Guillaume APOLLINAIRE (1880–1918). Autograph letter signed “Guillaume de Kostrowitzky,” Nîmes, February 15, 1915, to Jean-Émile Laboureur in Nantes; 1 page, in-4 size, on Café Tortoni letterhead, with envelope. He thanks him for his good wishes. “Certainly, chance may bring us together. I’m a bit dazed from hours of trotting and galloping through the scrubland. There are several people from Nantes in my E.O.R. platoon. Indeed, there’s a lot of nonsense being said about Germany, but the greatest folly has been to attach any value to this country of idiocy and mediocrity—it’s right in the middle of Europe. I give you my word that if I’m measuring angles and riding all day, it’s in the hope of directing truly effective fire against those German donkeys. I must admit, by the way, that I’d gladly get drunk with you on some Rhine or Moselle wines”… He follows his signature with his military designations: “38th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Battalion, 70th Battery.”