Henri BERGSON seeks the law of things 1885 Autographed letter signed

  

4 pages in-8 on a double sheet. Autograph envelope and stamp preserved.

Size: 18 x 11.5 cm. Rare correspondence from the young Bergson, who was appointed professor at the David High School in Angers in 1881. Two years later, he was transferred to the Blaise-Pascal High School in Clermont-Ferrand. Henri Bergson considered his years in Angers and Clermont to be the happiest and most fruitful of his life. (Jacques Chevalier, Conversations with Bergson, Plon, 1959).

If I haven't replied to your kind little note since New Year's Day, it's because I intended to send you not a tiny card, but a serious letter. However, I am overwhelmed with work and have had to postpone the pleasure of talking with you, in the true sense of the word. As it stands, you probably consider me a rude person.

I am happy if that makes you think of me, for I will not forgive you for forgetting me. What are you doing in Aix, tell me? I am assured that it is almost as dull as Clermont, but I am convinced that they exaggerate; besides, it was you, if I remember correctly, who requested this hole: God knows what you wanted to do with it! If you want, my dear child, to really be agreeable, you will write me a long letter that is only about you. Have you decisively plunged into German philosophy? As for me, I continue to seek the law of things, always with the same success. For several weeks, I have fallen into a state of complete stupor; this will hardly astonish you. I remind myself that last year during these same Mardi Gras holidays, my Sautreaux was near me. At least let me know that you haven't forgotten me, and in the meantime, receive a paternal kiss. Léon Sautreaux graduated from the École Normale Supérieure at the same time as Bergson in the letters section in 1878.

He will have a discreet career as a philosophy professor at the Lycée of Grenoble. Bergson will intervene on his behalf in 1924 with the Grand Chancellor so that he may be awarded the Legion of Honor: "I believe that this life of work, effort, and dedication to the University deserves to be rewarded by the cross of the Legion of Honor." École Normale Supérieure, class of 1881 - Science - Léon Sautreaux, in profile in the second row from the right. Source: Lucienne, Digital Library of ENS-PSL.