Letters to the French Academy, Paperback Book, By: Carlier, Christophe

A custom as old as the French Academy requires any candidate to write to the Perpetual Secretary to formulate his request and attempt to plead his case. Thousands of letters, mostly unpublished, have thus accumulated in the archives of the Institut de France. The most beautiful can be found here. They compose both a chronicle of literary life, a manual of eloquence and a gallery of self-portraits. From Bossuet to Levi-Strauss, via Voltaire, Lamartine or Valery, this collection is not limited to the only glories of the institution. It also presents many rejected, some unknown, often touching, others as illustrious as Balzac, Baudelaire, Zola or Verlaine. Supplements without a future or authentic pieces of literature, these letters are so many acts of faith. In such a context, immortality is not an empty word: the success of a letter of application can depend on the brilliance of a lifetime.