OYEN MSS.
The Oyen mss., 1948-1968, are the letters of French essayist and dramatist Henry Milon de Montherlant, 1895-1972, to Pierre Emmanuel Oyen of Antwerp, Belgium. Montherlant's letters, many written from 25, quai Voltaire, Paris, are concerned with his writings: Le cardinal d'Espagne, Carnets..., Celles qu'on prend dans ses bras, Le chaos et la nuit, Coups de soleil, L'exil, Le fichier parisien, Fils de personne, La guerre civile, Les jeunes filles, Le Maitre de Santiago, Malatesta, Pasiphae, Port-Royal, La reine morte, La rose de sable, Textes sous une occupation, La ville dont le Prince est un Enfant.
Montherlant, who soon thereafter was to become a member of L'Academie Francaise, said in his letter of 21 May 1959 that the Academy was "le dernier refuge de la goujaterie." He died by his own hand. On 21 November 1968 he had written: "Touchant suicide, j'ai promis deux fois, jadis..."
The collection is accompanied by an inventory of the letters.
Collection size: 73 items