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An historic archive of correspondence relating to
the re-establishment of the Olympic Games, including amongst others:
i) a signed manuscript letter from Pierre de Coubertin written 25 days before the Opening Ceremony of the 1896 Athens Olympic Games ii) a signed manuscript letter from Crown Prince Constantine, President of the 1896 Olympic Games Organising Committee iii) a signed manuscript letter from Demetrius Vikelas, first President of the International Olympic Committee iv) a signed manuscript letter on 1896 Athens Olympic Organising Committee letterhead v) a signed manuscript letter dated 7th March 1896 from the future twice serving Prime Minister of France Georges Clemenceau, being a covering letter relating to an enclosure of a newspaper article he wrote about the re-establishment of the Games vi) a letter dated 14th March 1896 from Michel Breal, originator of the idea of a race from Marathon to Athens at the 1896 Games
other signed manuscript letters all with Olympic content from:
a) Count Charles de Moisys,
b) a member of the Rodocanachi banking family c) Jules Claretie, General Director of the Theatre Francais d) Delegate Francis Charmes of the Chambre des Députés e) François-Auguste Gevaert on headed paper from the Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles f) Henry Houssaye, a French historian and academician who wrote extensively on ancient Greece g) Delegate Paschal Grousset (politician, journalist and science fiction writer) on headed paper from the Chambre des Députés
h) M. Hanotaux, French Minister for Foreign Affairs i) In French, undated and unsigned, on Greek headed paper from the Pan Hellenic Gymnastics Club with salutations appearing to be addressed to the King of Greece
j) the lot including further letters
all in a green leather album dated 1896, some items tipped in, others loose
The Pierre de Coubertin letter is in French and dated 12th March 1896. The Baron’s lengthy letter seemingly makes sure the recipient knows the re-establishment of the Olympic Games was the author’s idea. Some of the hand writing is difficult but broadly speaking it translates to English as follows:
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[? Perhaps a name] asks what I think of this idea: I think it a good one and I believe I have several reasons for doing so. The most important of these is most assuredly because of the great care that others are taking to claim it. I don’t know of anything written or published before 25 November 1892, the day I publicly proclaimed my project at a conference at the Sorbonne, that it would be good to establish an international Olympic Games, then every four years, for the champions of the world in an athletic contest - well, of course, no-one actually said it but now we find a large number of people did think it - only, how strange! They didn’t think to say it out loud. Well that’s where we are, one can’t always think of everything! So you wish to know if I am still in the same [?]. With regard to [?] I have taken the initiative. Good god, yes - and I’ll stick it out a long time, in all likelihood, as I am stubborn by nature. So that even if - and it’s not impossible - the 1896 Olympic Games were going to fail and those of 1900 not take place, I would still persist in wanting to establish an institution which, so long as it was well tailored to modern needs and particularities, can by itself produce for 20th century athletics the beneficial effects generated by ancient athletics. I am among those who are in rebellion against the anti-human theories of the Middle Ages, which still weigh us down. I firmly believe in the noble moral characteristics of physical activity. In education, musculature should above all be considered in relation to character - via physical education we can give moral education. For this it is necessary for athletics to develop in conditions of elevation, disinterestedness and grandeur. That is the entire reason for the rebirth of the Olympic Games. In summary, there aren’t many big problems to conquer, there is some jealousy to overcome, that’s all. National jealousies coming from history, sporting jealousies coming from a certain narrowness of mind which opposes some forms of physical exercise and others - gymnasts can’t bear ‘sports’, [?] and bicycle are at war, fencers with foils denigrate fencers with epees! These differences will disappear little by little and the Olympic Games themselves will pacify quarrels. I don’t mean
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