On the program of the famous Parisian auction house were these 14 unpublished letters from Tristan Corbière (1845-1875), the author of the collection “Les amours jaunes” and whom Paul Verlaine had classified among the Accursed Poets. Extremely rare and sometimes illustrated with small drawings, his letters, addressed to his family in Morlaix (29), had been written by the young Tristan, then aged between 13 and 17 and when he was in high school, first in Saint-Brieuc , then to Nantes.
Among the lots, a letter fetched €6,500. It is a missive addressed to his father from Nantes, May 16, 1861. “My dear father, I have not received a shadow of a letter from you this week, and yet I was expecting one, begins thus the letter. Fortunately, Mom, in the midst of the orgies of her Quimper baptism, did not forget me, and in the evening, when I no longer hoped for anything, a letter arrived from Quimper. I was all the more happy because I no longer had any hope for that day.” To illustrate his words, Tristan Corbière drew his self-portrait dressed in a high school uniform. We see him installed in a boat, on board of which he brandishes a sign on which he says “4th Greek”.
All lots found buyers
Dating from May 12, 1859, another letter from the Morlaisian writer, addressed to his mother and sister, found a buyer for €6,000. “You all urge me to console myself and I will tell you that I am starting to make up my mind by thinking about my next return,” writes the future author of “Yellow Loves”. A letter also accompanied by two drawings: one representing a bullfinch nest and the other, a self-portrait, still in a high school uniform.
Three other letters went for €5,000 and as many for €4,000. Estimated between €1,000 and €9,000, the different lots were all acquired during the sale.
