CÉLINE (Louis-Ferdinand). Autograph letter signed "Destouche - Lot 119

CÉLINE (Louis-Ferdinand). Autograph letter signed "Destouches" to the French consul in Jersey, Jean Delalande. Saint-Malo, [July 1937]. 2 pp. folio. "My dear consul, me again! JE MEDITE DE MONTER ENCORE UNE FOIS A L'ASSAUT DE S[AIN]T-HELIER [principal bourg de Jersey] mais avec une petite amie [sa future épouse Lucette Almanzor] et deux bicyclettes. I'll be landing from S[ain]t-Malo in early August. But the bicycles? What do I have to do to avoid paying English customs? Do I have to knock you out with such a problem? I'm ashamed. At last you are always so friendly that [I] take this audacity. Just tell me if it's silly. Then I'll come frankly to atone. This girlfriend is very decent, very kind, very discreet. NOTHING TO ALARM THE ENGLISH BOURRIQUES..." CELINE AND "LES BOURRIQUES ANGLAISES" IN JERSEY. Busy writing Bagatelles pour un massacre, literally obsessed by the idea of a Jewish and Communist threat against him, Céline had gone to the island of Jersey at the beginning of May to look into the possibility of buying a house that could serve as a refuge in case he had to leave France. In the context of the Coronation of George VI (May 12, 1937), British policy was particularly attentive to foreigners on its territory, and Céline, whose reputation was sulphurous, had been confined to his hotel and deprived of his passport on May 14. The French consul in Jersey, Jean Delalande, who had apparently already met Céline in Brittany, came to put an end to the situation. To thank him, Céline offered him part of the manuscript of Casse-pipe. They remained on excellent terms, meeting again in Saint-Malo, and Jean Delalande later married a friend of Céline's for a second time.