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Bayle, (William) Bernard, playwright and drama critic (1807-1875).
Autograph letter signed. [London], "Belsize Road", no date.
8vo. 1½ pp. on bifolium. Mounted on backing paper. About theatrical productions of works by Lord Byron: "The Manfred produced at Drury Lane Theatre a few years ago was a revival of Byrons poem with certain omissions and compressions as played at Covent Garden some thirty years previously. My contribution to Drury Lane consisted of my adaptation of Faust which has been printed by M. Lacy [i. e. Thomas Hailes Lacy, 1809-73] the theatrical publisher of the Strand and also of the Doge of Venice a combination of Byrons Tragedy, and that of Casimir Delavigne with some additions of my own but that play has never been published. P.S. The Manfred of Covent Garden was I believe adapted to the Stage by the late Mr Roderick Reynold [...]". - Second leaf slighly trimmed at the lower edge; collector's notes to backing paper.
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Boucher, Jules, French actor (1847-1924).
Autograph letter signed. N. p., 11 June ("Samedi", no year).
12mo. ¾ p. on bifolium. To an unnamed recipient, asking for two theatre tickets: "Voulez-Vous me faire la faveur de deux places pour la représentation de ce soir [...]". - A student of François-Joseph Regnier, Jules Boucher entered the Comédie-Française in 1866 and was elected sociétaire in 1888. - Minimally stained.
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Cecil (Blunt), Arthur, actor (1843-1896).
Autograph letter signed. [London], 26. V. 1890.
8vo. 2 pp. on bifolium. Mounted on backing paper. To a Miss Frith: "Many thanks for your kind note. I will enclose my letter to Miss Edwards in one to Miss Philp asking her to forward it. What a jolly party we had last night. I haven't danced so much for Ages. Please tell your mamma I will lose not time in redeeming my character in her eyes [...]". - Beginning of the 1880s Arthur Cecil joined the company at the Royal Court Theatre, later became co-manager there, and in 1890 played the title role in the play "The Cabinet Minister" written by Arthur Wing Pinero. - With collector's note to backing paper and embossed vignette of the "Garrick Club".
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Grassot, Paul, French actor (1800-1860).
Autograph letter signed. N. p., 29. VII. 1845.
8vo. 1 p. Mounted on cardboard. To a Madame Fassiati, asking her to leave a theatre box that had been promised to Grassot by a M. Ballard to the carrier of the letter if there is a performance: "Je prie la bonne Madame Fassiati de remettre au porteur du présent, la loge que Ballard a promis de mettre à ma disposition pour aujourd'hui, si l'on joue [...]". - Paul Grassot spent his entire acting career at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal. He was famous for his eccentric performances, hoarse voice, and buffoonish pantomime. - On stationery with embossed letterhead. Traces of folds. Somewhat stained.
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Lafontaine, Henri, French actor and novelist (1826-1898).
2 autograph letters signed. N. p. o. d.
8vo. Together 2 pp. One letter mounted on cardboard. Both to ask for theatre tickets, one addressed to a director: "Pouvez-vous me donner une loge pour ce soir? Si oui, merci, si non, merci encore et votre artiste toujours". - Henri Lafontaine performed on all the important stages of Paris, including the Comédie-Française, where he had his debut in 1856 and was elected sociétaire in 1863. However, Lafontaine was not satisfied with the roles that were given to him at the Comédie, and so he left the theatre in 1871 together with his wife Victoria, an equally acclaimed actor, and returned to changing engagements, starting off with a successful production of Victor Hugo's "Ruy Blas" at the Odéon in 1872. - With recipient's notes. Some browning.
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Lloyd, W., actor (dates unknown).
Autograph letter fragment signed. No place or date (first half of 19th century).
Oblong 16mo. 1 page (2 lines). Mounted on backing paper. Clipped from a letter: "Yrs respectful[l]y [...]". - With collector's note to backing paper.
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Mackay, Charles, actor (1787-1857).
Autograph letter (fragment). No place, 24. VI. 1833.
4to. 1 page. Mounted on backing paper. A letter of consolation: "I have to acknowledge the receipt of yours this morning. I was aware some time ago of the mishap in your family, and I know too well that all consolation is useless, time alone can heal such wounds. Either of the periods you propose will suit me, let me know which as soon as convenient. And that the allwise disposes of the destinies of Men, may give you strength to bear your affliction [...]". - The letter cut at one corner. Slight brownstaining, with collector's note in ink.
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Méliès, Georges, French illusionist and film director (1861-1938).
Autograph letter signed and monogrammed. Paris, 21. XI. 1928.
8vo. 4 pp. on bifolium. Charming and insightful letter to Auguste Drioux in Lyon, publisher of the magic magazine Passez Muscade, thanking him for the most recent issues and promising an article on Robert Houdin's illusion "le Décapité récalcitrant" from 1890. Méliès mentions that he is currently very busy, as he was taking care of his gravely ill daughter Georgette and restoring some of Robert Houdin's automatons that he had donated to the Musée des Arts et Métiers in Paris: "Je suis obligé de nettoyer tout cela, et de remettre les têtes, mains, costumes, peintures et dorures en bon état. Il y a pas mal de travail, car tout ce matériel est resté 5 ans dans un endroit assez humide, et il en a souffert. Mais une fois retapé il n'y paraîtra plus, et il pourra affronter l'éternité dans les vitrines du Musée... à moins qu'il ne soit, un jour, détruit par un incendie". - The ominous remark that a fire could destroy the museum seems to be an allusion to Méliès' destruction of his own negatives, film sets, and costumes after he lost his legal battle with Pathé over his Montreuil studio in 1923. Méliès praises the performance of Drioux's fellow magicians from Lyon at a banquet by the Chambre syndicale du Cinema that was probably held in his honour. In a postscript he reports that the politician Édouard Herriot, who had also been present at the banquet, apologized to him for not being able to award Méliès with "the famous red ribbon" anymore, having lost his post as Minister of Culture a few days earlier. However, Herriot promised to put in a good word for Méliès with his successor, also alluding to the possibility that he might get a job in the insurance of the movie industry "Mutuelle du Cinéma," possibly as the director of its retirement home. This prospect gave Méliès hope to be able to finally escape his "dreadful Montparnasse prison": "Il avait promis, pour moi, le fameux ruban rouge, à la demande de Brézillon. Mais c'est bien ma veine, il venait de perdre sa place de ministre 5 jours auparavant. Il a été charmant avec moi, s'est excusé d'avoir été contraint de se 'débarquer' lui-même, ce sont ses propres expressions, mais m'a promis son appui [...] auprès du nouveau Ministre de l'Instruction publique et des beaux arts. [...] En tous cas, j'ai su qu'il est question de me donner une situation intéressante dans l'état major de la Mutuelle du Cinéma; peut-êtrela direction de la maison de retraite. Inutel de dire que cela ferait fort bien mon affaire, en me libérant de mon affreuse prison de Montparnasse". - Following his bankruptcy in 1925, Méliès and his second wife Jehanne d'Alcy barely made a living with a small candy and toy stand in Gare Montparnasse. Around this time Méliès, who had been slipping into oblivion since 1913, was slowly rediscovered and recognized as a film pioneer by journalists and enthusiasts such as Auguste Drioux. Despite the renewed interest and official recognition like the award of the Legion of Honour, Méliès' financial situation improved little. While the post as director never materialised, Méliès, his wife, and his granddaughter received a place in the retirement home in Orly in 1932.
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Pagnol, Marcel, French novelist, playwright, and filmmaker (1895-1974).
Autograph letter. Monte Carlo, [1951].
