1. 11 Autograph Letters Signed ("G. Méliès") and two autograph manuscripts, all in French: nine letters to Léo Sauvage, dated March to November, 1937, and two, likely to critic Maurice Noverre, which were given to Sauvage by Merritt Crawford, dated October-November 1930, 25 pp total on various papers, concerning his films, career, other filmmakers, as well as a first-hand reference to a young American sculptor and his animated dolls made of wire performing shows in his Paris home (Calder's Circus, which he is to visit with Hans Richter); the two manuscripts are autograph lists of his primary illusions and tricks ("Illusions et grands trucs") produced by him at the Theatre Robert Houdin from 1888 to 1918, and his Principal Major Cinematic Compositions ("Principales grandes compositions cinematiques"), containing a list of 60 of his greatest films in 4 categories; with 3 carbon copies of typed responses from Léo Sauvage;
2. 9 mounted vintage gelatin silver prints, roughly 5 x 7 in. to 6 x 9 in., on card mounts, various pencil notations to the verso, from the sets of the following films: Faust and Marguerite (1904), The Dreyfus Affair (Suicide of Colonel Henry) (1899), Humanity through the Ages (1908)(?), Eclipse (1907), Tunnel Under the Channel (1907), an unidentified family scene, and three promotional films for Brunot shoeshine, Bornibus mustard, and Dewars scotch.
3. 2 Autograph Letters Signed ("J. Méliès") from Jehanne d'Alcy, Méliès's wife in his later years and widely considered the first female movie star, both early 1938, one on mourning stationery; with 2 carbon copies of typed letters from Léo Sauvage;
4. Original invitation for the funeral of George Méliès, bordered in black, with original transmittal envelope addressed to Léo Sauvage, January, 1938;
5. 7 promotional sales brochures (6 in French and one in English) for 5 Méliès films from his "Star Films" company, one annotated by Méliès with pricing information: "The Palace of the Arabian Nights" in French (annotated) and English (with 12 photos), "Two Hundred Leagues Under the Sea" (2 copies), "Joan of Arc," "Christmas Dream," and "Special Scenes from the 1900 World's Fair";
6. 3 Autograph Letters Signed from Andre Méliès ("A. Méliès"), Méliès's son, to Léo Sauvage, 4to, November 1941 to January 1942;
7. Assorted other ephemera and reproductions, including articles on Méliès, photocopies of letters, or original Méliès drawings and designs, etc.
Provenance: Léo Sauvage (1913-1988); by descent.

A FASCINATING AND IMPORTANT ARCHIVE OF GEORGES MÉLIÈS. In 1937, Léo Sauvage met the great filmmaker Georges Méliès and they became friends and correspondents over what would be the final year of Méliès life. Sauvage played a major role in the resuscitation of the filmmaker's reputation, facilitating articles, reviews, and photographs in various publications. The nine letters from Méliès to Sauvage constitute a review of his final year and the struggles of Méliès to secure his reputation (with the help of Sauvage). There is also a wonderful letter that speaks to the vibrancy of Méliès's Parisian life during the time as his star was again in ascendance, including an invitation from Hans Richter to a (in translation): "show at the home of an American sculptor that I know, and who it is said makes very amusing shows with animated dolls that he fabricates with iron wires." The first-hand contemporary reference to Alexander Calder's circus from the venerable magician Méliès is very rare, and Méliès further references a possible collaboration in film with Richter. There are also two manuscripts in Méliès's hand being Méliès's account of the important tricks in his films, as well as his own account of his films and his own categorization.
The two letters from Méliès, likely to Noverre, were given to Sauvage by Merritt Crawford and discuss the contemporary arguments of Crawford and Noverre in defense of Méliès in the arguments regarding the beginnings of cinema, as well as Méliès's progress on a bookplate he is designing for Crawford. There are also two letters from Jehanne D'Arcy, widely credited as the first female movie star, who appeared in countless (literally) Méliès films before leaving the profession in 1903, and then becoming his wife later in 1916. We locate no other examples of Madame Méliès's autograph at auction, or in institutional collections.
This is a large and important archive of materials, both autograph material and visual, including 9 rare photographs of Méliès productions, as well as the black-bordered invitation to Méliès's funeral at L'eglise Notre-Dame du Travail, with envelope addressed to Sauvage. In all, this is an emotionally stirring and academically viable collection of materials documenting the final year of Méliès's life, in the midst of his own revival and reassessment of his career that had begun in 1929.
Léo Sauvage would go on to become a New York correspondent for Le Figaro and then the drama critic for the New Leader, and penned a well-regarded book on the history of cinema, L'affaire Lumière.