Clemenceau (Georges)
Important collection of 81 letters to Admiral Frederick Maxse,

Covering matters of national and international politics including the Dryfus Affair to the Anglo-Boer War, all but one letter in French (one letter in English), approx.. 250 pages, v.s., visiting cards, on headed stationary of the Chambre des Deputes, La Justice and L'Aurore, many with their original envelopes, Dec. 1882 – Dec. 1899

Clemenceau was a leading radical politician in the period of these letters and had a close relationship with Maxse, British Royal Navy officer and radical liberal campaigner. The two men first met in 1872 in the aftermath of the Franco-Prussian War: Maxse had been a wholehearted supporter of France throughout the conflict and was, like Clemenceau, disgusted at the violent suppression of the Paris Commune.
The Dreyfus Affair dominated French politics for much of the period covered by these letters. Clemen-ceau was a leading Dreyfusard: an was owner and editor of the newspaper L'Aurore.
*** Provenance: By descent to Lady Violet Milner, nee Maxse (1872-1958); sale of her papers, Sotheby's, London, 23 July 1985, lot 409