BERNSTEIN Henry (1876-1953). 4 L. A. S. and 8 L. S., 1946-1951, to General de Gaulle; 22 pages various in-4 and in-8, 4 headed Théâtre des Ambassadeurs, Henry Bernstein; 10 with autograph apostille from de Gaulle, plus 2 minutes of partly autograph replies from the General. A very rich collection spanning several years and testifying to the playwright's loyalty to General de Gaulle. [Henry Bernstein, who was exiled to the United States during the Occupation, wrote Portrait d'un défaitiste (Portrait of a defeatist), criticising Marshal Pétain, and was stripped of his French nationality by the Vichy government in 1941]. 30 September 1946. Bernstein expressed his deep admiration for the General, who had left office: "Your epinal speech has already become part of French history. Like all your great words, it is an act - and one fraught with destiny. The page is superb: all the answers follow on from each other, bursting with truth, in a shortcut of great style"... He denounced "the parties" and all those who "have learned nothing from your lesson of sublime energy, from your example, whatever they may have sung to you. The disaster taught them nothing - neither the Resistance nor the Liberation! 1937 came back"... At the top, de Gaulle wrote: "I sent him a note". 19 February 1947: "Before leaving Paris for three months, let me tell you that I am even more attached to you today than I was in the great days, the days of anguish and ardour of London, Algiers and Normandy... How exhilarating those terrible times were, especially compared to the present one, which is so sordid that it somehow ceases to be frightening"... In the header, de Gaulle wrote: "I have replied". 22 February 1948. Bernstein states that he wrote "a letter that appeared on the editorial page of the political section of the New York Times [...] under the title chosen by the paper's editors: France and de Gaulle". He felt "that this article had been read and commented on in Washington and New York and that it had not been entirely useless". At the top of the letter, de Gaulle wrote: "Moi". A typed note presents the article (not attached). - 19 March, the playwright refers to a speech given by the General at Compiègne that "took him by surprise" and considers it to be "the most beautiful" he has ever given: "your serious and reasonable words asked for the heart". He continued in admiration: "Nothing discourages you from France. You protect it, carry it and project it far beyond the French. He continued, still fierce with the General's detractors: "There is a much more virile and selfless feeling in your humanism than in their ridiculous impatience to regain as soon as possible what has been lost forever. He concluded: "Few people understand that France is, above all, an idea and that the love of this idea is not as smiling as a Boucher's love". De Gaulle noted: "I replied C. G." - 9 November. "A glimmer of hope is creeping into the nightmare. If France does not finally give itself a government in the spring - in other words, if you do not become Head of State - I find myself unable to imagine what the fate of our country will be a year later. I am astonished at those who do not share my anxiety and do not care about our politics. What, my God, can they count on? I have never forgotten what you said to me at Blair House in 1945 about the intellectual decline of a certain number of our fellow citizens"... De Gaulle wrote: "Me". - 17 December, praise for General de Gaulle's Vel d'Hiv speech: "It was at once aristocratic and popular and full of humour". De Gaulle wrote: "Moi". 17 March 1949. He thanks the General for having done him "the great honour of wanting [him] to be part of the National Council". He also spoke of a cabal waged by certain newspapers against him, in particular certain "Gaullist" reviews, which surprised him. At the top of the page, de Gaulle wrote: "moi. M. Pompidou". 1 January 1950, greetings despite the gloomy outlook for Western Europe... "Mon Général, I have the same deep friendship for you, the same gratitude. General, I have the same deep friendship and gratitude for you. I have loved women with perseverance, but your name represents for me the great passionate adventure of my long life. [...] A destiny is a very monotonous and usually boring thing, and we never forget the person to whom we owe a few years of accelerated pulsations, dreams and intensity. What's more, you have always shown me a special kind of sympathy, which has always touched me deeply"... De Gaulle wrote: "Me". In his 1951 letters, Bernstein once again reiterated his admiration for the General, despite the passage of time and the fact that the General's accession to the throne was still being put off. He recalls a meeting at Marly in early 1946 and words full of "visions" and "meaning" about the General's future. Elsewhere he says: "Your speeches are actions"... Two replies from General de Gaulle, partly autograph on typescript (1 p. in-4 each on General de Gaulle's letterhead). - 12 October 1948, he says he "was very touched by the letter" written "on the occasion of the recent elections"; he will have "great pleasure in seeing you". - 12 April 1949. He thanks Bernstein for his loyalty: "You are a fighting man"...