The eyes of Marie de Laubier, Director of Collections at the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BNF), still sparkled as she recalled a mysterious email she received in June 2024, which urged her, as quickly as possible, "to come examine important documents. Without specifying what they were." The email was signed by Anne Heilbronn, vice president of Sotheby's, the renowned auction house. A few days later, de Laubier "entered a room with a large table covered in manuscripts. And then. The shock. A heap of unpublished pieces written in Marcel Proust's own hand. Dizzying. That a collection of such scale – 900 lots – of such intellectual significance could still emerge. I was stunned. In a curator's lifetime, this happens only once."

Needless to say, Heilbronn was equally "captivated" by the scope of this "extraordinary" discovery – "An incredible moment. My head was spinning. In a book expert's career, you only see something like this once, and so on" – when she was first contacted by the heirs – whose identities remain confidential – of Suzy Mante-Proust (1903-1986), the niece of Proust (1871-1922), who wished to sell this collection uncovered in 2019.

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