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KÂ- MONDO / KAPANDJI MORHANGE

216 - [MANUSCRIPT] - LOTTE (Fernand) - [MAUROIS (André)]. The Diar…
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Estimate €200 - €300
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Description
[MANUSCRIPT] - LOTTE (Fernand) - [MAUROIS (André)]. The Diary of Professor Horace Bianchon (1813–1850). (Fragments discovered by Dr Étienne Bianchon) . With a foreword by André Maurois, of the Académie française. A rare copy of typescript proofs with handwritten corrections and annotations from a work that was never published. [Paris, 1967]. Quarto (280 x 190 mm). Loose sheets, in a cardboard folder with flaps. 161 pages, the last of which is handwritten, dated, signed and bearing the stamp of Dr Fernand Lotte. Folder rubbed. Unpublished novel by Fernand Lotte, dermatologist and Balzac scholar, author notably of a ‘biographical dictionary of the fictional characters of La Comédie humaine’. Here he imagines that the diary of Professor Horace Bianchon (1813–1850) has been discovered; Bianchon is a recurring and essential secondary character in Balzac’s work. In the foreword, André Maurois highlights the profoundly Balzacian nature of the text:
 “This gives us an overview of *La Comédie humaine* from an indirect perspective. Bianchon is, in fact, one of those Balzacian characters who reappears in a very large number of novels. It is therefore natural that his diary should contain allusions to all the events with which we are familiar […]. With Bianchon, we witness their deathbeds: Goriot, Coralie, the daughter of the spy Corentin, Lydie, and (without transition) Balzac himself. It is both deeply moving and beautiful […]. One can no longer distinguish truth from fiction […]. In truth, this Journal intime is a new novel by Balzac. Through his frequent association with a great man, Dr Lotte has become an excellent novelist.” An interesting Balzacian pastiche, erudite and sensitive, offering an original reinterpretation of *La Comédie humaine*.
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About the sale Fine antique and collectible books, manuscripts and modern illustrated works
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Auction time 06/29/2026 at 2:00 PM
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