COCTEAU Jean (1889-1963) Lot n° 363

32 autograph letters signed Jean (or étoile), two with drawings, and 16 telegrams, 1932-1948, to Natalie PALEY; 54 pages various sizes (mostly in-4), 4 letters in pencil, 8 envelopes (in the name of Madame Lucien Lelong or Mme N. Desbordes) (some pages split at the folds or misplaced, one letter torn). Amazing and beautiful love correspondence, marked by the spells of opium and a mysterious miscarriage. A crazy and intense passion united the poet for some time (from spring to autumn 1932) with the beautiful Russian princess Natalie Paley (1905-1981), granddaughter of Alexander II, daughter of the Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovitch and Princess Olga Paley. She was the wife of the fashion designer Lucien Lelong, but above all his muse and star model, when she met Cocteau at the screening of Le Sang d'un poète. She was immediately won over by the poet's wit and charm, and Cocteau saw in her the woman he was waiting for, and who could give him a child. These love letters, which seem to be slowly being published, form the only truly amorous correspondence written by Cocteau to a woman, although he had the young Jean Desbordes in his life at the same time. They show a Cocteau violently in love, impatient, worried and tormented. We can only give a glimpse here. June 16, 1932 9 rue Vignon. After a scene: "I am paying for holy words that have fallen on foul ears [...] Know that I do not doubt - that I will never doubt you no matter what anyone says to me or what you do. If by some terrible misfortune I am wrong [...] make me report Petit-Crû [the dog]. I will return the ring and I will die. Know that if you give me a sign of you or your wonderful presence, no one in the world will ever suspect [...] This is a new man speaking - a dead man, in the "blessed" sense. I have acted as if in a superhuman world. I know now that humans deserve only lies". He adds at the bottom of the letter, "Burn".