Gros & Delettrez
55
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GOEGG-POUCHOULIN (Marie). Letters from Marie Goegg to [André…
See original version (French)
55
-
GOEGG-POUCHOULIN (Marie). Letters from Marie Goegg to [André…
See original version (French)
Estimate €300 - €400
Voluntary lot
Description
GOEGG-POUCHOULIN (Marie).
Letters from Marie Goegg to [André Léo].
Geneva and Thiergarten, 17 June & 22 July 1869.
Set of 2 L.A.S. addressed to André Léo, [Victoire Léodile Béra, dite] (1824-1900), militant feminist and socialist writer, member of the Communarde, who published numerous works including La Femme et les moeurs, Liberté ou Monarchie (1869). She co-founded the newspaper La République des Travailleurs (1871).
Marie Goegg-Pouchoulin (1826-1899) was a Swiss feminist and abolitionist, renowned for her commitment to pacifism and women's right to vote in her country.
6 pp. in-8, one with embossed letterhead of the International Women's Association (slight traces of mitre on the two letters, two very slight tears at the bottom of the letter of 22 July, without affecting the text).
On 17 June, Marie Goegg apologises because "I was hoping from day to day to be able to give you positive news about the arrival of the book you were kind enough to send me (La Femme et les Mœurs) (...)" she continues "I am all the more anxious to read it as your letter gives me proof. That you cover all the issues raised". Insisting that "it is essential for thinking women to rally round a common goal and leave aside the petty spirit that hinders all noble efforts", she went on to say that to combat dissension it would be necessary to "unite and (...) confuse particular interests in order to rise above parties and personalities".
More than a month passed before the letter of 22 July and Marie Goegg had received the book. Leaving for Germany, she announced that "I had taken no other reading with me (...) each sentence carries a sentence", and thanked her interlocutor "(...) for the moments of real pleasure I experienced in seeing how many ideas we had in common. I don't mean, however, that we agree on everything (...) but apart from this diversity we agree on all the main points".
She went on to emphasise the newspapers' interest in her work: "[...] when I opened No. 15 [of the weekly magazine Le Droit des Femmes] I was pleased to see that Madame Angélique Arnaud had taken it as the subject of one of her articles...".
Angélique Arnaud (1797-1884) was a French author and feminist who wrote for various newspapers on liberal and republican causes, defending feminism, socialism and Saint-Simonism. Her progressive novels were very popular with women and she was an active member of the Société pour l'amélioration du sort des femmes, writing for the feminist press.
But Marie Goegg was not entirely satisfied: "the sound judgement that I admired (...)" she was astonished that Angélique Arnaud had noted "the tribute paid to the Duchess of Orléans (...)" and continued: "you highly proclaim that the real happy solution lies in the universal republic! (...) Let us create a new society from which disdain and exclusivism are banished and which is based instead on justice and complete benevolence towards all creatures"...
PROTO-FEMINISM. INTERSECTIONALITY.
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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