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two pages of a manuscript with writing on them, one of which is written in black ink
Ader

535 - Gustave SILBERMANN (1801–1876), an Alsatian printer.
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Estimate €1,000 - €1,500
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Description
Gustave SILBERMANN (1801–1876), an Alsatian printer. Autograph manuscript of his diary, 1874–1876; 309 pages, in-4, in loose sheets (pp. 478–842). Diary of a wealthy retiree in Versailles. Gustave Silbermann began working in the family printing business in Strasbourg as early as 1823, and in the 1830s developed a major printing firm, one of the most prosperous of the Second Empire; having sold his printing works in 1872 to Charles Fischbach (1817–1881), he left Alsace and settled in Versailles, in a beautiful property on the road to Vaucresson, where he kept this Journal, which runs from 18 May 1874 to 9 February 1876 (he died on 13 June). The diary, occasionally interspersed with press cuttings, was kept daily; each entry invariably began with the weather (for example, on 23 May 1874: ‘At 5 am: +10; at 9 am: +14; at 2 pm: +10°. South-westerly wind. Cloudy sky’); followed by maintenance work on the house and, above all, the garden; as a keen entomologist and botanist, he tended to his collections (herbarium, insects, autographs, fashion albums…) and his large garden; he followed political life with interest; he goes on numerous errands and walks in Paris and its suburbs; he hosts guests at home or attends numerous dinners (the menu is sometimes noted) and receptions, which often end with games of chance (whist, piquet); he records births, baptisms, weddings, funerals, visits (including Hetzel), etc.; he manages his affairs, annuities and financial investments; he remains in contact with Fischbach, who regularly sends him money; etc. We can only give a brief overview here. 1874. 23 May. ‘I went today to the opening of the horticultural exhibition at Versailles, which had attracted a large crowd and is certainly well worth the visit. The flowers, in particular, deserve special attention. The displays of rhododendrons, pelargoniums, azaleas and roses are truly outstanding. A vast display of annual seedlings from Messrs Vilmorin-Andrieu & Co also deserves special attention; it was this display that won the Grand Medal of Honour. […] Finally, after 12 days of effort, research and much deliberation, Marshal Mac Mahon succeeded in forming a ministry’… 1 June. Visit to the Horticultural Exhibition at the Palais de l’Industrie. 2 June: wedding of General Ladmirault’s daughter. 28 June. Grand military parade at Longchamp. 10 July. ‘General Castelnau dines with us’. End of July: trip to Rouen, Le Havre and Trouville… 26 August. Dinner at the Château de Cernay with General L’Hérillier. 23 September. *Le Courrier du Bas-Rhin* is bought out by the Alsatian Autonomist Society… 10 October. The director of the Grand Potager de Versailles is to house “my edible Dioon in a greenhouse over the winter”… 19 October. Elections: ‘I did not realise there were still so many voters in the department attached to that deplorable Bonapartism’… 30 October. After reviewing the accounts for the first nine months, he is alarmed by the expenditure he has incurred. 22 November: municipal elections in Versailles. 3 December: a dinner for 40 people at General Duplessis’s, attended by the King of Hanover. 5 December: the reconstruction of the Vendôme Column is completed. 1875. 14 February. ‘I currently have 5,653 classified species, including 762 grasses, 632 mosses and 148 algae’; a grand musical soirée at Erard’s; he receives an invitation from a gendarme to dine at Marshal Mac Mahon’s. 25 February: “The National Assembly adopted the Constitution of the French Republic by a majority of 171 votes (425 to 254).” 1 March: trip to Strasbourg. 2 March: he saw only one stork due to the bitter cold. 3 March: visit to his former workshops. 4 March: return to Paris by German railway via Avricourt and Emberménil. 15 March: ‘The Minister of War had lunch with us’. 5 April: “This morning I attached labels to all the plants I had received from the Jardin des Plantes”. 14 April: to save money, he is going to reduce his staff. 23 April: he hired a couple of servants; she was to be the housekeeper and her husband the coachman; salary and terms of employment. 9 May: he began work on the new catalogue for his herbarium. 13 June: grand military review in the Bois de Boulogne of the troops from Paris and Versailles. 20 June: night-time festivities on the Neptune Basin at Versailles. 12 July: he receives his dog Toto, stuffed. 18 July: visit to the Château de Rocquencourt. 23–24 July: trip to Tain for the funeral of his Protestant daughter-in-law, followed by a visit to Tournon. 5 August: he receives an autograph from the painter Decamps. 12 August: fundraising appeal for flood victims in the Midi. 24–29 August: stay in Gérardmer; he passes through Lunéville; walk to the Vologne waterfall and the Saut des Cuves. 18 September: horticultural exhibition. 3 October: argument with his daughter Mathilde over the greenhouse he wants to have built; he gives up on the idea. 10 October: he completes his album *Modes* (1,173 plates). 10 November: an offer is made to buy his house in Strasbourg. 25 December: Christmas celebration with the family: ‘A day of joy and happiness for the children and their parents’. 27 December: a large crowd attends the funerals of Generals Leconte and Thomas, who were killed by the Communards. 1876. 1 January: the sale of his house in Strasbourg is finalised: ‘That is the last material link that still tied me to Strasbourg, now definitively severed. I have nothing left there! Nothing but memories, but they will never leave me.’ 30 January: election of three Republican candidates to the Senate in Versailles. 4 February: he learnt of the possible construction of a fort on the Butte de Picardie and the road to Vaucresson, which would reduce the value of his property. 9 February: he had packed his silverware and arranged for several pieces of furniture and various items to be transported to Paris… Etc.
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About the sale Letters and Autograph Manuscripts – Part II
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Auction time 10/14/2026 at 2:00 PM
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