After the publication of General Theory, Keynes envisaged to publish “footnotes” to this book that would answer criticisms and develop particular points. Among the material available to wonder what these “footnotes” might have been, the correspondence between Keynes and his French translator (Jean de Largentaye) in 1938-1939 is useful since it did not only concern material and terminological aspects of the translation but also analytical issues raised by the book itself and pointed by the translator. This interest is all the more vivid since a third party was involved, Piero Sraffa, whose advice was asked by Keynes. Sraffa’s remarks can thus be put in the perspective of his evaluation of General Theory contained in the notes that have been found in his own copy of the book.

The paper is mostly devoted to the study of some analytical difficulties raised in the 26 extant and hitherto unpublished letters between Keynes and Largentaye. First it quickly describes this correspondence and the circumstances of Sraffa’s involvement; it also evokes a disagreement between Keynes and his French translator about the kind of language that should be used in a book like General Theory. Then the paper deals with precisions and improvements brought about by the correspondence, particularly on the treatment of entrepreneurs’ profits and on the behaviour of lenders and borrowers in a financial crisis. Last but not least it deals with an important amendment to Chapter 17, suggested by Largentaye and accepted by Keynes in the context of various critiques expressed elsewhere by Pigou, Hicks, and Sraffa.