4to. 1 p. To an employee named Marti with instructions for Pagnol's relocation to Monte Carlo, questions of accounting, and concerning the impossibility of a film production in Monaco: "Pour le déménagement, laisse les tapis, un secrétaire, des lampes. Tino veut à tout prix refaire les plans mauvais, il est très emballé, il est prêt à tout [...] Je voudrais maintenant terminer la comptabilité totale - mais je m’aperçois que ton compte ne figure nulle part. Où est-il ? Que gagnes-tu ? Combien as-tu touché ? [...] Les studios de Monaco ne permettront pas, pour le moment, de faire un film tout entier. Les histoires des trains sont terribles. On peut seulement y faire des décors de secours, louer des costumes et du personnel. Les trains de marchandises où les locomotives seules passent à n’importe quelle heure". - In 1951 Marcel Pagnol moved to Monaco, following an invitation of his admirer and friend Prince Rainier III. The family stayed until 1954. - The note "Autre lettre oubliée" points to an autograph copy. On stationery with embossed letterhead. Minimal browning.
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Prout, Ebenezer, musical theorist (1835-1909).
Autograph lettercard signed. [Postal stamp: London, 29 Aug. 1887].
Oblong 8vo. ¾ page. With autograph envelope. To the musician Frederick Allan Wilshire (1868-1944) in Bristol: "I have only just returned home to find your letter awaiting me. I beg to enclose my autograph [...]". - With collector's note to envelope in ink, the envelope somewhat foxing.
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Rosa, Carl, stage impresario (1842-1889).
Autograph letter signed. [London], 25. VI. 1886.
8vo. ½ page (5 lines) on bifolium. With autograph envelope. To the musician Frederick Allan Wilshire (1868-1944) in Bristol: "Sincerely Ys / Carl Rosa". - On embossed monogrammed stationery with slight ink offsetting.
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Rousby, Clara, actress (1848-1879).
Autograph letter signed. Leamington, 6. V. 1872.
(Oblong) 8vo. 3 SS. Mounted on backing paper. To a Miss Frith about a certain letter and discussing Rousby's recovered health: "I only received your note & should have replied at once had I not waited until I got all my things together in hope of finding the letter you allude to among them. Having searched without finding it, I fancy I must have left it with my brother in London, anyhow it is quite safe, for I preserved it with the intention of handing it over to Mr. Fiddes at some future time. You will be glad to hear that I have been much stronger since I recovered from my severe illness at Bristol, & that we are enjoying a most profitable & agreeable tour [...]". - On mourning paper with embossed monogram and collector's note to backing paper.
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Scott-Siddons, Mary Frances, actress and dramatic reader (1844-1896).
Autograph signature. No place or date.
Oblong 12mo. 1 page (1 line). Mounted on backing paper. Slightly browned in places due to seeped glue.
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Templeton, John, tenor (1802-1886)).
Autograph letter fragment signed. No place or date.
Oblong 12mo. 1 page (2 lines). Mounted on backing paper. Clipped from a letter: "Yours very truly / John Templeton". - In 1832 Templeton appeared as Raimbaut in the first British performance of Meyerbeer's "Robert le diable", and he became Maria Malibran's leading tenor. - With collector's note to backing paper and old glue residue.
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Wickes, R., actor (dates unknown).
Autograph letter fragment signed. No place or date.
Oblong 16mo. 1 page (2 lines). Mounted on backing paper. Clipped from a letter: "I am very truly yours [...]". - With collector's note to backing paper.
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Einstein, Albert, Physiker und Nobelpreisträger (1879-1955).
Ms. Brief mit eigenh. Einfügung und U. ("A. Einstein"). Princeton, NJ, 5. VIII. 1949.
1 S. 4to. An seinen ehemaligen Assistenten, den Mathematiker Ernst Gabor Straus, über dessen "schönen mathematischen Fund" und ein Manuskript von dessen Onkel: "Vor allem möchte ich Ihnen gratulieren zu dem schönen mathematischen Fund, den Sie gemacht haben. Es sieht so aus, wie wenn Ihr Transcendenz-Beweis für [folgt eine Auslassung] einfacher wäre als der bisher gegebene. Den Brief Ihres Onkels habe ich bereits vor mehreren Tagen beantwortet und ihn gebeten, das Manuscript zu schicken, das ich auch gewissenhaft lesen werde. Allerdings mit geringer Hoffnung, eine Publikation durchsetzen zu können, selbst wenn ich eine solche als objectiv berechtigt beurteilen würde. Das Mitteilungsbedürfnis des isolierten Mannes ist begreiflich, zumal es schwer für ihn zu beurteilen sein dürfte, ob das Mitgeteilte gegenwärtig Originalität beanspruchen kann. Ich selber habe in dem Problem (Prüfung) noch nichts fertig gebracht, habe aber über den Weg bestimmte Vorstellungen gewonnen. Ausserdem habe ich im Winter, kurz vor meiner Operation, eine Arbeit geschrieben, in der die Feldgleichungen aus den Bianchi Identitäten abgeleitet werden (noch nicht erschienen in dem neuen Canadischen Journal). Diese Sache ist nach meiner Meinung sehr überzeugend [...]". - Ernst Gabor Straus war von 1944 bis 1948 Einsteins Assistent am Institute for Advanced Study gewesen und hatte mit ihm zusammen drei Arbeiten verfasst. 1946 veröffentlichten sie "A Generalization of the Relativistic Theory of Gravitation II" in den "Annals of Mathematics". Darin stellen sie eine Neuherleitung der Feldgleichungen dar, die notwendig geworden war, da die Herleitung in Einsteins im Vorjahr veröffentlichter Einzelarbeit auf einem Fehler beruht hatte. Straus reichte seine Doktorarbeit über Einsteins einheitliche Feldtheorie an der Columbia University ein und wurde 1948 promoviert. 1949 veröffentlichte er "Some Results in Einstein's Unified Field Theory", die auf seiner Dissertation beruhten. - Auf Briefpapier mit gepr. Briefkopf. Tadellos erhalten.
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Einstein, Albert, German physicist and Nobel laureate (1879-1955).
Typed letter signed "A. Einstein" . Princeton, 23. IV. 1934.
4to. 1 p. In German. Together with an autograph letter signed by Elsa Einstein and a letter by Max Gottschalk. Both 4to. 1 p. in French. To a high-ranking Belgian official named Costermann, asking him to renew the passports of his stepdaughter Margot and her husband Dimitri Marianoff: "I am writing you on behalf of my daughter Margot Marianoff and her husband Dr. Dimitri Marianoff. Both are holders of a Belgian foreigner's passport which they obtained last spring thanks to your obliging kindness. My daughter lived with us in Coq-sur-Mer but is currently nursing her gravely ill sister in Paris. She and her husband are stateless, the latter is Russian by birth. I would appreciate it greatly if you would renew the passports, especially as my daughter is the student of a Belgian sculptor at Bruges" (transl.). - Apparently, the letter was not sent directly to Costermann but was forwarded by the escape agent Max Gottschalk. His letter to the "Director General" is dated 7 May 1934 and accompanied Einstein's letter from 23 April with a further plea to treat the request favourably without delay. - Elsa Einstein's letter from 22 May 1933 to a "Director", very likely the same Costermann, concerns the original foreigner's passport for Margot. Elsa announces that Margot will arrive in Brussels the following day and contact the recipient directly. - Albert and Elsa Einstein were in the U.S. when the Nazis seized power in Germany in February 1933. As they could not return to their home in Potsdam, they sailed to Antwerp in March 1933, immediately renounced their German citizenships, and rented a small villa in Le-Coq-sur-Mer (De Haan) near Bruges, where Margot and her husband joined them. As early as September 1933, Albert and his wife emigrated to the U.S.; Margot and Dimitri would follow them in 1934 after the death of Margot's elder sister Ilse Einstein from tuberculosis. - Following the early death of her mother in 1936, Margot Einstein stayed with her father-in-law in Princeton, studied sculpture, and would live in the family home until her own death in 1986. Little is known about her marriage to Dimitri Marianoff. The couple had married in Berlin on 29 November 1930, much to the displeasure of Albert and Elsa, who distrusted their son-in-law; indeed, Marianoff turned out to be a Russian spy. The marriage probably ended soon after their arrival in the U.S. Marianoff profited from his previous close relationship to the world's most famous physicist by publishing a memoir "Einstein. An Intimate Study of a Great Man" in 1944. - On stationery with typed letterhead of Einstein's first address in Princeton: "2, Library Place". With an official note "Passeport Etr." in ink and a contemporary pencil translation into French. Minimally creased, two minor tears to the left margin and one to the lower margin. - The letter by Elsa Einstein shows three tears and staple holes. The letter by Gottschalk bears an official note "M. Marianoff et Gottschalk le 8.5.34" in ink and "T.U." (possibly "tâche urgent") in crayon and a minor tear.
