LOUIS MADELIN Autograph letter signed to Ambassador Camille Barrère, 1924

  

Autograph letter signed to Ambassador Camille Barrère. Raon-l'Étape (Vosges), September 28, 1924.

1 oblong card, 9.5 x 14 cm, brown ink, in very fine condition. Rare and remarkable autograph letter signed by the historian Louis Madelin (Académie française), addressed to one of the greatest French diplomats of the Third Republic, Ambassador Camille Barrère, a major figure in Franco-Italian relations and a signatory of the Treaty of London (1915).

A text of great historical interest, entirely devoted to the Great War and to the judgments made by French military leaders about General Charles Mangin. In it, Madelin thanks Barrère for his “vote” and reports Weygand’s opinion of Mangin, comparing it with Foch’s, while referring to the famous counterattack on the Matz (June 1918), the first French offensive response after the German assaults of spring 1918. The admission reported by Foch is exceptionally powerful. “At such a moment, that man was the only one I could trust.” Valuable documentation on the internal relationships of the high command and on the perception, a few years later, of Mangin’s strategy—a controversial but central figure of the 1914–1918 war.

Letter written from La Mouille, Raon-l'Étape, where Madelin regularly stayed. A first-rate item for a collector of the Great War, for diplomatic history, or for a collection centered on Foch, Weygand, or Mangin. Condition: very well preserved, fresh ink, dense and perfectly legible handwriting.