” The man may be connected to the Battle of Magenta in 1859, led by Napoleon III against the Austrians, a battle in which Colette’s father lost a leg. In November 1930, suffering from bronchitis because of the dampness of the apartment she occupied at the Palais-Royal, Colette sought healthier air and, on her doctor’s advice, moved to the very top of the Hotel Claridge on the Champs-Élysées (at number 72, whose basement is now occupied by Fnac). There she would enjoy five years of hotel comfort and a magnificent view.

Photograph of the Claridge in the 1930s by Charles Lansiaux. Below, photograph of Colette on her Claridge balcony at the time of our letter, 1931.