Pierre LOUŸS. 13 L.A.S. "Pïerre", May-August 1898, to his brother Georges Louis; 34pages in-8 or in-12, envelopes and addresses. Beautiful, largely unpublished correspondence to his brother, on the publication of La Femme et le Pantin, and the end of his affair with Marie de Régnier. [Several letters are annotated in pencil by Louÿs, with errors on dates]. - May 15]. Busy schedule: dinners at Jules Maciet's, Lebarbier de Tinan père's, the painter Jean-Pierre Laurens's... "Yesterday dinner with Valéry, who has just had a rather worrying six-week attack of neurasthenia. I found him thin and pale. He talks insistently about the extra workload currently being imposed on the war and navy attachés, in view of a forthcoming and probable war with all the English speakers"... - May 18]. He cancels dinner, being "taken by a very annoying little indisposition, though not serious at all, and which has, as always, the main consequence of completely dumbing me down". His novel [La Femme et le pantin] "will be published tomorrow morning" [May 19]. - May 19] He goes to dinner at Larue's in a tuxedo; he mentions a project in which he would like to involve the actor Mounet-Sully "who has nothing to play for after Othello"... - May 20. "Stick [Henri de Régnier] is away from home every Friday and Saturday from five to seven. So you can, today or tomorrow, go and see him at that time, for example on your way home to get dressed. - But it seems to me that you can drop off just one card, if you like. It's better if you don't see X. [Marie de Régnier] at this time of day. [Marie de Régnier] at the moment. She's not at all pretty when she's in a bad mood". His novel [La Femme et le Pantin] "will be much shorter than I thought. I was supposed to do 24 feuilletons. I was hoping for 27. There will barely be 18". - May 23]. "I've been very woozy and feverish since yesterday, and I've turned down my two invitations for today. [...] If you want to see me one of these days, you'll be received at any hour and I'll show you to the slave so she won't take you for a fierce creditor"... - May 25. He saw his sister Lucie: "The apartment had previously been evicted. I played Venite Adoremus for her and everything went well. [...] Undoubtedly, my indisposition would allow me to go out; but it does better, it forces me to go out suddenly from time to time and as it does not admit any delay of convenience there is no way to dine in town under these conditions". As for La Femme et le pantin: "I had the impression that my serial wasn't doing badly; but that's the first time since the beginning. The whole thing seems to me to have a very loose style, with repetitions, overly colloquial turns of phrase, and "c'est" or "c'était" recurring six times per column. On the other hand, in the mouth of a character who tells the story from one end to the other, I couldn't use a sustained style all the time... but I realize now how difficult it is to avoid formulaic returns when you have the same gentleman speak for 4,000 lines. [...] the Journal's advertisement (P.L. the famous author, etc.) has made an enormous noise in the circles of my friends (I mean enemies)"... - [May 28]. He has been invited "for a fortnight by Mme Ricard [Augustine Bulteau] for Friday the 3rd, and as she has invited me to all her Friday evenings and I have not yet been able to go to any of them, I cannot countermand this dinner. I'd seem to be shunning her after her divorces"... - [July 8], about an article in La Vie Parisienne on La Femme et le Pantin: "I didn't give anything for this, but it's worth a good two hundred louis. And I have no idea where it came from". He suspects Mme Bulteau... - [July 10]. He goes to the inauguration of the Leconte de Lisle monument in the Luxembourg... His business with the publisher Borel is going well, and there is a project to stage Aphrodite at the Variétés... - [July 22]. Review of his love affairs, prior to the birth of Tigre de Régnier (September 3). "Afternoon I was at Stick's [Henri de Régnier] when M. [Marie] came in in her bathrobe, knowing I was there. "I'm coming because I need to lie down," she said. Indeed there was a small couch in the room; but as in the bedroom there is no doubt a bed... So she was looking for a pretext. Ten minutes later, Stick looked for none, and left the room to leave us alone"; a moment of confusion followed: "I could guess nothing, but deep sadness. [...] If you don't advise me otherwise, I'll go and see her often this month. As the term draws nearer, I'm more and more worried.