[Loti, Pierre]

Three letters in handwriting on folded sheets measuring 22,5x18 cm. The letters, all in French, are dated 13th Nov. 1895, 14th Dec. 1895, and 6th Feb. 1896; comprising 46, 112 and 14 lines, respectively. The sheets have been folded twice and are insignificantly soiled. Without envelopes. Lucien Jousselin was a close friend of Pierre Loti and played an extraordinarily important role in the making of Loti's first novel Aziyadé, which gave Loti immense success as a writer of the Orient and also managed to spread sympathy for the Ottoman cause against Russia. The novel, which claims to be the authentic writings of an English marine lieutenant translated into French, was in fact a compilation of Loti's semi-autobiographical diary entries and fictional letters, the latter either to his sister in Brightbury or to and from his closest friend ""Plumkett"". It is widely recognised by Loti experts that Plumkett in reality was identical to his long-time friend Lucien Jousselin, without whom the novel most likely wouldn't have been published at all. The manuscript was originally sent to G. de Polignac who didn't manage to get it published and was then transmitted to Lucien Jousselin. It was clear to Jousselin that he needed to rewrite and improve Aziyadé and also leave out parts he deemed too shocking for the French public. He then managed to get it published at the famous publishing house Calmann Levy. The contract was signed on 16th February 1878 by Jousselin himself under the name of ""M. Julien Viaud, officier de marine, actuellement en voyage"". The letters offered here are dated almost twenty years later. They are very personal and begin with a response to the death of one of Loti's children. Jousselin, now stationed in Rome as a diplomat, writes that the news of Loti's grief caused him immense suffering. ""My affection for you has always been bizarre, irregular and complicated, just like myself and yourself."" The handwriting is in this first letter shaky and upset. The following letter mentions a rendez-vous in Rochefort (where Loti lived at the time) and how he, Jousselin, hopes to talk about memories from the past. The last, and perhaps most interesting and personal letter, deals with the existential responsibility of being a father. ""Because you really have to try to make their lives happier than ours once were, easier, more balanced between glorious beliefs and mortal anxiety"".