Roger Martin du Gard Autograph signed letter with sketch, Bellême 1925

  

Autograph letter signed with pencil sketches, Bellême, 1925. Autograph letter signed by Roger Martin du Gard, dated May 26, 1925, in Bellême, written in brown ink on a sheet of vellum paper. This interesting two-page letter contains, in addition to the text, several pencil sketches in his own hand, illustrating the stair posts and balustrade he describes.

In it, the writer gives detailed instructions concerning the layout of his house, the flow of water, and the making of carpentry elements. He emphasizes the slow pace of the worksite, lamenting that there are too few craftsmen.

I received your letter of the 23rd. Agreed about the letter to Mr. I therefore await a note from him, since he cannot make a precise estimate without knowing the exact route I would like the overflow water to take, nor the location of the basin.

I gave you a drawing for the starting post. Two others, of the same family, need to be made for the landing. 1°/ I had thought it possible, where the staircase reaches the landing, to make a rectangular post that would receive both the ascending handrail and the upper balustrade. This post would have been fairly massive, but I do not fear giving substance to this too slender staircase. 2°/ A half-post is needed where the landing balustrade enters the wall (a wall necessary for the stove pipe).

I think this half-post could be treated in the same way, as if it were the starting post, cut in two along its entire height.

Things are moving forward, very slowly. It is not just one plasterer, one carpenter, who can make the work advance! The days go by, everyone is busy, but we would need twice as many people to get it done quickly.

You will be surprised in eight days by how little actual progress has been made. Believe me, dear sir, yours very sincerely.

These sketches included in the letter reinforce its authenticity and provide a rare glimpse of the writer personally involved in practical and technical matters. 13.5 x 21.4 cm. Condition: See photos for more details.

Number of pages: 2 pages. Roger Martin du Gard was a French writer, novelist, playwright, short-story writer, diarist, and letter writer, born on March 23, 1881, in Neuilly-sur-Seine and died on August 22, 1958, at the Château du Tertre in Sérigny. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1937.

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