Officer of the Ordre National de la Légion d’Honneur Diploma Awarded to William Faulkner.

[FAULKNER, William].

$12,000.00

Item Number: 139733

Partially printed diploma awarded to William Faulkner as an Officer of the Légion d’Honneur, conferred on him be the French government five months after he accepted the 1949 Nobel Prize in Literature. One page, partially printed and completed in a calligraphic hand, the diploma is signed by three French officials with an embossed seal. In near fine condition. Matted. The entire piece measures 15 inches by 18.5 inches. From the collection of William Faulkner.

The formal presentation of this diploma was made at the French consulate on St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans in late October 1951. Faulkner was accompanied by his wife and mother who dressed in their finest attire for the occasion. Faulkner himself had made light of the ceremony, saying he saw no reason to dress up "to receive another diploma and perhaps be kissed on both cheeks." He appeared with shoes unshined, trousers unpressed, and wearing the jacket with leather elbow patches he often wore hunting. This bluff, however, could not completely hide the importance this lifelong francophile placed on this award. He wrote a three-paragraph acceptance speech in French and delivered it slowly and precisely. In the surviving manuscript of the speech (given to Saxe Commins), lacking many accent marks and with words misspelled, Faulkner stated that an artist ought to receive with humility an award conferred on him by the country which had always been "la mere universelle des artists." An American should cherish any souvenir from the country which had always been "la soeur d'Amerique." A man ought to guard with hope and pride any accolade from the country which was "la mere de la liberte de l'homme et de l'esprit humaine." The evening was a success and more than one commentator has surmised that Faulkner was probably more pleased and honored to be made an officer of the Légion d'Honneur that to have been awarded the Nobel Prize or any of his other many awards.