You have confirmed to me, by your letter of 18 November 1974, your decision to dismiss me, a decision that you verbally transmitted to me on 4 November 1974.

Nevertheless, so as to avoid any possible dispute, and having taken good note of the fact that you allowed me to give my notice, I would like you to make clear what you mean by “you will remain tied to Champ Libre by the obligations that follow from your position as literary director.”

Moreover, I allow myself to draw your attention to the dismissal payments (and others) that I will be able to claim on 4 February 1975, since you desire to pay them at the end of that period. To allow you to give me a precise response on this subject, I recall to you as proof a letter from you dated 9 April 1969 (photocopy attached)[1] that my monthly remuneration from Champ Libre started on 1 May 1969. From then on, six months of payment were due me on the basis of 13.5/12 monthly payments, 13.5 conventional months being considered as the salary recorded by law, as you know. To this would be added the paid vacation days, calculated on the basis of five weeks, which is the number proportional to 13 and a half months.

Moreover, I must bring the following to your attention: I estimate that my creative work permitted the birth and development of Champ Libre, as much at the level of manuscripts chosen, the engagement of authors and the recruitment of collaborators as at the level of the form under which these books were published. And it is just as true that the press and the publishing world have perceived the event that Champ Libre was: my name is indissociable from the enterprise. By dismissing me from Champ Libre, you inherit what belongs to me: namely, titles and collection frameworks, authors, projects, fame, etc. All things considered, I expect to not be harmed, because I long accepted a salary that was inferior to the remunerations customary in publishing, convinced as I was by your good faith when you affirmed to me that the fate of Champ Libre was tied to me. Consequently, the current and future exploitation of my creations (which constitute Champ Libre’s stock, as well as a certain extent of its expansion), which is obvious to anyone who knows how to read the Champ Libre catalogue, authorizes me to demand that no moral or financial harm comes to me because of the supplementary and inclusive payments, or 12 months of salary.

P.S. It goes without saying that the professional fees that I had to pay during the week of 4-9 November – fees occasioned by obligations incurred before my dismissal – must be reimbursed by the customary period, that is to say, in a week’s time.

[1] Not attached to the text being translated here.

(Published in Editions Champ Libre, Correspondance, Vol. 1, Editions Champ Libre, Paris, 1978. Translated from the French and footnoted by NOT BORED! June 2012.)