Letter from Éditions LVA authorising the reproduction of the Brioult chapter on Paul Magès

In this document

This typewritten letter on Éditions LVA letterhead is addressed to Mr. Michel Magès, 251 allée des cèdres in Chasselay. It is dated "Samois sur Seine, 3 April 3013" p. 2 — a clear typo for 2013, as the year "3013" is materially impossible.

The signatory, Alain Georges, Chairman and CEO of LVA, explains that his company, "having taken over the activity of the company Edifree, publisher of Roger Brioult's book, Citroën l'histoire et les secrets de son bureau d'études" p. 2, grants "with pleasure" the right to reproduce free of charge the chapter of the book concerning the activities of Michel Magès's father p. 2.

The letter ends with a polite closing and a handwritten signature in blue ink p. 2. A trace of erased, illegible text appears above the date line; it does not allow for any information to be drawn from it.

Context

Roger Brioult's book, Citroën, l'histoire et les secrets de son bureau d'études, is a reference work on the technical history of Citroën, in which the engineer Paul Magès — father of Michel Magès — occupies an important place as the inventor of the hydropneumatic suspension.

Edifree was the original publisher of this work; Éditions LVA, specialising in automotive press and publishing ("La presse passion", according to their signature), subsequently took over the activity, which explains their legitimacy to rule on the book's rights in 2013.

Archivist's perspective

This letter falls under the copyright management necessary for the publication, on the site dedicated to Paul Magès, of the chapter from Brioult's book evoking his work. It likely complements, some ten years later, the authorisation given directly by Roger Brioult himself, as evidenced by the handwritten letter from Roger Brioult to Michel Magès dated 10 October 2000.

The document therefore has an essentially administrative and legal value rather than a biographical one: it provides no information on the work of Paul Magès himself, but attests to the steps taken by his family to make third-party texts evoking his career accessible, in full legality.

The date typo ("3013" for 2013) is a humorous detail to point out for any educational use of the document, without drawing any consequences regarding the authenticity of the letter.