BLOY Léon - Lot 69

BLOY Léon AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED. May 1897. 3 1/2 pages in-8 (restoration at head of page, fold marks and soiling). Virulent letter on the fire at the Bazar de la Charité. This institution had been founded in 1885 by members of Catholic high society, and the fire provoked ideological and even violent reactions, such as that of Léon Bloy... I hope, my dear André, not to scandalize you by telling you that when I read the first news of this appalling event, I had the clear and delicious sensation of an immense weight lifted from my heart. Admittedly, the small number of victims limited my joy. This word "bazaar" coupled with "charity" is the beginning of justice... This natural thought: God strikes, therefore he strikes justly did not occur to anyone, or if it did, it was immediately dismissed as a thought of horror. Ah, had we been dealing with a population of miners, people with dirty hands, we might have seen things more clearly, their eyes being much less full of tears, but duchesses and viscountesses who had come together to do good, as the generous gaga François Coppée put it, songez-donc chère Madame! With its plenary authority, the newspaper La Croix canonized the victims... An astonishing document.