Christie's: The Albin Schram Collection of Autographed Letters: Lot 20
BRETON, André (1896-1966). Autograph letter signed to Pierre de Massot ('Mon cher Ami'), Paris, 3 May 1961, 1½ pages, large 4to , on paper with printed heading of Mostra Internazionale del surrealismo, Milano, Maggio 1961 .
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BRETON, André (1896-1966). Autograph letter signed to Pierre de Massot ('Mon cher Ami'), Paris, 3 May 1961, 1½ pages, large 4to , on paper with printed heading of Mostra Internazionale del surrealismo, Milano, Maggio 1961 . A warm apology for his silence, 'Les défaillances de la volonté, auxquelles je ne suis que trop exposé en temps normal, sont alors le régime de chaque jour, de chaque heure'. He imagines Assy (where his correspondent is apparently convalescing) to be beautiful -- 'Je vois cela à travers un de ces canons de quartz qui m'ont toujours fasciné'. The final paragraph concerns a recent development, 'cette singulière évolution', concerning Messali, in which malicious representation may have played a part 'contre le M.N.A.-- tout comme autrefois contre Trotsky et la 4ème. Qu'en pensez-vous?' The reference to the often imprisoned Messali Hadj, the veteran and relatively moderate leader of the Algerian revolution, and his party, the Mouvement National Algérien (MNA), was very topical as Messali had recently been released by de Gaulle. Pierre de Massot (1900-1969), writer and journalist, had many links to the avant-garde and especially to dadaïsme.