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Freud, Sigmund, Mediziner und Begründer der Psychoanalyse (1856-1939).
Eigenh. Brief mit U. ("Sigm. Freud"). Wohl London, 11. III. 1939.
1½ SS. 8vo. An einen "hochgeehrten Herrn Doktor" über die gesundheitlich bedingte Unmöglichkeit, eine Besprechung zu verfassen: "Ein Unternehmen wie das, von dem Sie berichten, hat natürlich Anspruch auf mein stärkstes Interesse. Wenn Sie meinen, daß eine Besprechung darüber mit mir wünschenswert ist, müßte ich zu Ihrer Verfügung sein. Es trifft sich aber daß ich jetzt leidend u. nicht einmal Herr meiner Zeit bin, da ich eine ebenso anspruchsvolle wie ermüdende Behandlung unternommen habe (Röntgenbestra[h]lungen). Ich getraue mich also nicht Ihnen jetzt einen Zeitpunkt für Ihren freundlichen Besuch anzugeben. Sollten Sie später Ihre Absicht wieder aufnehmen, so bin ich dann vielleicht in der Lage, Sie bei mir zu sehen [...]". - Freud war bereits 1923 nach seiner Gaumenoperation mit Röntgenstrahlen behandelt worden, weitere Behandlungen folgten 1930, 1931 und 1934. Ab Februar 1939 wurde er dann in London u. a. von Neville Finzi, einem der führenden Röntgenologen Großbritanniens, behandelt. Nach mehreren Sitzungen diagnostizierte im Mai der Oralchirurg George Exner, der u. a. in Wien bei dem Kieferchirurgen Hans Pichler studiert hatte, "erneute Krebsrezidive, hält eine Operation aber nicht mehr für angezeigt. Es wurde Radium mit Hilfe einer Prothese 2 Stunden pro Tag gegeben, daneben tiefe Röntgenbestrahlung. Die Geschwulst ist zurückgegangen, aber Metastasen sind aufgetreten". Im Juli und August bemerkte Freuds Leibarzt Max Schur verdächtige Läsionen in Freuds Mundhöhle und konnte Pichler, der Freuds Gaumenkrebs zwischen 1923 bis 1936 schon mehr als 30-mal operiert hatte, dazu überreden, persönlich nach London zu kommen und Freud zu untersuchen. Pichler traf am 7. September in London ein und stellte in einer gleich darauf anschließenden Untersuchung fest, daß operiert werden müsse. Die Operation am Tag darauf überstand Freud gut, den ganzen Monat jedoch sollte er nicht mehr erleben. - Auf Briefpapier mit gedr. Briefkopf; stellenweise gering fleckig und mit zwei kleinen alt hinterlegten Einrissen im Mittelfalz. Christfried Tögel, "Freud-Diarium" (Online-Version), S. 454.
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Le Verrier, Urbain Jean Joseph, French mathematician and astronomer (1811-1877).
Autograph letter signed. Paris, 19. II. 1877.
8vo. 1 p. on bifolium. Interesting letter from the year of Le Verrier's death to a fellow member of the Institut de France, requesting a meeting to resolve a conflict in which "the one and the other" was at fault: "De mon côté, j'ai réprimé mon desir d'aller vous voir pensant que je ne vous serais pas agréable. Nous avons eu tort l'un et l'autre : et deux au contraire grand ça ne va pas qu'il faut se voir afin de mieux aviser et de concerter la route à suivre, scientifique et politiquement. Ceci entendu, comme je vous verrai au plus tard d[ans] l'Institut, je n'en dis pas plus long". - Despite his sensational discovery of Neptune in 1846, Le Verrier had a difficult standing in the scientific community and was engaged in many arguments. In 1854, he first became director of the Paris Observatory but unhappiness over his management led to his removal from office in 1870. When his successor and adversary Charles-Eugène Delaunay drowned in 1872, Le Verrier was reinstated as director of the Observatory, albeit under close supervision. His name is among those of the 72 French scientists commemorated on the Eiffel Tower. - Minimally creased. With a collector's note in pencil.
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Mach, Ernst, Physiker und Philosoph (1838-1916).
Eigenh. Brief mit U. Großpriesen [Velké Brezno], 6. VIII. 1873.
1 S. auf Doppelblatt. 8vo. Charmantes Entschuldigungsschreiben an einen Kollegen, dem Mach einen Artikel zur Akustik vitruvianischer Schallgefäße versprochen hatte: "Die Hoffnung Ihnen etwas über Schallgefässe in Kürze liefern zu können, hat fortwährend mein Schreiben verzögert. Decanatsgeschäfte, optische Arbeiten und Zufälle aller Art in meiner Familie haben mich bisher an Ausführung meines Vorsatzes verhindert. Nun kann ich aber meine Entschuldigung wenigstens nicht länger hinausschieben und muss das Versprechen hinzufügen, mich bald durch die That zu rechtfertigen. Kommen Sie heuer nach Wiesbaden? Wann sind Sie in Würzburg anzutreffen?". - 1872/73 war Ernst Mach Dekan der Philosophischen Fakultät der Karl-Ferdinands-Universität in Prag. - Leicht gebräunt und fleckig. Mit geringfügigen Seiteneinrissen ohne Textberührung. Das 2. Bl. verso mit alter Verfasserzuschreibung in Tinte.
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Tyndall, John, Irish physicist (1820-1893).
Autograph letter signed. Haslemere, Hind Head House, 17 Oct. 1889.
8vo (115 x 180 mm). 1 p. on bifolium. A cordial letter to the German physician René Du Bois-Reymond (1863-1938), a fellow mountaineer: "I have just returned from the spot where I had the pleasure of meeting you after your escalade of the Jungfrau. Here in Surrey I find your 'Inaugural Dissertation' with pleasant words upon its title-page, awaiting me. I thank you very much for it, and wish that it may prove the beginning of a career comparable in brilliancy to that of my friend your father [...]". René was the son of Emil Heinrich Du Bois-Reymond, a physiologist based in Berlin. - Name of the recipient pencilled to upper left corner. Well preserved.
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Degas, Edgar, French painter and sculptor (1834-1917).
Autograph letter signed ("Degas"). N. p. o. d., "Jeudi".
8vo. 4 pp. on bifolium. Interesting letter to a friend, probably Louis Braquaval, declining an invitation to Saint-Valery-sur-Somme due to health concerns, criticizing the luxurious salon of mutual friends, and reporting on the similarly fragile health of his maid Zoé Closier, as both appear to have suffered from a food poisoning. Degas also muses that the recipient "only wants to impress" him, adding that it is also his own desire to be impressed and announcing that one day he will take his friend by surprise in order to see who he really is. In closing, Degas implies a possible visit to Saint Valery after Easter. - Edgar Degas met Louis Braquaval in 1896 in Saint-Valerie-sur-Somme and visited him several times thereafter. The two men became close friends and painting companions. In general, Degas was largely isolated in his later years, having lost many friends due to his difficult character. The letter gives testimony to Degas's peculiarities and his failing health. His maid Zoé Closier is known from a famous photographic self-portrait of Degas from ca. 1895 kept at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. - Professionally restored. Minor browning and stains.
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Delacroix, Henry-Eugène, French painter (1845-1930).
Autograph letter signed. Paris, 29. IV. 1902.
