LETTER: ALS to Paul Valery.
ALS TO PAUL VALÉRY
[Barney, Natalie Clifford] Autograph Letter Signed, “Votre l’amie l’amazone,” to Paul Valéry; 20 rue Jacob; 17 decembre, no year (ca. 1926).
One leaf of paper printed with a drawing of “L’Entrée du Pavillon de L’Amazone,” on the verso; creased. In a specially made cloth slipcase.
Written in French and friendly and flirtatious in tone; Barney commences by revealing to him that his letter to her in English seduced her with its inventive language; she writes, in the third person, “The Amazone thought ‘he needs it all in order to know he lacks nothing – what a lack of imagination!’” Barney’s purpose in writing to Valéry, however, was not to scold but to ask his advice about publishing 222 letters that Remy de Gourment wrote to her; she was confused about a letter she received about the publication of the book and wanted clarification. She asks that he “R.S.V.P,” and invites him, in closing, to knock on her door on Friday nights when he is en route to “l’academie,” that was the evening on which she hosted her salon.
Paul Valery (1871-1945) was a French poet, essayist and critic. He and Barney first met in Lily de Gramont’s bomb shelter, in 1917, where he was reciting his poem, La Jeune Parque, which consisted of a whopping 512 verses. With Andre Gide and Pierre Louys, he created the literary reviews La Conque and Le Centaure; all three men frequented Barney’s literary salon. At the conclusion of her letter, Barney asks, in parentheses, “Aren’t you a bit of a Plato?”
This letter, no doubt, regards the posthumous publication of de Gourmont’s “intimate” letters.
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