Romain Gary autograph letter signed Gallimard Juilliard Roots of the Sky

  
Eager to publish The Roots of Heaven, Romain Gary threatens to leave Gallimard. [1955] On letterhead of the Permanent Commission of the Treaty of Brussels, in London.

Size: 20 x 16 cm. An interesting letter, beautifully signed by Romain Gary, eager to move forward with negotiations for the publication of The Roots of Heaven. Gaston Gallimard was not particularly quick to respond to the author, since his publishing house was still burdened with unsold copies of his latest novel, The Colors of the Day, published by Gallimard in 1952. This letter is instructive because it shows that the possibility of publication at Julliard was seriously considered.

In this regard, there is a letter from the same Odette Arnaud to Romain Gary, dated July 16, 1954, strongly pushing in that direction. “There is, after all, one question I would like to ask you immediately, because it will guide all our work.

The question is this: would you consider leaving Gallimard, despite the fact that it is truly the best intellectual environment for you and despite Gallimard’s very deep friendship for you? At Gallimard we run up against an immense, routine-bound organization. Needless to say, there are advantages to going elsewhere, since you can guess them. That elsewhere could hardly be anything other than Julliard.

” Dear friend, how are your negotiations with Gaston going? Before going in for surgery, Michel told me that Gaston is handling the matter. If Gaston drags his feet, we will go to Julliard. In 1954, Gary was not promoted to first-class counselor until the end of his mission in New York. Upon his return, he was appointed embassy secretary in London.

On the letterhead: The Treaty of Brussels provided for military, economic, social, and cultural cooperation among its member states, as well as a mutual defense clause. It was signed for 50 years by France, the United Kingdom, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. It gave rise to a Western Union that anticipated the Western European Union, a purely defensive alliance. Gaston and Michel Gallimard, Gaston Gallimard’s nephew, whom he regarded as his spiritual son and who tragically died in the car accident in 1960 that also claimed the life of Albert Camus. Below, a splendid photograph of Romain Gary at home on Rue du Bac in 1971 by Tony Grylla (thanks to Autographes des siècles).