8vo. 2½ pp. on bifolium. Interesting letter to a friend named Dorchain, probably the playwright Auguste Dorchain, asking him for support with Quentin Beauchard, a magistrate at the Ministry of Culture, ahead of the Paris Salon. Delacroix was hoping for the acquisition of his painting by the state and lobbied with Beauchard and other members of a ministerial commission: "J'attache la plus grande importance à son opinion qui, paraît-il, est préponderante au Conseil. Puis je continuerai mes démarches auprès des autres membres de la [...] Commission dite des B[eau]x Arts". Another concern of Delacroix' was the presentation of his painting, which was good overall, although in a "somewhat dark hall": "Mon tableau est bien exposé, quoique dans une salle un peu sombre, il ne faut pas trop se plaindre". In a short postscript, Delacroix asks Dorchain to put in a good word for him with journalists. - Minimal foxing and browning.
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Doré, Gustave, French artist (1832-1883).
Autograph letter signed. Glasgow, 12. III. 1875.
8vo. 4 pp. on bifolium. In French. To an unidentified friend, thanking him for a text on Doré's work and particularly praising his "protest against the systemaric ostracism" that excludes Doré "from all decoratif works for the state": "Voici vingt jours environ que j'ai quitté Paris et que je me livre à un vagabondage des plus écossais, ainsi que à la chasse aux grousse [!] et aux paysages et ce n'est que hier à Glasgow (quartier général que j'avais indiqué pour l'envoi de toutes mes lettres et papiers[)] que j'ai trouvé les rumeurs [?] du progrès de l'ami [?] et que j'ai eu le vif plaisir de lire les pages si chaleureuses et vraiment amicales que vous m'avez fait l'honneur de consacrer à la [...] de mes œuvres; et je m'empresse de vous adresser mes très affectueuses et reconnaissans [!] remerciements et merci encore et merci surtout pour les lignes où vous protestez si franchement contre l'ostracisme systématique qui m'exclut de tous les travaux décoratifs pour l'état [...]". - On stationery with stricken-out letterhead "Benmore, Kilmun". With collector's note in ink. Traces of folds. Some ink smudging.
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Ingres, Jean-Auguste-Dominique, French painter (1780-1867).
Autograph letter signed ("J. Ingres"). Paris, 12. IV. 1844.
4to. 1 p. on bifolium. To a friend and author, thanking him for one of his works and a dedication: "Je suis extrêmement touché et reconnaissant de l'envoi que vous avez bien voulu me faire de votre bel ouvrage et des trop charmants beaux vers qui l'accompagnent ; j'ai déjà eu le plaisir de lire votre bel et intéressant ouvrage lorsqu'il a paru dans la revue britannique et je suis trop heureux de le posséder; je vous remercie donc, mille fois, Monsieur et ami de cet aimable envoi, ainsi que de la belle lettre que vous avez bien voulu y joindre et qui n'en sera jamais séparée, mais que dans ma juste modestie je ne puis m'approprier qu'une petite partie des beautés qu'elle renferme". - On Bath stationery. Well preserved.
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Marie Adélaïde de France, daughter of Louis XV (1732-1800).
Document signed. Versailles, 1. II. 1779.
Folio. 1 p. A petition on behalf of Marie Louise de Vidame Comtesse Dessöffy in Bar-le-Duc, addressed to the princesses of France, with Madame Adélaïde's signature to a pledge of 120 livres from the "fonds des missions" for the destitute noblewoman in the upper right corner. The document details Dessöffy's struggle to provide for her seven children, having already depleted her inheritance. A son who had finished military school and served as an officer for fours years was in need of a new uniform and a horse, probably following punishment and degradation to the infantry. Furthermore, the youngest daughter had been accepted at the Maison royale de Saint-Louis at Saint-Cyr, a boarding school for girls from impoverished noble families founded by Madame de Maintenon, but the family could not afford to pay for her journey. - The French branch of the Hungarian magnate family Dessewffy de Csernek was founded by Miklós Dessewffy or Dessöffy, who left Hungary in 1711 to enter the service of Louis XIV, eventually rising to the rank of Maréchal du Camp. The petition mentions the sacrifice of his Hungarian possessions and of his life in the retreat from Prague in 1742 during the War of the Austrian Succession. Finally, the military service of Marie Louise's husband Jacques-Charles Dessöffy (1720-1785) in the army of Louis XV and his ranks are highlighted. - A small receipt attached with sealing wax states that the Comtesse received the 120 livres on 23 February 1779. - Beyond Madame Adélaïde's donation, this or other supplications probably led to the final promotion of Jacques-Charles Dessöffy to the rank of Maréchal du Camp in March 1780. - Traces of folds. Some browning, particularly to the right margin. With several tears, partly affecting the text.
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Napoleon, Emperor of the French (1769-1821).
Letter signed "Nap". Erfurt, 9. X. 1808.
4to. ½ p. To the archchancellor Jean-Jacques-Régis de Cambacérès, reporting that the Congress of Erfurt was continuing as planned but there were no new developments: "Les Conférences continuent ici; tout va au mieux; il n'y a du reste rien de nouveau. Sur ce je prie Dieu qu'il vous ait, mon Cousin, en sa sainte et digne garde". - The meeting between Napoleon and Alexander I of Russia, known as Congress of Erfurt, lasted from 27 September to 14 October in the then-French city and was supposed to reaffirm the French-Russian alliance that had been forged by the Treaties of Tilsit in July 1807. Napoleon was eager to impress his imperial guest and spared no expenses, hosting lavish receptions, hunting parties, and theatre performances. On the occasion of the Congress, Napoleon received Goethe on 2 October 1808, and Niccolò Paganini performed for the two emperors. - In the hand of Napoleon's private secretary Claude-François Méneval. Traces of folds and minimal browning. With old accession no. 481 in ink.
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Napoleon, Emperor of the French (1769-1821).
Letter signed "Nap". Erfurt, 30. IX. 1808.
4to. ½ p. To the archchancellor Jean-Jacques-Régis de Cambacérès, reporting on the beginning of the Congress of Erfurt, which attracted numerous "princes and foreigners" to the city and "continued to proceed to common satisfaction": "Les Princes et les étrangers affluent de tous côtés à Erfurt, et les choses continuent à marcher à la satisfaction commune". - The meeting between Napoleon and Alexander I of Russia known as Congress of Erfurt lasted from 27 September to 14 October in the then-French city and was supposed to reaffirm the French-Russian alliance that had been forged in the Treaties of Tilsit in July 1807. Napoleon was eager to impress his imperial guest and spared no expenses, hosting lavish receptions, hunting parties, and theatre performances. On the occasion of the Congress, Napoleon received Goethe on 2 October 1808, and Niccolò Paganini performed for the two emperors. - In the hand of Napoleon's private secretary Claude-François Méneval. Traces of folds and minimal browning. With old accession no. 479 in ink.
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Napoleon, Emperor of the French (1769-1821).
Letter signed "Nap". Kaiserslautern, 24. IX. 1808.
4to. ½ p. To the archchancellor Jean-Jacques-Régis de Cambacérès, informing him about his arrival in Kaiserslautern, instructing him to inform Empress Joséphine of his well-being, and relating that "the Russian court had already arrived in Königsberg", as both parties were heading to meet in Erfurt: "Je suis arrivé à Kaiserlautern [!]. Donnez de mes nouvelles à l'Impératrice; je me porte fort bien. Le tems a été superbe jusqu'ici. J'ai des nouvelles que toute la Cour de Russie était déjà arrivée à Koenigsberg". - The meeting between Napoleon and Alexander I of Russia known as Congress of Erfurt lasted from 27 September to 14 October in the then-French city and was supposed to reaffirm the French-Russian alliance that had been forged in the Treaties of Tilsit in July 1807. Napoleon was eager to impress his imperial guest and spared no expenses, hosting lavish receptions, hunting parties, and theatre performances. On the occasion of the Congress, Napoleon received Goethe on 2 October 1808, and Niccolò Paganini performed for the two emperors. - In the hand of Napoleon's private secretary Claude-François Méneval. Traces of folds and minimal browning. With old accession no. 477 in ink.
