Victor SERGE (1890-1947) anarchist revolutionary, then Marxist, and writer. 2 L.S. (the 1st with 5-line autograph apostille), Le Pré-Saint-Gervais September 16 and October 2, 1939, to André Fraigneau; 1page in-4 each. At the start of the war, on the publication of S'il est minuit dans le siècle (to be published by Grasset in 1939; André Fraigneau was then a reader at Grasset), and on his translation of Trotsky's Stalin. "I think that people will continue to read during the war, and consequently to publish; indeed, your recent circular letter spoke to me of the continuation of publishing activity. As you no doubt know, I have a novel with you, for which I signed the press release in June and which was due to come out in September (S'il est minuit dans le siècle); it so happens that the present circumstances, which since the Hitler-Stalin pact have focused attention on the USSR, allow me to hope that this book will be well received by the public. My book, which takes place in the USSR, in the prisons and in the country, is without doubt the only one that can, at the moment, explain many things in the form of a novel"... He suggests several slogans for the banner, and adds: "I also have a translation of Trotsky's Stalin in progress, about which I'll write to you shortly; I've submitted a large manuscript to your Paris office, and would like to take an advance on it"... In his second letter, he returns to these various subjects and proposes another presentation tape: "LINE STALINE STALINE STALINE STALINE STA without more. It just says what it means"...