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13 March 2026

Newsletter of 13 March 2026

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This newsletter was sent to SAMP members on 13 March 2026. Receiving our newsletters as soon as they are published is a benefit reserved for members whose subscription is up to date.

NEWSLETTER OF 13 MARCH 2026

Ladies and Gentlemen, dear members,

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Unless we are mistaken, you have not yet renewed your membership for 2026.
If you would like to do so, you may visit:

- our HelloAsso page;

- our online shop;

- our website (particularly for payments by bank transfer).


The support of all our members is essential to sustaining the association and the Musée Marcel Proust - Maison de Tante Léonie.

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I. Visit to 102 boulevard Haussmann

The manager of the CIC branch occupying the building at 102 boulevard Haussmann, Mr Jacques Dombrowski, does us the honour of opening the doors of his branch and showing us what remains of the flat where Proust lived between 1906 and 1919.

Two dates have been set for the time being (there may be others):

- Friday 10 April at 3.30pm

- Friday 5 June at 3.30pm.

To reserve your place, please write to us at contact@amisdeproust.fr, specifying clearly which date(s) interest you.

As these visits are limited to 15 people, it is advisable to book promptly. Proof of identity will be required on the day of the visit.

II. Stolen letter

The owner of a letter from Marcel Proust to the marquis Ilan de Casa Fuerte has informed us that the letter was stolen from her during a burglary in Burgundy. We are letting you know in case the thieves attempt to resell it.

III. Suspension of the Paris–Illiers SNCF line on the weekend of 23/24 May

We have learned with regret that, owing to engineering works at Rambouillet station, no trains will run between Paris and Chartres from 23 to 25 May, which is precisely the weekend on which our "journée des aubépines" is due to take place. We intend to set up a car-sharing system for those coming from Paris. Anyone with spare seats in their vehicle, or anyone looking for a lift, may let us know by writing to contact@amisdeproust.fr (specifying what time they intend to return, and what would be the ideal meeting point). We hope in this way to be able to offer all those registered a solution enabling them to reach Illiers-Combray (SNCF indicates that a replacement bus service would be set up between Rambouillet and Chartres, but we do not know either its timetable or even its frequency).

IV. Publication of BIP 56 - 2026

The Bulletin d'Informations Proustiennes (BIP) no. 56 (not to be confused with the association's journal, the Bulletin Marcel Proust) has just been published. Under an agreement with the publisher Honoré Champion, we are offering it for sale on our website (38 euros plus postage).

Here is the presentation text for this issue, as sent to us:

This year, the Bulletin d'informations proustiennes carries the first instalment of an inventory of inscribed copies of Les Plaisirs et les Jours, undertaken by Thierry Laget. It also offers a substantial thematic dossier, compiled and introduced by Julie André, on Proust and thinkers of nature – Emerson, Thoreau, Ruskin, Michelet, Maeterlinck, Fabre and Darwin. Bringing together contributions from Christophe Pradeau, Florence Godeau, Céline Surprenant, Mat Fournier, Edward J. Hughes and Emily Eells, this dossier closes with a round-table discussion, chaired by Julie André, bringing together the views of Françoise Leriche, François Proulx and Jeffrey Burkholder. Readers will also find the latest instalment of Emmanuelle Kaës's study of Proust's schoolboy writings, and the continuation of Yuji Murakami's reflection on the ending of À la recherche du temps perdu. And, as always, the "Notes de lecture" and the three sections "Ventes", "Manifestations" and "Publications" round out this issue.

V. Proustian news

In publishing news, the following releases are worth noting:

- the publication of "La petite fille au ruban bleu", by Natalie David-Weill, published by Flammarion. It is a biography of Irène Cahen d'Anvers, mother of Nissim de Camondo, and of her family. Although the book focuses on the period of the Second World War, Proust is frequently cited in it. Natalie David-Weill will come and present this book to us on 16 April at the hôtel Swann, as part of the "Rencontres des Amis de Marcel Proust".

- the publication, by the Revue d'Histoire Littéraire de la France, of a review of the book "Le Cercle de Marcel Proust IV", recently co-published by Honoré Champion in collaboration with the association

- the online release of a new episode in the Proust, Bagatelles series, broadcast on Fréquence Protestante, with Nicolas Ragonneau

VI. Calendar of Proustian events

27 March (new date), 10 April, 22 May, 19 June, by video-conference, from 3.30pm to 5.30pm, seminar on the editing of Proust's correspondence, organised by Françoise Leriche and open to all (link for the video-conference)

16 March, at the École normale supérieure, as part of the seminar « Papiers. Livres. Archives. Bibliothèques », a lecture by Antoine Compagnon: Proust exposé ?

