Henry de MONTHERLANT (1896-1972). L.A.S., [1941], to a journ - Lot 471

Henry de MONTHERLANT (1896-1972). L.A.S., [1941], to a journalist; 4pages in-4. Interview with a journalist, entirely written by Montherlant (questions and answers), upon his return to Paris during the Occupation. He recalls that he was wounded in June 40 and spent a year in the unoccupied zone... "Parisians probably didn't fully realize the sense of freedom one felt - especially an intellectual - when returning to the occupied zone. Without wishing to criticize the "Moral Order" regime, which in certain periods has its necessity, one can't help but feel a sense of breathing when one enters a more natural atmosphere. Many manifestations of social life are as if struck, in z.n.o., with a kind of provincial spirit, a spirit of sub-prefecture". He is about to publish Le Solstice de Juin, an essay he wrote a year ago, but which he is reworking and reinvigorating, as he was struck by "the anemic character of the pages I wrote in z.n.o.". He also recalls an album published at the time of the invasion, Paysage des Olympiques, with photographs by Karel Egermeier: "It was in my company that the artist travelled the stadiums, looking for scenes and models to be used in this illustration of the Olympics. [...] When you're surrounded by a world in perpetual motion, as the one we live in is, what a joy it is to rediscover what is eternal in the beauty of youthful faces and bodies!"...