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222 - [MANUSCRIPT]. GYP (pseudonym of Sibylle-Gabrielle-Marie-Anto…
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Estimate €800 - €1,200
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Description
[MANUSCRIPT]. GYP (pseudonym of Sibylle-Gabrielle-Marie-Antoinette de Riquetti de Mirabeau). Signed autograph manuscript, ‘Mariage de Chiffon’. A precious manuscript of one of Gyp’s most delightful works, published at the height of her popularity in 1894. [c. 1894]. Two folio volumes (370 x 250 mm), ivory half-vellum, smooth spine, author and title handwritten in black ink, initials in red ink in medieval style. Violet ink on the front only, pp. 1–428, pp. 429–870. Minor handling marks. A few very slight foxing spots. A fine manuscript, carefully written in violet ink on blue paper, with numerous corrections and erasures. With no title page, the text is complete and signed on the last page. This short novel tells the story of Chiffon, a young girl unloved by her mother but cherished by her father and uncle. She is of marriageable age, but she does not like the suitors proposed to her and it is with her characteristic vivacity and frankness that Chiffon rebuffs them. Published by Calmann-Lévy in 1894, *Le Mariage de Chiffon* saw no fewer than five editions in the same year. In 2010, it was included in the collection “Au siècle de Maupassant: contes et nouvelles du XIXe” alongside works by H. de Balzac, V. Hugo, E. Zola, A. France, O. Mirbeau, etc. Sibylle Riquetti de Mirabeau, Countess of Martel (1850–1932), better known as Gyp, was Mirabeau’s great-granddaughter. An aristocrat and prolific author, she was appreciated by her contemporaries for her sharp wit, her humour and her keen sense of observation. Nietzsche writes in *Ecce homo*: “I cannot see in which century of history one could gather, in a more splendid sweep, psychologists so curious and at the same time so delicate as in present-day Paris: I name them at random—for their number is considerable—Messrs Paul Bourget, Pierre Loti, Gyp, Meilhac, Anatole France, Jules Lemaître; and to single out another, of the strong breed, a true Latin whom I particularly love, Guy de Maupassant. Between you and me, I prefer this very generation to its masters, who were corrupted by German philosophy." Manuscript entirely mounted on endpapers, perfectly preserved in two imposing volumes, very well bound at the time.
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About the sale Fine antique and collectible books, manuscripts and modern illustrated works
Auction location
Auction time 06/29/2026 at 2:00 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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