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Maître Jean-Paul RENOUD-GRAPPIN

38 - Jacques-Antoine-Adrien DELORT (Arbois 1773–1846), General of…
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Estimate €200 - €300
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Jacques-Antoine-Adrien DELORT (Arbois 1773–1846), General of the Empire. Letter from the author, Paris, 17 June 1839, to Dr MONFALCON; 4 pages, in-8. Regarding the translation of Horace’s Odes by Dupont de l’Étang, which competes with his own: ‘Would to God that Lieutenant-General Dupont had never committed any other offence than that of disputing this literary laurel with me and of presenting, in at least ten thousand lines (and, alas, what is flawed abounds), the art of war as a rough and indigestible mass. […] it is impossible for you to read a single canto of it. Such a mass of verse will not restore to public favour the warrior-poet, who had the misfortune to affix his hitherto highly honoured signature to the disastrous capitulation of Baylen, from which date the Empire’s dreadful reverses.” Others have disfigured the work of the divine poet: ‘The translator whom you have taken under your wing will by no means be eclipsed by such rivals [...] Your praise and the distinguished honour you have bestowed upon me by including my work in its entirety in your *Polyglot Horace*, which will find a place in all the great libraries of Europe, have brought me good fortune.” He refers to Monfalcon’s conduct during the Canut revolts in Lyon, his fight against anti-social doctrines and his patriotism, and returns to his dissatisfaction with Dupont…
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About the sale AUTOGRAPHS & MANUSCRIPTS – PENNED BY HISTORY’S GREAT FIGURES
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Auction time 09/18/2026 at 2:00 PM
Ref. : 226165 - 2
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