STEVENSON Sidonie Gabrielle COLETTE / Signed autograph letter / Treasure Island

  
Autographed letter signed "Colette Willy" to Alfred Diard (Willy's secretary from 1903 to 1908) S. In-12°, in purple ink on gray bifolium. Period crease mark inherent to the folding. Colette sends Treasure Island to her lover Missy. I fear Willy has forgotten to ask you to send immediately to the marquise [Missy] the Treasure Island, by R.

Send it quickly, or have it sent by some Floury [a reference to the bookseller-publisher Henri Floury], after paying for it, naturally! A thousand affections Colette Willy." Colette met Mathilde de Morny, known as Missy, in 1905, at the private club Le Cercle des arts de la mode, which brought together writers, aristocrats, and journalists. The two women then began a sapphic relationship, and Colette left her marital home in November 1906 to live with her lover.

However, she remained very close to her husband Willy until 1907, before their separation became definitive in 1909, following the discovery of the sale of the rights to Claudine. It was Marcel Schwob who introduced young Colette to Anglo-Saxon literature; he was also a great admirer, as well as a friend, of Robert Louis Stevenson.