(Faulkner, William)

Medal awarded to William Faulkner as an Officer of the Ordre National de la Légion d'Honneur, composed of silver with green, blue, red, and white enamelling applied in the mount, suspended from pink grosgrain ribbon surmounted by a tufted ribbon rosette (4 1/4 x 1 3/4 in.; 118 x 45 mm), by Arthus Bertrand, Paris (nd); ribbon faded.  In original pink embossed-cloth-covered box; faded.  Laid in: embossed card of the President of the French Republic — Printed diploma accomplished in a calligraphic hand and signed by three officials and with embossed seal (15 x 18 1/2 in.; 381 x 470 mm), Paris, 25 May 1951; some horizontal creases.

Blotner, Faulkner: A Biography, 2, 1402–1404; Faulkner (Meriwether, ed.), Essays, Speeches & Public Letters, 125

Condition as described in catalogue entry.
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William Faulkner's medal and diploma awarded to him as an Officer of the Légion d'Honneur.  The French government conferred this award on Faulkner five months after he accepted the Nobel Prize.  The medal itself was sent to him from Paris sometime shortly after the announcement.  The formal presentation of his diploma, however, was made at the French consulate on St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans in late October.  He was accompanied by his wife and mother who were both decked out in new finery 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 a success, despite the fact that a middle-aged matron revealed to Faulkner that Tobacco Road was her favorite of his novels.

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.  He often wore the rosette of the Légion d'Honneur in his buttonhole.