HERRIOT (Edouard). - Lot 386

HERRIOT (Edouard). 1872–1957. Politician, iconic mayor of Lyon. Autograph manuscript signed “La Politique et l’Intelligence.” 1947. 26 pp., in-4 format, on the reverse side of letterhead used by the President of the National Assembly. A lengthy article by Edouard Herriot dedicated to former Prime Minister Paul Reynaud (1878–1966), written on the occasion of the publication of his memoirs (La France a sauvé l’Europe, Flammarion, 1947). Titled “Politics and Intelligence,” it contains numerous cross-outs and marginal notes. One sheet contains a typewritten letter signed “Herriot, Jeanneney” to the President of the Republic (Bordeaux, June 18, 1940). The text is divided into three parts: I. The Problem of the Armored Divisions, II. The Franco-Soviet Alliance, and III. The Armistice of June 1940. “(…) Paul Reynaud’s two essential qualities are intelligence and courage. He can claim as his own the line from *An Evening with Monsieur Teste*: ‘Stupidity is not my strong suit’ (…)”. He discusses Churchill, De Gaulle, *Mein Kampf*, the USSR, and the important role Paul Reynaud played in May–June 1940, at the time of the armistice. Text published in the *Revue de Paris* in October 1947 (54th Year, No. 10). ENCLOSED: 4 handwritten letters from Herriot addressed to the editor of the *Revue de Paris*.