Marguerite YOURCENAR - L'Œuvre au noir [avec carte de visite autographe manuscrite] - 1968

Gallimard, NRF, 1968. Original edition (Printed on April 26, 1968) In-8 paperback, with a jacket, in which a signed card from the author to Denise Bourdet, a literary as well as social figure of the salons, has been affixed at the tab.

"She was my closest friend. She illuminated my literary life and my life in general. Everything drew us together, nothing separated us (...) one of the most distinguished, most elegant, most intelligent women of the post-war period. What primarily drew us together was the same conception of literature (...). We were also drawn together by our common origin. And we found ourselves, as we rose to join brilliant societies, loving their manners, their setting and their way of life. Finally, she, like me, had a taste for wit, even a sharp tongue. She was never fooled by anything or anyone (...) led a distinguished parasitic existence. Friend of everyone, she was always invited (...). Highly intelligent, she knew how to make herself indispensable, and she also had the gift of organizing the relay points."

Roger Peyrefitte, Propos secrets, pp. 33–35