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Napoleon, Emperor of the French (1769-1821).
Letter signed "Napo". Erfurt, 1. X. 1808.
4to. ½ p. on bifolium. To the archchancellor Jean-Jacques-Régis de Cambacérès, asking him to draft a birth certificate for his niece Louise Julie Caroline, the youngest daughter of Joachim Murat, King of Naples, and Napoleon's youngest sister Caroline in accordance with the statute of the imperial family: "Nous désirons qu'assisté du Secrétaire de l'État de la famille Impériale vous fassiez dresser un acte constatant la naissance de la Princesse Louise Julie Caroline, quatrième enfant de notre Soeur la Reine de Naples. Vous vous conformerez, pour ce qui concerne la désignation des témoins, à ce qui est prescrit par l'article 19". - Louise Julie Caroline (1805-89) was born before the decree of the statute of the Imperial family on 30 March 1806, which explains the necessity for a new birth certificate and the delay. - The letter was written during the Congress of Erfurt, a meeting between Napoleon and Alexander I of Russia that lasted from 27 September to 14 October in the then-French city and was supposed to reaffirm the French-Russian alliance that had been forged in the Treaties of Tilsit in July 1807. Napoleon was eager to impress his imperial guest and spared no expenses, hosting lavish receptions, hunting parties, and theatre performances. On the occasion of the Congress, Napoleon received Goethe on 2 October 1808, and Niccolò Paganini performed for the two emperors. - In the hand of Napoleon's private secretary Claude-François Méneval. Traces of folds and minimal browning. With old accession no. 480 in ink.
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Napoleon, Emperor of the French (1769-1821).
Letter signed "Np". Saint-Cloud, 21. X. 1808.
4to. 4 lines. To the archchancellor Jean-Jacques-Régis de Cambacérès, asking him to draft a decree for the ennoblement of vice-admiral Honoré Joseph Antoine Ganteaume: "présentez-moi un projet de décision pour conférer au Vice-amiral Ganteaume le titre de Comte". - Excepting the signature, the letter is in the hand of Napoleon's private secretary Claude-François Méneval. Traces of folds and minimal browning. With old accession no. 482 in ink.
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Sartre, Jean-Paul, French philosopher and writer (1905-1980).
"Les communistes et la paix". Autograph manuscript (fragment). No place, [1952].
4to. French manuscript on paper. (2) pp. on 2 ff. Interesting early manuscript of chapter I/2 of his series of articles entitled "Les communistes et la paix" that was first published in Sartre's journal "Les Temps modernes" (July 1952 - April 1954) and later in its entirety and thoroughly revised as part of the collection Situations VI (1964). The original title of the chapter, "Moscou veut la guerre", sets the cynical tone of the text that was first conceived in reaction to the deadly suppression of the Paris protests against General Ridgway on 28 May 1952 and the subsequent wrongful arrest of the French communist leader Jacques Duclos. Sartre accuses Western, particularly U.S. politicians of hypocrisy as, in the name of peace, they employ the violent and belligerent means that theye ascribe to the Soviet Union, polemically asking, in a deleted section: "Do you not also pretend to desire peace? I look for your olive twigs and I see atomic bombs, I look for your doves and I see rocket planes. You say that you show your force so as not to have to make use of it. But to show force is already violence: let your tanks defile, cover the African sky with your bombers [...]". - With "Les communistes et la paix" Sartre publicly affirmed his support of the French Communist Party, despite its loyalty to Stalin, which would cause his rupture with Maurice Merleau-Ponty. In 1956, appalled by the Soviet invasion of Hungary, Sartre definitely broke with the party. Unsurprisingly, the corresponding pages in the 1964 publication Situations VI (96-97) are very different from the manuscript and the article. - Some browning and bent corners.
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Baudelaire, Charles, French poet (1821-1867).
Autograph letter signed ("Ch. Baudelaire"). [Paris], 18. VIII. 1862.
8vo. 3 pp. on bifolium. In French. Important letter to Arsène Houssaye, desperately requesting an advance on articles or a loan, as he is facing eviction, and offering valuable hints at his current work, which mostly remained unpublished during Baudelaire's lifetime: "If you do not come to my rescue today, I will find myself today even without lodging, and in a situation in which I will no longer have the necessary rest to work a little. I always hoped that La Presse would begin [to print] my Variétés [a section of his diary] and would slowly continue week by week or fortnight by fortnight. It is, I assure you, with deep regret that I address myself to your purse but to whom do I address myself at this moment? No one is in Paris. It will be, if you wish, an advance, which you will repay, or a loan; for if I consider the work finished, I know someone who will advance me the whole amount. The sum I need is too great for me to have any right to ask you for it, but 250 fr., which probably represents two large Variétés-articles that you have, might allow me to put off my man for a few days. Permit me, I beg you, to insist vigorously, as on a serious matter, and not to speak of recognition. It is the fashion of those who forget" (transl.). In a long postscript, Baudelaire mentions his "Petits Poèmes en prose", better known under the later title "Le Spleen de Paris", his posthumously published diatribe "L'esprit et le style de M. Villemain", ideas for new titles that feature in his diaries and the autobiographical fragment "Mon cœur mis à nu" and he announces to visit Houssaye: "It is not surprising that I torment you to try [to have] a work of mine in La Presse. I have many other things in my mind than the Poèmes and Villemain. Everything could be broken up. I found two new titles: Fusées et Suggestions / Soixante Six Suggestions. I did not know until yesterday that I would be obliged to assail you in this way; do all you can, not to get me out of trouble but to help me lengthen the belt. I still have a little bit of copy with me but I would have liked to extend it. I will go and see you today". - Baudelaire's plea was successful, as Arsène Houssaye published some of the "Petits Poèmes" in La Presse on 26 August, 27 August, and 24 September 1862. - With several small tears and one larger tear due to ink corrosion affecting the text. Somewhat brittle.
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Hugo, Victor, French writer (1802-1885).
Autograph letter signed ("Victor-M. Hugo"). N. p. o. d.
12mo. 2 pp. on bifolium. With autograph address. Charming letter to the royalist lawyer and publisher Charles-Pierre Ducancel (1766-1835), correcting the title of a poem that Hugo was supposed to recite at a meeting of Ducancel's "Société des bonnes lettres": "J'ai l'honneur de saluer Monsieur Ducancel et de le prier de rectifier s'il en est encore temps, une erreur qui m'est échappée dans mon griffonnage de ce matin. La pièce que je me propose de lire à la société n'est point sur le désastre de Quiberon; mais c'est tout simplement une ode intitulée Quiberon. Cette inexactitude constitue une nuance bien légère à la vérité ; mais je désirerais que Monsieur Ducancel pût et voulût bien la faire disparaître. Je tremble de promettre plus que je ne tiendrais [...]". - Written in 1821, Victor Hugo's ode "Quiberon" commemorates the royalist victims of the 1795 Battle of Quiberon, which ended a brief counter-revolutionary invasion by French royalists and the British Navy. The poem was published as part of the collection "Odes et Ballades" in 1828. A passionate royalist in the first decades of his life, Hugo's political convictions shifted towards republicanism in the 1840s. - With a tear from breaking the seal. Some browning.
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Jacob, Max, French poet, painter, writer, and critic (1876-1944).
Autograph letter signed. Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire, 11. II. 1943.
8vo. 1 p. To his friend and protégé Maurice Morel, known as l'Abbé Morel, concerning a manuscript that has been saved from his "shipwreck disaster" and hopes to publish it "as it is" after everything "has been taken" from Jacobs: "Tout est donc au même ! Gloria in excelsis Deo. Merci au Seigneur d'avoir sauvé ce manuscrit de mon désastre de naufrage. Publions le manuscrit tel que puisque je n'ai rien d'autre, tout ayant été pris. Cependant je ne veux pas vendre le manuscrit et perdre mes droits. Que votre éditeur me propose un contrat que j'étudierai". - The touching letter is a testament to Max Jacob's desperate situation in occupied France and the importance of his Christian faith during this period. Whether Jacobs could have actually hoped for a publication under these circumstances is very doubtful. - Traces of folds.
