Camille Doucet et Abraham Dreyfus - Dossier croisé de 5 lettres, 3 cartes et 2 brouillons - Affaire de censure de Thermidor de Sardou et différend à la Société des Auteurs - 1891

Set of 5 autograph letters signed by Camille Doucet, perpetual secretary of the French Academy, on the header “Institut de France,” accompanied by 3 autograph business cards and 2 autograph drafts by the playwright Abraham Dreyfus, author notably of Scènes de la vie de théâtre (Calmann Lévy, 1880).

The central piece of the file is the letter of January 21, 1891, in which Doucet, president of the Society of Dramatic Authors and Composers, explains himself after having been outvoted in committee: “My sentiments were not shared by the Commission. I bow. The majority must always be right. How could I have hurt you!”
This letter sits in the context of the censorship affair of Thermidor by Victorien Sardou, a play premiered at the Comédie-Française on January 24, 1891 and banned a few days later by government order, prompting Georges Clemenceau to intervene in the Chamber of Deputies on January 29, 1891.

Dreyfus’s draft responds directly to this January 21 letter: it contains the sentence “let us therefore put this misunderstanding on the account of Robespierre or Danton, your choice,” an explicit echo dated to the Thermidor episode. Thus this file brings together the two faces of the same exchange: Doucet’s letter of apology and Dreyfus’s draft response.

The other letters in the file document Doucet’s academic and theatrical life during 1887–1889:
- A note of thanks for an article by Dreyfus in Gil Blas, accompanied by theatre tickets for him and his wife (March 28, 1887);
- An entry card for Émile Augier’s funeral, who died October 25, 1889 (letter of October 27, 1889);
- The account of a posing session with the portraitist J.-B. Guth, who judged his own work “detestable” and redid it (November 15, 1889);
- An undated letter (“Tuesday”) where Doucet, after a request for charity forwarded to Dreyfus, worries about the possible circulation of his own autograph and asks for its destruction, a text with involuntary irony, since he himself survived until this sale.

The file also includes autograph business cards of Camille Doucet, printed “Secretary Perpetual of the French Academy - Palais de l’Institut,” complemented by handwritten messages:

- A card dated November 28, 1886, warmly recommending a “spirited collaborator” to his correspondent, in a playful tone (“Tell him that he isn’t any more stupid than you, that will flatter him”).
- An undated card, sending congratulations for “a great success,” consistent with a theatrical creation acclaimed by critics.
- A brief autograph note, without print, setting up an appointment.

- Dimensions: 13.6 x 21 cm for the letters; 10.8 x 7 cm for the business cards; 18 x 22.9 cm for Dreyfus’s draft
- Condition: Good overall, archival folds in use, a few light foxing and marginal stains without affecting the text. See photos for details
- Number of pieces: 9 pieces

- Charles Camille Doucet, born May 16, 1812 in the former 11th arrondissement of Paris and died April 1, 1895 in Paris 6th, was a French poet and playwright. Wikipedia

- Abraham Dreyfus, born June 20, 1847 in Paris and died November 7, 1926 in his hometown, was a French man of letters, principally known as a playwright and chronicler. Wikipedia

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