A Letter From Jean-Jacques Sempé to Angelo Rinaldi

A letter from the year 2000 consists of a mailing envelope and its contents: a signed and inscribed postcard as well as a signed and inscribed note with a drawing of three men seated in a restaurant. The group of papers is offered for sale by AbeBooks seller L'Ancienne Librairie and is priced at $1,672.78 US. No doubt that considerable cost is because the sender, Jean-Jacques Sempé, was the extremely popular cartoonist based in Paris. In addition, the recipient of the mailing, Angelo Rinaldi, was the French writer and literary critic who passed away in May of 2025. The envelope is addressed to Rinaldi care of his publisher L'Express and it appears to be appropriately stamped and postmarked.

The French listing has been rendered in English by Google Translate:

Jean-Jacques Sempé
AbeBooks listing accessed February 15, 2026, translated by Google

https://www.abebooks.com/signed/Dessin-originale-sign%C3%A9-carte-postale-autographe/32390746684/bd?cm_ven=nl&cm_cat=trg&cm_pla=want_CM&ref_=pe_aep_AEP_wants_buyer-wants&cm_ite=viewbook

Jean-Jacques Sempé
AbeBooks item description, translated by Google

Note:  Any reader who was fortunate enough to be one of Sempé's correspondents is invited to share his missives on this blog.

05202

Ronald Searle: The Fourth Republic at the Guillotine

In the May 21, 1958 issue of Punch, Ronald Searle revisits the imagery of the French Revolution in the wake of the Algiers putsch. The coup attempt of May 13 had led to the widespread concern that France lacked the resolve to put down the Algerian Revolution. Many felt a pullout from Algeria would signal a loss of French honor, another debacle comparable to that of Indochina in 1954. Hence the French Fourth Republic is depicted by Searle decapitating herself at the guillotine. It's a remarkably somber image for a Punch cartoon

Ronald Searle, Punch, May 21, 1958

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1958-POLITICAL-CARTOON-FRENCH-GIRL-on-GUILLOTINE-ALGIERS-COUP-Ronald-SEARLE-/322549306636?ul_noapp=true&autorefresh=true&nma=true&si=YQGb25QThn5Fxe78BW8tTy6VzZY%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

May 17, 2018 Update:  This drawing appears on page 126 of Russell Davies's biography Ronald Searle (London: Sinclair-Stevenson, 1990) along with some additional information about it.

May 26, 2021 Update:  This drawing was reprinted in L'Express of May 29, 1958.


Note:  All this is my unusual way of wishing everyone a Happy Bastille Day. In that spirit, Ronald Searle's grotesquely brilliant illustrations celebrating the bicentennial of the French Revolution may be seen on the Ronald Searle Tribute blog here.

At this writing, the page from Punch is available on eBay for $9.99 plus $6.01 shipping.


Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

Ronald Searle

Bastille Day

Punch

Attempted Bloggery's Revolutionary Index

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