Gérard de NERVAL. L.A.S. " L. Gérard de Nerval ", Passy 23 September 1854, to M. Godefroy, agent of the Société des Auteurs; 4 pages in-4. Important letter, astonishingly lucid and determined, about his work and his health. Nerval had reported to Godefroy on the steps he had taken in Germany, during the mission entrusted to him by the Minister of Public Instruction, "in the interest of my colleagues, mainly in Leipsick and Weimar, to obtain the realization and the execution of the international treaties relating to the right of translation"; he mentions in particular the answers of Ackermann, Liszt, Hoffmann of Fallersleben... "You have been kind enough to write to England and Spain to assure me of the ownership of the new book entitled Aurelia &c. of which I have shown you the first books. I am sorry to have pressed you a little in this respect, but the first two sheets were in press and I did not think I had to worry about my health yet. Two days after our meeting I had sent to Leipsick the first article composed for the Revue de Paris and I was going to send you four similar proofs, when M. Blanche, my doctor, judged that the fatigue of the trip, combined with the numerous steps I had taken on my return, had made me tired, which was indeed the case, and advised me to rest for a few days. For the past two months I have been subjected to severe hygiene and it is only now that I am allowed to communicate in writing with friends and relatives. However, do not worry about the execution of the work, which is more or less finished and corrections can be made on proofs. One part is printed in the Artist and the two fragments are destined to be joined. I have in Passy almost the totality of the handwritten copy". He was going to conclude a treaty with Dutacq who "bought the copyrights of several volumes", and he now fears that his health problems will make everything fail... "I would be plunged back into a very sad uncertainty if, by too much concern for my health, I were put in no state to face my numerous commitments and to pay even the expenses of my illness"... He asks Godefroy to send a commissioner to Doctor Blanche to assure him of the reality and importance of his work, in order to be able "without too much work to take over the direction of important affairs for my future and which can only be handled by myself"... He gives his address: "in Passy-les-Paris, Maison de Santé du Docteur Blanche, 1, rue de Seine". Attached is a document written and signed by GODEFROY, "lawyer", Paris October 9, 1854 (1 page in-4, a little crumbled). "We, the undersigned, friends of Mr. Gerard de Nerval, man of letters, have the honor to ask Mr. Doctor Blanche to authorize the exit of Mr. Gerard de Nerval as well as the removal of all that belongs to him"... At the bottom, autograph note signed by Jules JAN1N : " Here is Gérard who wants me to sign this paper, and as I have nothing to refuse him, I sign, referring myself completely to what is easier to do "... Œuvres complètes (éd. Guillaume-Pichois, Pléiade), t.III, p. 891. Former collections of Arsène and Henry Houssaye; Jules Marsan (n° 102); then Daniel Sickles (IX, 3745). Exhibition Gérard de Nerval, Maison de Balzac 1981 (n° 198).