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Jacob, Max, French poet, painter, writer, and critic (1876-1944).
Autograph letter signed. Quimper, 18. XI. 1935.
4to. 2 pp. With autograph envelope. To his friend and protégé Maurice Morel, known as l'Abbé Morel, concerning a forthcoming publication of selected poems. Jacob asks Morel to insist with their friend, the theologian Jacques Maritain, to keep the insconspicuous title "Poémes choisis inédits" so as not to attract "hate and furor", as well as the information "chosen by l'abbé Morel". The second part of the letter concerns the contract, Jacob's dire financial situation, and the painter Jean Colle, who was currently in London and somehow involved in the projected publication. While there is no publication of Max Jacob entitled "Poémes choisis inédits", it is very likely that the anthology in question is identical with the "Morceaux choisis" published by Gallimard in November 1936. - The devout Catholic Jacob met the future priest Maurice Morel (1908-91) when he was taken in by Father Albert Fleureau in Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire for detoxification in 1921. Jacob dedicated his 1921 poem "Le Laboratoire central" to Morel and encouraged him to follow his second calling as a painter. In his art, Morel was decidedly modern and abstract. He opened the Catholic Church of France to non-figurative art, even facilitating the introduction of modern art to the Vatican Museums. - Traces of folds.
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Louÿs, Pierre, French poet and novelist (1870-1925).
1 autograph letter signed and 1 autograph letter monogrammed. Tamaris [La Seyne-sur-Mer], 12 and 13 Sept. 1907.
8vo. Together 5 pp. on bifolia. With autograph envelopes. To his brother Georges Louis, commenting on political articles in Le Temps and Le Gaulois and mentioning a favour to a friend who was seeking employment in French West Africa. The letter from 12 September: "Tout en approuvant le fond des deux articles du Temps sur la note allemande, je ne pense pas que tu en approuves la forme; je crois comprendre qu’on avait soufflé à [André] Tardieu : ‘La note a voulu être plus aimable qu’elle ne l’est. Mettez en valeur ce qu’elle a de mieux. Ne faites pas de susceptibilités.’ Mais il a exagéré les salutations. Il reproche à ses confrères d’être nerveux, il est plus nerveux que personne [...]. C’est très habile avoir fait dire par El Guebbas [M'hammed El Guebbas, grand vizier of Morocco] lui-même que la police mixte était impossible. Quand profitera-t-on de la situation nouvelle ? [...]". - Well preserved.
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Louÿs, Pierre, French poet and novelist (1870-1925).
Autograph letter. N. p., "30 mars", n. y.
8vo. 2½ pp. on bifolium. Personal letter to his half-brother Georges Louis, announcing his return from a longer visit to their sister Lucie, relating news from the family and friends, and expressing his hope to see Georges at lunch: "Je reviens toujours demain matin, mon cher Georges. J'espère te voir à déjeuner parce que je serai peut-être obligé de sortir le soir. Tout le monde va bien ici et on est très affectueux pour ton frère. J'ai trouvé les enfants bien grandis. Jacques m'a envoyé ici une lettre très étrange, mystique et jeannesque au possible. L'influence conjugale est encore mal digérée; mais d'une force ! Ma tante M. elle-même n'a pas eu plus de puissance sur son mari. Je te ferai lire cette prose. C'est bien curieux. 'Tu embrasseras Georges pour moi', me crie Lucie par la porte. Et pour moi aussi !". - On mourning paper.
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Rilke, Rainer Maria, Dichter (1875-1926).
Eigenh. Brief mit U. Westerwede, 6. VII. 1901.
1 S. 8vo. An den namentlich nicht genannten Germanisten August Sauer in Prag zur Übersendung einer Novelle: "Obwohl Sie in Ihrer freundlichen Aufforderung zur Theilnahme an der neuen heimatlichen Publikation nur von Gedichten gesprochen haben, sende ich Ihnen eine Novelle "Reflexe", die mir besonders passend erscheint, und die ich umso lieber Ihrer Zeitschrift geben würde, als sie mir persönlich besonders lieb ist unter allen neueren Arbeiten [...]". - August Sauer lehrte seit 1892 an der Karl-Ferdinands-Universität in Prag und war u. a. Mitglied der Gesellschaft zur Förderung deutscher Wissenschaft, Kunst und Literatur in Böhmen. Zugleich fungierte er als Redakteur der von der Gesellschaft herausgegebenen Zeitschrift "Deutsche Arbeit" (1901-18). Der frischgebackene Ehemann Rilke, der im April des Jahres die Bildhauerin und Malerin Clara Westhoff geheiratet hatte, reiste im Sommer 1902 - nach bloß 16-monatigem Zusammenleben - nach Paris, um dort an seiner Monographie über Auguste Rodin zu arbeiten; Clara löste den Haushalt in Worpswede auf und folgte Rilke mal mehr und mal weniger während dessen Wanderjahren. Die 1912 von ihr eingereichte Scheidung kam auf Grund von zu hohen Kosten und bürokratischen Schwierigkeiten nicht zustande. - Mit kleinen (am rechten oberen Rand stärkeren) Randläsuren und einem eh. Antwortvermerk des Empfängers.
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Sade, Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de, French writer (1740-1814).
Autograph document signed. Charenton, 15. IX. 1812.
199 x 74 mm. 5 lines. Receipt for the allowance that de Sade received from his second-born son Claude-Armand during his imprisonment in the Charenton asylum: "Je soussigné reconnais avoir reçu de Monsieur Armand de Sade mon fils la somme de deux cent cinquante-deux francs savoir celle de cent cinquante-six pour le mois de Septembre et celle de quatre-vingt-seize pour un objet particulier". - In 1801, Napoleon personally ordered the arrest of the anonymous author of "Justine" and "Juliette" after he had received a copy of the novel. De Sade was arrested at his publisher's office and imprisoned without trial. After two years of imprisonment in Sainte-Pélagie and in the Bicêtre Asylum, his family managed to have him declared insane and placed in the Charenton asylum with favourable treatment. There he would spend the rest of his life in captivity but with some personal freedom and comfort. - After the death of his eldest son Louis-Marie in the Napoleonic Wars in 1809, Claude-Armand (1769-1847) became the head of the family. A devout catholic, Claude-Armand was eager to eradicate the memory of his scandalous father and destroyed all remaining manuscripts upon his death in 1812. - Minimally stained and creased.
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Sand, George, French writer (1804-1876).
Autograph letter signed. Nohant, 3. III. 1876.
8vo. 3 pp. on bifolium. In French. Charming letter to Charles Edmond, editor at Le Temps, concerning an article on the puppet theatre of her son Maurice in Nohant. Sand apologizes for a delay due to her merry duties as a grandmother during carnival, as she played the piano for her dancing granddaughters and dressed up as "an old Turk with a fake nose and an old Pierrot with the powdered figure" (transl.). Furthermore, her cook got married to a managing road construction worker who accepted an apartment in Sand's house, so as not to deprive the family of their "good cordon bleu". She warns Edmond that the "article reached frightening proportions" and gives him free hand for its publication, advising that it might better fit the "entertainment section rather than the feuilleton". For the planned publication as a book with Michel Lévy Frères, Sand would add a "purely literary preface". - The article "Le théâtre des marionnettes de Nohant" appeared in Le Temps on 11/12 May 1876. It was among Sand's final publications; she died less than one month later on 8 June 1876. In 1890, Maurice Sand published with Calmann Lévy the book that his mother had announced to Edmond. An ingenious puppeteer and puppet maker, Maurice Sand is overshadowed by his famous mother. The letter bears beautiful testimony to George Sand's appreciation of her son's work and her dedication to her granddaughters. The family home in Nohant still houses the puppet theatre and displays Maurice's creations. - On stationery with blindstamped monogram. Minor browning. Lubin, vol. XXIV, p. 548.
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Sand, George, French writer (1804-1876).