16, 17 and 23 March: Une soirée avec Proust, at the théâtre Marigny (readings from the correspondence and the work by Julie Depardieu, Nicolas Maury, Hugo Becker and Thibault de Montalembert). The theatre is offering us a reduced rate (€35 instead of €45 in category 1, €20 instead of €25 in category 3), available by booking via this page: https://billetterie.theatremarigny.fr/fr/product-bundle-multi-steps/80

18 March, at 7pm, at the hôtel Swann, as part of the "rencontres des amis de Proust": presentation of the Musée Bonnat-Helleu, which has just reopened in Bayonne, by its director, Barthélémy Etchegoyen Glama

19 March, at the librairie Delamain (Paris), launch of the book by Evelyne Bloch Dano, Le parfum des années (collection "Ma nuit au musée", a night spent at the Villa du Temps retrouvé)

19 March, at the Maison des Associations in Biarritz, a lecture by Jean-Christophe Antoine, "La Madeleine sans Proust"

20 March, at the hôtel Swann, a meeting between Luc Fraisse and Mireille Naturel around "Travaux proustiens choisis" by Philip Kolb, published by Classiques Garnier

24 March, at 7pm, at the hôtel Swann, again as part of the "rencontres des amis de Proust": presentation by Philippe Blay and members of the quatuor Tchalik of a new recording of works by Reynaldo Hahn (including the Trio, composed partly at Beg-Meil during the stay with Proust, in 1895)

31 March, at 6.30pm, at the town hall of the 11th arrondissement of Paris, a lecture by Jean-Yves Tadié, "Les Villes thermales dans la Littérature"

10 April, 5 June: visit to 102 Bd Haussmann (see above)

16 April, at the hôtel Swann, as part of the "rencontres des amis de Proust": presentation by Natalie David-Weill of her book on Irène Cahen d'Anvers (see above)

Saturday 23 May: journée des aubépines at Illiers-Combray: a lecture on Anna de Noailles by Françoise Breuillaud Sottas, historian, curator of the exhibition on Anna de Noailles shown at Evian in 2019, a convivial lunch at the restaurant, a piano recital by Philippe Cassard, readings from Proust's correspondence with Anna de Noailles by Ivan Morane (see above).

29 May: a study day on Pélerinages proustiens organised at the École Normale Supérieure by Christophe Pradeau

Saturday 20 June: pianola demonstration and Proustian readings at the musée de la musique mécanique in Dollon (Sarthe) (an event proposed to the association by Jean-Paul Henriet; more information to follow)

28 and 29 September, in Barcelona, a conference on Marcel Proust et les langues minoritaires ou minorées, organised by ARIPIC and the société catalane d'amis de Marcel Proust


Also:

Every Sunday until 12 April, at the théâtre Essaïon (Paris), the show Proust en clair, by Jacques Mougenot. The theatre is offering SAMP members a reduced rate of €15 (instead of €25). To do so, please book either by email at the following address: essaionreservations@gmail.com, or by telephone on 01 42 78 46 42, quoting the code MADELEINE.

From 7 to 30 March, at the Petit Café (Paris XIV), an exhibition of drawings of outfits and dresses inspired by À la recherche du temps perdu, by Elisabeth Bin

Cynthia Gamble will give a lecture in English, in Amsterdam, on 11 April, on Marie Nordlinger, at the invitation of the société néerlandaise des amis de Marcel Proust.

From 21 May to 27 September, at Tate Britain (London), an exhibition on James McNeill Whistler

Obituary

It is with great sadness that we learned of the death, on 25 February, at the age of 89, of François-Bernard Michel, professor of medicine, pulmonologist, member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts. He was notably the author of Proust et les écrivains devant la mort (Grasset, 1995), Proust et Beckett (Actes Sud, 2011) and Le Professeur Marcel Proust (Gallimard, 2016).

We extend our most sincere condolences to his family and loved ones.

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As usual, in the previous letter (2 March) you will find other information, some of which is still relevant.

Yours faithfully,

Jérôme Bastianelli

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As a reminder - Journée des Aubépines 2026

10.30am, salle des fêtes at Illiers-Combray a lecture on Anna de Noailles by Françoise Breuillaud Sottas, historian, curator of the exhibition on the poet that had been scheduled at Evian in 2019.

12.30pm: lunch at the restaurant La Madeleine d'Illiers (bookings: https://www.helloasso.com/associations/societe-des-amis-de-marcel-proust/evenements/aubepines-2026)

3.30pm, concert by Philippe Cassard in the church at Illiers-Combray:

  • Gabriel Fauré: 2ème Nocturne
  • Reynaldo Hahn: Effets de nuit sur la Seine - Matinée parisienne
  • Érik Satie: Je te veux
  • Claude Debussy: La plus que lente - Valse Romantique - Clair de lune - Jardins sous la pluie
  • Emmanuel Chabrier: Mélancolie - Scherzo-Valse (extraits des Pièces pittoresques)
  • Camille Saint-Saëns: Valse mignonne op.104
  • Maurice Ravel: Pavane pour une infante défunte - Rigaudon (extr. du Tombeau de Couperin)
  • Frédéric Chopin: Barcarolle op.60

7pm, at the Maison de Tante Léonie: a reading of Proust's correspondence with Anna de Noailles, by Ivan Morane.

In addition, as indicated in this letter, a resident of Illiers has informed us that she is organising a complementary programme, featuring in particular the participation of Véronique Aubouy.

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