Claude DELVINCOURT (1888–1954). Handwritten letter, Priory of Hacquenouville near Dieppe, January 10, 1937, [to Jacques Thibaud]; 4 pages, in-4, addressed to him. He didn’t dare speak to him at their friends’ house, the Fournier’s… Gramophone is planning to record his *Danceries*: “As is generally the case with contemporary music, a recording can only have any chance of commercial success if you secure the collaboration of a virtuoso with the bow… Imagining what the *Danceries* would sound like performed by you, I had thought of mentioning it to you.” Shyness had prevented him from doing so, but having heard him say “such kind things about these pieces—which struck me as so spontaneous and sincere—that the project I’d been sketching out in my mind seemed to take shape, and today I can’t resist coming to ask you quite simply whether or not I’ve built a castle in the air! ” This recording could thus be featured at the next Paris Exposition, where contemporary musicians will have booths “where their scores and records will be made available to visitors for viewing or listening.” He hopes for the violinist’s indulgence “for the liberty I’m taking in coming here to share this dream with you—a dream that may well be nothing but a foolish one. I resolved to do so only because I know of your perfect simplicity, which is that of truly great artists”…