Gérard de NERVAL. L.A.S. "Gérard de Nerval", Paris November 7, 1854, to Doctor Émile Blanche, "Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur", in Passy; 3 pages large in-8 in blue ink, address with stamp and postmarks (small split). Very nice letter to Doctor Blanche. [On the return from the trip to Germany, Nerval was interned at Doctor Blanche's on August 8; on the intervention of the Société des Gens de lettres and in spite of the doctor's advice, he was released on October 19; this was the beginning of a wandering life that would end on rue de la Vieille-Lanterne at dawn on January 26, 1855. This is the penultimate letter that Nerval addresses to his doctor]. He congratulates Blanche on her "distinction" in the order of the Legion of Honor. He congratulates Blanche on her "distinction" in the order of the Legion of Honour: "It was no doubt intended to reward in you first of all the services rendered to art and to people by your excellent father, and also the tradition you have preserved, which is increased by your personal merit". Nerval kept the prejudices of an outgoing patient, a relative patient, I mean, and certainly sick in the eyes of science. My observations remain, for me, as to the errors I suppose in certain points of modern science; in Germany, Belgium and England in particular, certain new doctrines have triumphed, which you may have the right not to admit. I reserve the right to write my opinion, but I will always acknowledge the good care I have received from you and your wife, mainly from the moral point of view, as befits an affection whose various crises seem to be long over. Only one important grievance remains for me to define; it is the one that consists in seeing myself rejected as a friend and commensal of the society of your relatives and friends residing in Passy"... He lives "temporarily" at the Hotel de Normandie, rue des Bons-Enfans, "and I also reside sometimes in Saint Germain, where I work more freely, interspersing my obligatory occupations with walks and visits to people I know there. My life is, so to speak, public"... He hopes to be able to pay Blanche, and to rid him of his furniture... "I have a promise of a representation for my benefit and it is well arranged. We'll say "for the benefit of an artist", the public owes me that, as well as some actors and directors I believe. It is, moreover, a fashion to create and it would be better for our existence than for our graves. Believe me, my dear Blanche, that deep down I appreciate all your care and that I will never speak ill of the house where I knew your father and loved to look at your mother as my own, your wife as a sister. [...] thanks to the kindness of my relatives and friends I can no longer be worried about my future"... The answer of Doctor Émile BLANCHE is attached, copy with autograph note ("Answer to the letter of Gérard dated November 7, 1854"), dated Passy November 9, 1854 (3 pages and a half in-8)... "I am pleased to learn that your prejudices as a patient who is out of the woods but not cured are gradually disappearing; I long for the moment when all your false ideas will have been replaced by correct ideas about the nature of the illness you have been suffering from, and about the care you have received; for then you will be cured [...... I had, to my great regret, to give up giving you care, which, no longer being received by you with confidence, could no longer be useful to you; at your repeated requests, I was obliged to hand you over to your family, and I saw you with sorrow refusing a hospitality which I had been happy to offer you, and which I wanted to continue for ever. When you left me, I told Me Labrunie, your aunt, that you were not in a condition to be left to your own strength, and that you needed assiduous supervision; I have since been informed that my worries were only too well founded... Œuvres complètes (ed. Guillaume-Pichois, Pléiade), t. III, p. 905. Former collections of Arsène and Henry Houssaye; Jules Marsan (n° 106); then Daniel Sickles (IV, 1330). Exhibition Gérard de Nerval, Maison de Balzac 1981 (n° 202).