[Ferdinand ALQUIÉ]. Correspondence between the surrealists a - Lot 37

[Ferdinand ALQUIÉ]. Correspondence between the surrealists and Ferdinand Alquié. 1936-1966. 13 autograph letters, totaling 13 pages in various formats. Important correspondence to Ferdinand Alquié (1906-1985) from Hans Bellmer, René Char, René Magritte, E.L.T. Mesens, Benjamin Péret, Raymond Queneau and Yves Tanguy. A loyal ally of the Surrealists, the philosopher and teacher Ferdinand Alquié (1906-1985) did not define himself as a Surrealist. He wrote Philosophie du surréalisme (1955), directed the Cerisy-la-Salle decade on the history of surrealism in 1966, and published Entretiens sur le surréalisme two years later. On this occasion, he thanked André Breton for having taught him, in his twenties, the wonderful meaning of the word "freedom". Detail: - Hans BELLMER. Paris, June 5, 1957. 1 page in-4. Letter of thanks for a text by Alquié dedicated to Petite anatomie de l'image, to appear in the magazine La Parisienne. It also mentions a photograph by Joë Bousquet that Jean Brun will send him for reproduction. Bellmer was to illustrate the cover of Solitude de la raison, published by Alquié in 1966. - René CHAR. L'Isle-sur-Sorgue, May 29, 1945. 1 page in-4. "Beautiful letter of intellectual complicity: There is certain silent knowledge that expresses itself for a long time inside the being before discovering its exit, its impetus and its greenness. Your thought is familiar to me. I've shared your lucid wrath many times. The continent we have adopted, with its few comforts, will not long solicit the foolish and exuberant who live in a climate of distraught complacency. So communications will always be affectionately open between you and me, and that makes me happy. - René MAGRITTE. [Brussels] March 30, 1966. 1 page in-8, headed with his name and Brussels address. About the Cerisy colloquium, which he will not be able to attend: "I am certain that, during the Decade, precise and necessary ideas will be able to dispel much of the confusion responsible for the lack of interest, even futility, that characterizes the so-called 'avant-garde' (I have just seen an edifying text on this subject, in which a painter is said to have seen the invisible, quite simply!) - E. L. T. MESENS. [London] July 21, 1959. 1 page in-8, headed to his London address. He announces the dispatch of his collection Poèmes 1923-1958, to be illustrated with drawings by Magritte. - Benjamin PÉRET. Paris February 22, 1952 and March 19, 1954. 2 letters of ½ page in-4 and 1 page in-12. About an upcoming trial in which Péret wishes to name Alquié as a witness, and a petition in favor of comrades condemned in Spain. - Raymond QUENEAU. February 6, 1963 and January 24, 1966. 2 letters, each one page in-8, the second on Nrf letterhead. Proposal to collaborate on a "club-style" edition of the Discours de la Méthode; the second letter concerns preparations for the Cerisy symposium. - Yves TANGUY. Paris, 1936-1938. 5 letters of 5 ½ pages. Friendly correspondence, evoking, among others, André Breton and Joë Bousquet, and Tanguy's work. In particular, there is mention of the framing of a watercolor on November 29, 1937: "We do have our friend Georges Hugnet 13 rue de Buci who works for us, but quite between us I find him a little expensive and often tasteful, a little tarabiscoté. He's more specialized in bookbinding".