EIFFEL GUSTAVE: (1832-1923) French Civil Engineer, designer of the Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty. A good ...

EIFFEL GUSTAVE: (1832-1923) French Civil Engineer, designer of the Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty. A good and lengthy A.L.S., `G. Eiffel´, attractively signed to the fourth page across the written page, four pages, 8vo, on his ''Laboratoire Aerodynamique G. Eiffel, 67 Rue Boileau, Auteuil printed stationery, Paris, 3rd January 1917, to an unidentified woman, in French. Eiffel explains that he has to leave on the 15th to Beaulieu, and referring to the location which his correspondent´s husband loved so much, states in part `He would have find pleasure to see the cloister that we have had built on the seaside terrace, of which you must have seen some photograph and which continues to charm us.. In the evening especially, it is a corner of Italy of a striking romanticism that fascinates my dear Claire, mainly on moonlit evenings..´ Eiffel further reports on his children´s situation, `Claire needs to rest, she has been focused on the hospital where she is the Director, rendering the best services because of her intelligence and kind ness; she is adored by everyone….Valentine takes care intensively also of important services at the hotel Dieu…Laure is still very much distressed and will come to spend quite a long time to Beaulieu to recover. The death of Maurie has hurt all of us a lot…´, further again reporting on his grandchildren, saying about Laure´s son `René is going to leave with his new heavy cannonballs to Verdun..´ EX Claire Eiffel (1863-1934) Elder daughter of Gustave Eiffel and his right-hand man. Valentine Eiffel (1870-1966) Laure Eiffel (1864-1958) her husband Maurice Le Grain, chief of squadron, died two months before the present letter was written. In 1895 the family Salles-Eiffel stayed at the Beaulieu house. Gustave liked it so much that he bought it and registered in Adolphe Salles´ name, his son-in-law and his collaborator in the Tour construction. The house was named ''Villa Salles'', they added an upper level, and a cloister was built to the house seaside. After Eiffel´s death his daughter Claire kept on using the house during holidays. The Eiffel family kept the property till 1977, when it was sold and converted in the Eiffel hotel-residence. Fiona