Description

Two autograph letters signed to Captain Jules Joseph Colette (1829-1905), father of the famous writer Sidonie Gabrielle Colette.

3 1/2 pages in-8 :

"Les Angelinières, by Grez-en-Bouère (dept. Mayenne) on 15 April 1871
My dear Colette, I was just about to reply to your kind letter of last month, which took a long time to reach me, when I received your brochure entitled: "To the Army".
I'd like to thank you for both items.
Madame Bourbaki is no less touched than I am by your memory of us; she recommends that I tell you so.
We've often talked about you; we haven't forgotten you on our side, I assure you.
I read your brochure with great pleasure; I agree with many of the ideas in it; I found in it all the enthusiasm of the heart and the patriotic feelings of which I know you are capable. I hope that one day we will not be as far apart as we are today and that we will be able to talk about the organisation of the army and the events that interest us. 
I'm very touched by your intention to write my biography, but I'm sure you share my view that it's best to keep silent about individuals when events are so serious that they absorb everyone's concerns. 
As for the slightest piece of information I can give you about my service record, I find it absolutely impossible to do it accurately from memory. The elements are scattered. Some of them are in Paris, others in Metz and the most recent ones in a trunk which the railway lost a month ago and which I have not yet been able to find. 
I was genuinely astonished to find in your letter the thought that, under the fallen regime, the truth has never been told in its entirety. For my part, I find that many things have been said and written, far too many; for, if the lawyers and journalists, the two great pleasures of our society, had been given less of a free hand, we would have been more concerned with the army and the preparation for war, described the expenditure allocated to the army as unproductive, and we would have suffered neither the external setbacks nor the internal trials to which our poor France has been and still is subjected. 
Let's hope for better times. You asked about me. I am getting better and better, and I hope to be able to recover completely, enjoying the peace and fresh air of the countryside. Mrs Bourbaki and I would ask you to send our best compliments to Mrs Colette. Yours faithfully
C. Bourbaki".

2 1/2 pages in-12 :

"My dear Comrade, 
Your letter of 28 December gave me the greatest pleasure; it brought back memories of the good times when we were together, and I recognised perfectly in it Captain Colette, full of heart, playful and so wonderfully endowed with the high qualities that make a man complete. You must be happy and proud to see yourself so fully revived in your son, and the marks you give him are very much the same as those you were awarded yourself when you were in the service before your glorious wound came to halt your career, which naturally would have led you to command the corps several years ago. 
Last year I suffered from the after-effects of acute bronchitis, but this year I'm quite well, and I'm coping quite well with the unusual cold we've had so far. I have nothing to complain about, because despite being 75 years old, I am still a walker and a rider, and I still have the memory and the XX to honour and mourn our dear comrades who, still young, fell on the fields of honour. 
My wife and I send you our best wishes for your health and that of Madame Colette and your dear son, and hope that all three of you will be as happy as our hearts desire. 
Thank you for your affectionate letter, and believe in my old and tender friendship for you. 
C. Bourbaki
Villa St François - Bayonne
2 January 1891".