Autograph letter signed "GSand". N. p., "vendredi" [26 June 1868].
8vo. 1½ pp. on bifolium. To a close friend, concerning the dissolution of a household with instructions for the sale of some objects, while others should be sent to Nohant: "Je viens d'écrire à Mr. Blochel que je ne céderais pas le buffet, la desserte, l'étagère et la batterie de cuisine à moins de 500 f -- et je me réserve la balance et le moulin à café que je vous prie de mettre dans la caisse pour Nohant petite vitesse avec les objets restants que nous avons spécifiés [...]". In a short postscript Sand expresses her joy about a successful reading: "Grand succès de lecture !". - According to a collector's note in pencil, the letter was written on 26 June 1868. On stationery with embossed monogram. Traces of folds. Some browning and minimally creased.
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Valéry, Paul, French poet and philosopher (1871-1945).
"Introduction aux images de la France". Autograph manuscript and typed manuscript with autograph annotations. N. p. o. d., [1927].
4to. French manuscript on paper. (3) pp. on 6 ff. Typescript: (18) pp. on 18 ff. Several drafts for Valéry's introduction to Martin Hürlimann's photo book "La France, architecture et paysages" (Zurich/Paris 1927), which was later published as part of Valéry's essay-collection "Regards sur le monde actuel" (Paris 1931). One of the typed pages re-uses a letter from 17 January 1927. - This beautiful ensemble of a manuscript and typescript with annotations and numerous corrections offers a rare insight into Paul Valéry's writing process. The text is an attempt at a profound characterization of France as a nation and its people. Both the manuscript and the typescript comprise several versions of only a few paragraphs of the long introduction. The recurring first phrase of the manuscript is: "La France est le pays du monde où les considérations de la forme, le souci singulier de la forme en soi ait persisté, et même se soit imposé dans les temps modernes" ("France is the one country in the world where questions of form, the singular concern for form in itself, have persisted and even imposed themselves in modern times"). The unsystematically numbered typescript represents passages that are more descriptive of France as a country, trying to establish links between the people and their historical and natural environment. The different versions of the poetic first phrases depict France as harmonious in its geographical diversity: "La terre de France est remarquable par la netteté de sa figure, par les différences de ses parties, par l’équilibre général de cette diversité de régions qui se conviennent et se complètent. Une sorte de proportion assez heureuse existe dans ce pays entre la plaine et la hauteur, entre la montagne et la mer, entre l'étendue intérieure et le développement des côtes, et sur les côtes mêmes, entre les plages, les roches, les falaises [...]." - A beautiful condensation of Valéry's patriotic sentiments is a sentence added by hand to one of the typed pages: "La France tombe, se reléve, se restreint, reprend sa grandeur, redéchire soi-même se reconcentre" ("France falls, rises again, restrains herself, regains her greatness, tears herself apart again, refocuses"). Valéry revised and extended this phrase for the final version. - Stronger browning of the typescript and occasional tears. The first page of the manuscript is dust-stained, showing several minor tears. With editing marks in crayon. Regards sur le monde actuel (Paris: Stock, Delamain et Boutelleau, 1931), pp. 103-144.
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Liszt, Franz, Komponist (1811-1886).
Eigenh. Brief mit U. ("F. Liszt"). O. O., 19. V. 1851.
1¾ SS. auf Doppelblatt. 8vo. Wohl an den Musikschriftsteller und -verleger Bartholf Senff über Korrekturen und einen Artikel für die Zeitschrift "Signale für die musikalische Welt": "In ein paar Stunden gehe ich abermals nach Eilsen! - Sollten Sie mir Correcturen oder andres mitzutheilen haben, so bitte ich Sie bis zum 5ten Juny nach Eilsen zu adressiren. Für die Vorstellungen der Pfingstfeiertage gedenke ich wieder hier einzutreffen. Beifolgend der Göthe Stiftungs Artikel ein[es] Hamburger Correspondenten; vielleicht convenirt es Ihnen denselben in den Signalen aufzunehmen, wofür ich Ihnen nur dankbar sein würde - Zerdahely hat Ihnen schon diesen Wunsch ausgesprochen - jedenfalls muß ich Sie aber bitten sich keineswegs damit zu incommodiren [...] Die beiden Polonaisen erhalten Sie sogleich nach meiner Rückkehr; sie sind gänzlich fertig und bedürfen blos der Abschrift". - Liszt hatte den Sommer 1849 zusammen mit seiner Lebensgefährtin, der Fürstin zu Sayn-Wittgenstein, und deren Tochter Marie auf Helgoland verbracht. Auf der Rückreise im September war Marie an Typhus erkrankt. Gemeinsam blieb man in Bad Eilsen und ließ sich vom damaligen Kurarzt, dem Geheimen Hofrat Dr. Karl von Möller aus Minden, behandeln. Von da ab sollte Liszt bis 1851 insgesamt zwölf Monate in Bad Eilsen verbringen. - Während seiner Zeit als Hofkapellmeister in Weimar (1848-58) hatte Liszt das detaillierte Programm einer Goethe-Stiftung entworfen, mit deren Hilfe die Künste in Deutschland an den europäischen Rang der Goethezeit anknüpfen sollten, und dazu 1851 bei Brockhaus seine Schrift "De la Fondation-Goethe à Weimar" veröffentlicht. - Ede Szerdahelyi (1820-80) war ein ungarischer Pianist und Komponist, der wegen seiner Beteiligung am Ungarnaufstand von 1848 in Olmütz inhaftiert gewesen war. Von Jänner bis Juli 1851 war er in Weimar zu Gast bei Liszt, dem er die Verbindung zu prominenten Exilungarn herstellte. Nach mehrjährigem Aufenthalt in London und in den USA kehrte er 1877 nach Pest zurück und traf auch wieder mit Liszt zusammen, der ihm seine Ungarische Rhapsodie Nr. 1 in E-Dur widmete. - In den Faltungen etwas gebräunt.
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Liszt, Franz, Komponist (1811-1886).
Eigenh. Brief mit U. ("F. Liszt"). Budapest, 3. III. 188[4?].
2 SS. auf Doppelblatt. 8vo. Laut der Transkription eines hier nicht mehr beiliegenden Kuverts an einen René de Jekelfalussy in Theodosía (heute Feodossija, Krim) über eine nicht erhaltene Zusendung: "Es ist mir ganz unbekannt, von Ihnen Compositionen erhalten zu haben. Dieselben sind mir gewiß, entweder gar nicht zugekommen, oder aber, bei meinen vielen Aufenthaltwechseln abhanden gekommen. Sie sind mir noch immer in freundlicher Erinnerung u. hoffe ich, daß es Ihnen wohlergeht [...]". - Längs- und Querfaltung mit tieferen Einrissen, die untere Ecke von Bl. 2 abgeschnitten (keine Textberührung); etwas fleckig.
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Stravinsky, Igor, Russian, and later French and American, composer, pianist, and conductor (1882-1971).
Autograph letter signed ("I. Str."). Paris, 11. VI. 1937.
4to. 1 p. With an autograph envelope. Charming letter in French and German to the silent film star Dagmar Godowsky, thanking her for a "pharmaceutical package" and telling her about a conversation with her brother and his imminent departure for Lake Geneva: "Mille merci de votre envoi pharmaceutique votre frère avec lequel j'ai eu eine telephonische conversation reste ici 2, 3 jours et moi qui pars aujourd'hui au Lac de Genève pour 3 jours (afin de décider pour l'été). En toute hâte. Mille meilleures choses à vous, chère amie, küsse die Hand". Above the text, Stravinsky adds in German that he is in sufficient health: "Gesundheit Got [!] sei bedankt ganz gut". - In her memoir, Dagmar Godowsky (1897-1975) named Stravinsky as one of her great lovers. Little is known of the relationship, but the letter bears beautiful testimony to Stravinsky's familiarity with the actress. Her younger brother Leopold Godowsky Jr. was a violinist and chemist who, together with Leopold Mannes, created the first practical colour transparency film, Kodachrome. - Traces of folds. With tears to the folds and minimal browning.
