Henri GHÉON. 32 L.A.S., 1897-1929, to Francis Jammes; 43pages mostly in-8, including 2 postcards, 5 envelopes and 8 addresses (small cracks to 2 letters). Very fine literary correspondence between the poet and Francis Jammes. Complemented by the 64 letters from Francis Jammes, preserved in the Ghéon collection at the BnF [NAF 28142 (63)], the Correspondance Francis Jammes Henri Ghéon has been skilfully published by Jean Tipy (J & D éditions, 1988). We can only give an overview of this rich correspondence. It begins in February 1897, following an article by Ghéon on "Francis Jammes et la poésie d'humilité", which he considers "grateful to the poet who has given me so many joys". He informs Jammes of his critical and poetic publications in magazines; after his booklet Chansons d'Aube, he has "already finished a large volume of poems: Le Geste de l'Été", and is "also working on a tragedy: le Défricheur, and a book of verse and prose: les Labeurs et les Forces"... - In April, Ghéon thanks and congratulates Jammes for Naissance du Poète: "You have so simply magnified the great minute marked by the birth of a great poet like yourself, you make God, Angels and Men speak so sublimely, and such life animates nature, which suddenly expresses itself, and all this with so much decency, poetry and grace, that one cannot but love such a work deeply"... - In June, Ghéon was touched by the appreciation of his Chansons d'Aube: "you understood me, like the simple-hearted man that you are, and I like the fact that your letter was less a thank-you, less a compliment than a cry of emotion; this is a secret glory for me. Yes, we must have known each other once, from afar, me a little boy from a great northern plain, you from a hot mountainous south. [...] But I don't yet possess the deep sadness with which you seem imbued, even in your youngest grace. It's been a long time since I lost my father, and I have suffered a great deal; but I live with my mother, who is so good that I no longer think of grief, and family intimacy is for me a blossoming garden that has forgotten the storm. But I pity you, and I love your soul all the more, which seems like an exile, yet so in love with his new homeland"... - In August, he describes the village of Yport, where he is spending the vacations. "All the rising youth respects and admires you: you count with Griffin and Gide among the great elders who will have had the greatest influence on the new generation". As for himself, he's "only twenty-one and a half, and I'm working very slowly in the hope of a small literary place in a few years"... - In September, he recalls his stay in Cuverville with André Gide. "Gide read La Mort du Poète to me once more; I wept; in all sincerity, it is so far your most complete and profoundly human work; it is no longer literature, but life, for feeling alone adorns the words"... March 1898, Ghéon expresses his emotion at reading Jammes' Contes, and talks about his medical studies in Dr. Reclus' department. He agrees with Jammes that "Claudel has genius"... In January 1901, he recounts his trip to Algeria with André Gide: El Kantara, Biskra, Touggourt, Souf; he is on first-name terms with Jammes. - August 16, evocation of his home town of Bray-sur-Seine, where he has just settled as a doctor, and where he is to be written to under the name of "Docteur Vangeon": "My job as a doctor is a walk. And in the evening, my mind is washed to freshly conceive, and pursue my realizations: drama or novel... [...] the name Henri Ghéon must not be uttered in a country where clients do not admit that their doctor is only a poet!" April 22, 1902, Ghéon discusses Jammes's quarrel with Gide, and criticizes Jammes's Existences: "It's good Orthez, your life among imbeciles, but must we repeat their platitudes, better still, transcribe them! Mon pauvre ami, nous retombons dans la pire des esthétiques, l'esthétique naturaliste"... -August 9, 1904, mocking an article by Pierre Fons. "Ta Pomme d'Anis, c'était une bouffée de bruyères sèches dans ma plaine de froment d'or"... - May 3, 1906, beautiful letter on L'Église habillée de feuilles and Jammes's conversion: "Il fallait ça, mon cher vieil ami, que tu crois, ces aspirations à la foi qui sembaient ne aboutir finiraient, te l'avouerais-je, par gênerait mon admiration, l'agacer comme un simple tic littéraire. It was necessary, my dear Jammes. At last you've come into your own, and your life confirms your poet's dream. Thank you, Jammes. A warm thank you from the miscreant that I still am, and of which I can see that,