French writer and philosopher. A leading existentialist, he wrote literary works, including the autobiographical novel Nausea and the play No Exit, along with philosophical volumes that include Being and Nothingness. Sartre declined the 1964 Nobel Prize for literature. ALS in French, signed “JP Sartre,” one page, 8 x 9.5, no date. Translated from the French. In part: “So you don’t seem to be having such a shitty time. That’s good. It’s the first time that you are away from us for so long and you seem fine: all the better; it’s great progress. Maybe the little girls are helpful somewhat. That’s great and hooray for little girls. The two of us [and] Arlette went to Austria [The Arlette referred to here was Arlette Elkaim, an Algerian Jewish student, who became Sartre’s mistress at the age of 19 in 1956. In 1962, he adopted her, much to the chagrin of de Beauvoir, and left Arlette much of his estate when he died in 1981, also much to the chagrin of de Beauvoir]. We had six days of rain…beautiful weather the rest of the time…Ely met us at Lucerne and we went back to Paris by car. It was great. I just left Arlette who is nervous. But your mother is very well. Her vacation did her a lot of good…The beaver [a reference to Simone de Beauvoir; he called her “Beaver” because in English, de Beauvoir sounded so to him] and I are leaving tomorrow for Florence and Rome…Good-bye, my little Gerald…I will answer. See you in September. Cheerio.” Accompanied by the complete English translation. The letter is double matted and framed with a photo of Sartre among several books and a couple of quotes attributed to him, to an overall size of 20.5 x 14. In fine condition. R&R COA.
