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Ladies and Gentlemen, dear members,
The exhibition "Marcel Proust, prix Goncourt 1919" presented in the maison de Tante Léonie closed its doors on 25 August, after welcoming 6,250 visitors over 109 days of operation, which is quite a success. I would like to thank our partners (the Conseil départemental d'Eure-et-Loir, éditions Gallimard, the Association "Printemps proustien" and the town council of Illiers-Combray) as well as our sponsors (Crédit agricole Val-de-France, Société des Hôtels Littéraires, Intermarché d'Illiers-Combray, Mr François de Ricqlès), who have enabled us to demonstrate that our small museum can contribute to the tourist dynamism of Illiers-Combray and its surroundings while offering an ambitious cultural programme.
From Wednesday 11 September, the éditions Gallimard will present, in their gallery on the rue de l'Université (Paris VIIe), a slightly different version of this exhibition, which will undoubtedly be one of the highlights of the Proustian autumn. In addition, those of you who were unable to visit the exhibition in Illiers-Combray can purchase the catalogue on our website.
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The closing date for renovation works at the Maison de Tante Léonie is not yet precisely known, but it should be in December. In the meantime, an "autumn day" will be organised on Saturday 30 November 2019: Elodie Massouline, who works for the Direction des Affaires Culturelles of the Département d'Eure-et-Loir, will come to present the renovation works on the House, and Jean-Yves Tadié will offer us a short talk. Registration will open shortly.
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We have just relaunched the Proustian pastiche competition, which had been inaugurated last year. Entrants must submit their text by 31 March 2020, in one of the three categories: professional, amateur or school. To mark the 100th anniversary of Côté de Guermantes I, the texts must include the word Guermantes, whatever its meaning or context. The prizes will be announced on 16 May 2020. Good luck to those tempted by this challenge!
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Among Proustian news, let us mention the exhibition on Anna de Noailles, held in Evian until 3 November 2019, and the one on Proust and Reynaldo Hahn held in Venice until 31 October, "a Proustian day" at the château de Maintenon on Saturday 15 September, two presentations at the Hôtel le Swann (Paris VIIIe), one on 3 October with Nicolas Ragonneau and Jérôme Prieur, on the occasion of the publication of "Proust, Commercy 1915" and of "Dans les pas de Marcel Proust" (by William Friedkin), the other, on 8 October, with Luc Fraisse, on the occasion of the publication, by éditions de Fallois, of unpublished short stories by Proust. Let us also mention, this very day, Saturday 7 September, a "Proustian walk" in the grounds of the château de Martreil (Maine-et-Loir), and a meeting with Luc Fraisse, Xavier Gallais and Thierry Laget at l'opéra national du Rhin. On the other hand, many books on Proust are announced for the coming weeks; the website Proustomics offers a summary of these forthcoming publications.
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Finally, while awaiting the chance to see them displayed in our museum, or made available online within the inventory of our collections, the four letters from Proust to Louis d'Albuféra, acquired on 10 July with the support of the Ministère de la Culture and the Conseil départemental d'Eure-et-Loir (and thanks to your memberships!), can be downloaded in full via this link (available until 12 September): wetransferlettresalbufera.
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I shall be delighted to see, next weekend, those of you taking part in the visit to Cabourg proposed by Jean-Paul Henriet.
With my best wishes,
Jérôme Bastianelli
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