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Ibsen, Henrik, Norwegian playwright (1828-1906).
Portrait photograph with autograph inscription signed. N. p., 5. XII. 1898.
12mo (109 x 168 mm). 2 lines. Beautiful print of Ibsen's portrait from ca. 1891 by the German photographer Julius Cornelius Schaarwächter mounted on cardboard. Inscribed on verso to a close friend in German: "Von deinem Freund". - With a small water spot and minor pinchfolds affecting the signature. Traces of former mounting.
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[Académie de Dijon].
Document signed by 12 members, including Émiland Gauthey, Louis-Bernard Guyton de Morveau, and Hugues Maret. Dijon, 5. IX. 1785.
Small fol. 3½ pp. Historically interesting administrative document of the Académie des Sciences, Arts et Belles-Lettres de Dijon for the year 1785, listing attendance ("Controlle des Entrées de Messieurs les pensionnaires pendant l'année académique 1785"), the payment of pensions ("État des pensions de Messieurs les Pensionaires [!]"), and the lectures that had been given by the members ("Catalogue des ouvrages lus dans le cours de l'année académique"). The identified signatories are: Pierre-Louis Baudot, historian (1760-1816); Charles Boullemier, historian and librarian (1725-1803); François Chaussier, anatomist (1746-1828); Jean-François Durande, botanist (1732-1794); Joseph Enaux, physician (1726-1798); Émiland Gauthey, engineer and architect (1732-1806); Louis-Bernard Guyton de Morveau, chemist, lawyer, and politician (1737-1816); Jean-Baptiste Mailly, historian, geographer, and journalist (1744-1794); Hugues Maret, physician (1726-1786); Claude-Nicolas Perret, lawyer (1718-1788); and Henri-Claude Picardet, educator (1728-1794). Of these, Baudot, Bullemier, Guyton de Morveau, Maret, and Picardet signed the document three times as official witnesses or administrators. The remaining signatures, including a fourth signature each by Baudot, Boullemier, and Maret, confirm receipt of the pensions (fol. 1v). - Of particular historical interest is the list of works that had been presented by some of the signatories. The famous engineer Gauthey read a "Mémoire sur l'épaisseur qu'on doit donner aux murs de soutenement pour resister à la poussée des terres" concerning the statics of retaining walls, Hugues Maret presented a "Memoir on epidemic diseases in the spring of this year", his 1784 "Histoire Meteoro-Nosologique", and an analysis of the water of a volcanic lake in Monterotondo Marittimo, Tuscany. The little-known lawyer Claude-Nicolas Perret read a philosophical text on the subject of slavery: "Examen de l'opinion de quelques Philosophes Modernes sur l'esclavage", the botanist and physician Jean-François Durande presented a "method of multiplying the foreign trees", but also "the method of burying the dead" and "premature burials", while his colleague Enaux brought foward his "Méthode de traiter les morsures des animaux enragés et de la vipere" ("Method of treating bites from rabid animals and from the viper"), which was published in Dijon that year. - Some browning and several stains. Minor damage due to ink corrosion. With several tears minimally affecting the text and the first signature of Picardet. The first signatures of Boullemier and Baudot are somewhat rubbed. With collector's stamp, old price or inventory no. (fol. 1r).
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Humboldt, Alexander von, Naturforscher und Geograph (1769-1859).
Eigenh. Brief mit U. ("Humboldt"). Potsdam, "mardi" [1850/1851].
1 S. 8vo. In französischer Sprache. Spannender und inhaltsreicher Brief an einen jungen Forschungsreisenden, der Humboldt um Rat bezüglich einer Expedition in den Orient gebeten hatte. Humboldt empfiehlt zunächst den österreichischen Diplomaten Anton Prokesch von Osten als Ratgeber für den ersten Reiseabschnitt nach Konstantinopel, wobei er selbst vom Landweg über Galizien und Moldavien abrät und stattdessen den Seeweg ab Triest empfiehlt. Im Übrigen weist Humboldt darauf hin, selbst nur geringe Kenntnisse des Orients zu besitzen: "Da ich lediglich in der chinesischen Provinz Ili, nahe dem Dsaisang-See, bis zum Kaspischen Meer und am Don gewesen bin, habe ich keine Verbindungen mit dem Orient" (Übs.). Allerdings kann Humboldt auf sein immenses Netzwerk zurückgreifen und fügt ein Empfehlungsschreiben für den preußischen Gesandten in Konstantinopel, Albert von Pourtalès, bei. In dessen Residenz werde der Empfänger den Orientalisten Georg Rosen antreffen, der als Dragoman der Gesandtschaft fungierte. Rosen habe "wichtige Arbeiten in den Tälern des Kaukasus über die Reste der Alanen und anderer germanischer Stämme, die die Überreste des Schiffsbruchs der Völker in ihren großen Migrationen von Osten nach Westen sind, durchgeführt". Abschließend erwähnt Humboldt, dass Georg Rosen der Bruder des in London verstorbenen Orientalisten Friedrich August Rosen sei, und bittet den Empfänger, das beigefügte Empfehlungsschreiben "nicht alt werden zu lassen". - Der Brief kann anhand der Stationierung von Albert von Pourtalès (1812-61) in Konstantinopel auf die Jahre 1850-1851 datiert werden. Humboldt hatte Georg Rosen persönlich der Berliner Akademie der Wissenschaften für die Teilnahme an einer 1843 durchgeführten linguistisch-ethnografischen Expedition in den Kaukasus empfohlen. Im Anschluss an seine Stationierung als Dragoman in Konstantinopel wurde Rosen 1852 Botschafter in Jerusalem. Sein früh verstorbener Halbbruder Friedrich August Rosen (1807-37) leistete bedeutende Beiträge zur Sanskritforschung und war langjähriger Korrespondent Alexander von Humboldts. - Leicht gebräunt und fleckig. Mit einigen Nadellöchern in der linken oberen Ecke. Empfänger- oder Sammlernotiz in Tinte verso "de Humboldt".
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Tissot, Samuel-Auguste, Swiss physician (1728-1797).
Autograph medical manuscript signed. No place, 17. IX. 1769.
8vo. 2½ pp. on bifolium. In French. Highly interesting diagnosis and plan of treatment for the Marquess of Barolo. Tissot diagnoses constipation and "putrid corruption" of the lower abdomen "that disturb all functions and cause fever and the other symptoms", prescribing a minimal diet of rice cooked in chicken broth, "cream of tartar" as a laxative, an extract of the roots of couch grass (elymus repens, "graminis canini"), external treatment with mallow extract, cataplasms for the legs, and, when the patient is somewhat recovered and the fever has receded, "should we be so lucky to get there", warm baths. Should the fever cease completely, Tissot advises his patient to go to Spa so as to "restore to the intenstines their full functionality" thanks to the motion of the body during the horseback or carriage ride there and to recover fully in the famous thermal waters. - Today, Samuel-Auguste Tissot is best known for his 1760 medical treatise "L'Onanisme" on the ill-effects of masturbation, which had a lasting negative influence on Western medicine. However, his most famous work during his lifetime, "Avis au peuple sur sa santé" from 1761, was the greatest medical best-seller of the 18th century and earned him a reputation throughout Europe. In 1777 Emperor Joseph II visited Tissot, as both men were advocates for the smallpox vaccine. The Emperor later asked Tissot to direct the teaching hospital of the University of Pavia, a post he held from 1781 to 1783. - The patient was probably Charles Jérôme Joseph Falletti de Barolo, father of Ottavio Falletti di Barolo (1753-1828) and grandfather of Carlo Tancredo Falletti di Barolo (1782-1838), who co-founded the Sisters of St Anne with his wife Juliette Colbert. Little is known of Charles Jérôme, and whether his treatment by Tissot was successful remains a subject for further research. - With tears from breaking the seal. Traces of folds and some browning. With a collector's note in pencil.
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