Rouen

Autographed letter signed "Laure de Maupassant" [to Robert Pinchon] Nice, September 29, 1901, 3 pages. In-8°, in very tight and hesitant handwriting, mourning border. Tear at the central fold, some ink smudges.

A long unpublished letter following her denial regarding the alleged milk brother of her son Guy, published in Le Journal de Rouen a few days earlier. "Thank you, dear sir, thank you from the bottom of my heart.

You did very well to make my letter public, and indeed it was the best way to put an end to all these ridiculous legends. Let us hope that from now on, Mr.

Lécuyer will find a way to tone down the nonsense he had taken to serving his audience. I confess that I had a lot of fun reading the Journal de Rouen, clearly embarrassed about the blunder he made in pompously announcing the appointment of the new guardian of the Square Solférino as 'The milk brother of Guy de Maupassant.' The poor editor must have been a bit reluctant, as he finds that I am rather rudely demolishing the legend that his paper has circulated, and my letter needs to be followed by a small advertisement in favor of his protégé [.

] All I desire is to be free from the pretensions of an intriguer and to no longer hear about him. But there are certain maternal feelings so sacred that no one should touch them [.] Do you never think of coming to the beautiful shores of the Mediterranean?

Please don't forget that the doors of the villa Monge would open wide to welcome you, and that the poor old exile would find a smile to greet the former guest of Étretat, who would bring so many dear memories of beings and things that have disappeared, but are never forgotten [. The matter of Guy de Maupassant's milk brother.

On September 12, 1901, Le Journal de Rouen published misinformation claiming that a certain Mr. Lécuyer, supposedly Guy de Maupassant's milk brother, had just been appointed guardian of the Solférino garden in Rouen, at the very spot where the writer's bust was erected a year earlier. The paper also mentioned the physical resemblance between the two men, as well as some anecdotes about their childhood. It seems that Robert Pinchon conveyed the misinformation from Le Journal de Rouen to Madame Laure de Maupassant (née Le Poittevin), who has long been residing in Nice and did not fail to react strongly (see the article from September 23 below). She immediately addressed a letter to her correspondent, refuting point by point the false allegations of the newspaper, which had evidently contented itself with relaying Mr.

It is thus understood, through the two unpublished testimonies we present here, that Robert Pinchon took the liberty of publishing Madame de Maupassant's denial and that she was pleased with it. Article published in Le Journal de Rouen. Article published in Le Journal de Rouen (with Laure de Maupassant's "open letter"). 2, second and third columns.

The facts are mentioned again in the same newspaper fifteen years later. 2, fifth and sixth columns. Maupassant met Robert Pinchon at the Imperial Lyceum of Rouen. His father, Adolphe, taught French there. Robert was in the same class as Louis de Poittevin, Guy's cousin. The two friends later met again in Paris.

Pinchon, nicknamed "La Tôque," was part of the crew of boaters. He returned to Rouen around 1880 and became a librarian in the city and a music and drama critic for Le Nouvelliste de Rouen.

He wrote many plays, which he published in 1894 under the title Théâtre. The memory of his friend Maupassant is mentioned in the preface of the work. Maupassant dedicated his short story L'Aventure de Walter Schnaffs to him in 1883. The manuscript copy (in the handwriting of Robert Pinchon, also unpublished) of his letter to Laure de Maupassant, which precedes her response transcribed above.

[Rouen], September 23, 1901, 2 pages. In-8° on laid paper, in black ink.

"Madam, in order to put an end to the legend of Guy's milk brother, I found no better way than to communicate your letter, so dignified and so touching, to Le Journal de Rouen; after this, no one here will have the idea of believing the claims of guardian Lécuyer.] It was during the ceremony of the monument [bust in honor of Maupassant inaugurated the previous year, in 1900] that he began to adorn it with this title of milk brother [.] Now your denial will reach all those whom an erroneous indication may have misled, and you will retain without dispute, as you seem so justly to care, the privilege of having nursed your dear son, just as later at the beginning of his career you nurtured his mind and strengthened his heart with your excellent advice [.