Jules Verne - Autograph Letter Signed - 1897

Autograph letter signed by Jules Verne (1828-1905).

Amiens, December 30, 1897; 1 page in-12 on a double checkered sheet. Size with frame: 26 x 21.3 cm / Without frame: 13.2 x 10.5 cm.

Beautiful and valuable letter of encouragement for the spread of the French language abroad. In it, the author of Vingt Mille Lieues sous les mers (Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea) salutes a "good patriotism", which we tried to oppose to the sterile or bellicose patriotism of rhetoric, widely in the air at the end of 1897. This "practical patriotism", Jules Verne will have put into practice, making the French language and culture radiate usefully on all continents and well beyond his century.

Beautiful signature.

"Amiens December 30, 1897

I learn that you have just founded a magazine in Vienna, with the aim of propagating the French language abroad.

You are thus coming to the aid of the Alliance Française, which, for the same purpose, has already done so much good and will do so much more in the future.

I can therefore, like all your fellow citizens, only approve of the motive that has prompted you to act: it is patriotism, good practical patriotism, and one that should be encouraged with all one's might.

So receive, Sir, my sincere congratulations, and believe me to be fully devoted to your work.

Jules Verne"

The Alliance Française was created on July 21, 1883 on the initiative of Pierre Foncin, geographer, historian and general inspector of secondary education, and Paul Cambon, former chief of staff to Jules Ferry, and then resident general in Tunis, and with the support of a committee that included such luminaries as Philippe Berthelot, Jean Jules Jusserand, Ferdinand de Lesseps, Louis Pasteur, Ernest Renan, Félix Charmetant, Armand Colin and Jules Verne,

The Alliance aimed to rebound from the French defeat of 1870 by strengthening French cultural influence abroad in the nascent colonial empire.

The Alliances françaises, networks of local associations, are present today in over a hundred countries and contribute to the teaching and practice of the French language. In 2023, the Alliance Française celebrated its 140th anniversary.