Rolland, Romain

An appeal, entitled Déclaration d'indépendance de l'esprit , to intellectuals to forget the divisions made by World War One. Duplicated typescript sheet signed by Romain Rolland.

Rolland was born in 1866 in the district of Nièvre, France. He studied literature, music and philosophy, going on to publish two doctoral theses. After some years as a school teacher he went on to teach at the Sorbonne. His interest in music motivated him to publish numerous critical pieces on famous composers as well as artists and writers. As well as being a critic he began to publish his own literature, culminating in the winning of the Nobel Prize in 1915 for his Jean-Christophe . The themes of truth, humanism and altruism are identified most explicitly within his literary work. He died in Vézelay, 1944.

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Bought from Dene Bookshop, Abingdon, 1972.

Collection level description.

The British Library, London, holds literary notebooks and essays, 1911-1919 (Ref: Zweig MSS 184-6), and letters to George Bernard Shaw, 1914-1919 (Add MSS 50548).

Copies may be made, subject to the condition of the original. Copying must be undertaken by the Palaeography Room staff, who will need a minimum of 24 hours to process requests.