Lettre au Général X… Que faut-il dire aux hommes ?
One of 10 copies on antique Hollande paper, numbered and initialed by the publisher (no. 3), after a single copy on Japanese paper.
One of the earliest booklets in the collection.
“This exceptional and capital testimony constitutes the spiritual testament of the departed writer”: this rare text was reprinted the following year, in a private edition limited to only 8 copies, by the Imprimerie générale du Sud-Ouest, for a bibliophile. Almost certainly written in June 1943, while Saint-Exupéry was undergoing training flights on the Lockheed P-38 Lightning, this celebrated letter was found among his personal papers after his disappearance (31 July 1944). Contrary to what is sometimes claimed, this letter is neither Saint-Exupéry’s last written text, nor is it dated July 1944; it therefore seems excessive to regard it as his “testament.” It nonetheless remains a mysterious letter whose recipient is unknown — scholarship leans toward General Béthouard rather than General Chambe. It survived intact among his working notes recovered at Borgo, neither dated nor sent.
From the library of Pierre Puech (Paris, Alde, II, 2010, no. 370).
Œuvres complètes, Pléiade, II, Notes et variantes, p. 1380.