SIMENON Georges (1903-1989) - Lot 473

Lot n° 473
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3000 - 4000 EUR
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Result : 3 690EUR
SIMENON Georges (1903-1989) - Lot 473
SIMENON Georges (1903-1989) Le dossier en accordéon, autograph manuscript signed by Georges Simenon; 12 pages in-4 and in-8. Autograph manuscript signed in ink entitled Le dossier en accordéon, the first of a series of investigative articles for Paris Soir on the Stavisky affair and the mysterious death of Albert Prince, no address [Paris] or date [February-March 1934], printed letterhead of the Hotel Carlton on the Champs-Élysées. A few tears and missing pages. Simenon plays detective. In December 1933, it appeared that the Crédit Municipal de Bayonne had issued counterfeit vouchers with a total value of more than 200 million francs; many small investors were thus ruined. The orchestrator of the swindle was said to be Alexander Stavisky, born in Kiev, of Russian origin. He was found dead in Chamonix after having fled, apparently committing suicide. On February 20, 1934, the body of Albert Prince, a judge at the Court of Appeal who was supposed to testify, was found on the railway tracks in Dijon. Paris Soir commissioned Simenon to write a series of investigative articles, the first of which - the manuscript discussed here - was published on March 20. Three retired Scotland Yard offi cials were also recruited ("The Bowler Hat Inquiry"), including the wartime head of the secret service, Sir Basil Thompson; they concluded that Albert Prince's death was probably the result of suicide. Simenon, however, proposed the more sensational argument that Stavisky was a gangster and that organized crime had something to do with Prince's death, and unwisely identified a number of officials for questioning. He describes his meeting with Thompson and his colleagues
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