Proust's sister-in-law burned his papers after her husband died in 1935, and a perfume heir bought his furniture for 1,500 francs

Marcel Proust died in Paris in 1922. His younger brother Robert was his literary executor and the only person who knew how Time Regained was meant to end. Robert died in 1935, and his wife Marthe and her daughter left the apartment at once. According to Lorenza Foschini's book Proust's Overcoat, Marthe destroyed family material, tore dedication pages from Marcel's books and burned many of his papers, at least until she learned they had value. Jacques Guerin, a perfume magnate and book collector, bought the abandoned furniture for 1,500 francs. Guerin also obtained Proust's faux-fur overcoat, had insect damage repaired, and acquired manuscripts, letters and photographs. In 1983 he began a series of sales, and the National Library of France bought Proust manuscripts. The overcoat is too fragile for display and sits in storage at the Musee Carnavalet. Separately, the Bibliotheque nationale appealed for donations to buy more than 900 documents held by heirs of Proust's niece Suzy Mante-Proust (1903-1986), and her daughter Marie-Claude Mante's Proust collection was sold at Sotheby's Paris on 24 May 2018.