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368 - Alphonse de LAMARTINE. Letter from the author, Château de Mo…
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Estimate €400 - €500
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Description
Alphonse de LAMARTINE. Letter from the author, Château de Montculot near Dijon, 15 September [1829, to the Marquise de Montcalm]; 4 pages, in-8. On his aspirations as a diplomat, Member of Parliament and member of the Académie Française. Princess Aldobrandini wrote to him from Lucca, where she is staying with M. de La Ferronnays, whom he holds in high esteem and loves ‘both as a politician and as a man’; he replied that he hoped to secure a post in London or Rome; in the meantime, he is keeping a low profile… ‘You are constantly scolding me, and yet I still love you. I do not know why, for you judge me contrary to reality. You take me for a man of show, pretence and ambition, and I am far from being so. These three ‘salon’ pursuits require too many illusions and too much effort. I love action, that is all; but I love it only at times and when it is worth the trouble: so if you allow a revolution to break out, you will see me spring into action. But if we manage to avoid it, I shall find it very difficult to make do as first secretary at an embassy, a mediocre Member of Parliament, and a second-rate Academician. All things of which I personally have no regard.’ He is, however, concerned about his prospects at the Academy: ‘I don’t want to take any chances; I want a sure thing or nothing’… Exhibition: Lamartine, the Poet and the Statesman (National Library, 1969, no. 199).
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About the sale Letters and Autograph Manuscripts – Part II
Auction location
Auction time 10/14/2026 at 2:00 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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