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Henry BAUËR and Gérard BAUËR. A collection comprising letter…
See original version (French)
102
-
Henry BAUËR and Gérard BAUËR. A collection comprising letter…
See original version (French)
Estimate €300 - €500
Voluntary lot
Description
Henry BAUËR and Gérard BAUËR. A collection comprising letters, portraits, various documents and books.
1/ Henry BAUËR.
- Autograph signed letter to a woman, 1 p. in-8, accepting an invitation and expressing thanks.
- Autograph signed letter to a ‘dear colleague’. 12 January 1890. 3 pp. in-12 on paper bearing his monogram. On the question of the advisability of a commission for literature and the arts. He prefers to give his opinion in person and invites him to visit his home the following day.
- F. DESMOULINS. Portrait of Henry Bauër. Engraving. 2 proofs on Japanese paper, 1 on Chinese paper.
- Abel HERMANT. Literary notes. *Une comédienne*, by Henry Bauër. No place, no date. 2 pp., in-4
- 6 articles by Henry Bauër, press cuttings.
2/ Gérard BAUËR.
37 letters (9 pp., in-8 and 27 pp., in-4) and 16 signed autograph postcards, addressed to the writer and journalist Paul Brach. 1919–1932. A few letters are missing.
Significant friendly and literary correspondence. 21 May 1920: ‘I’m off to enjoy the country air, whilst having to write a lead article on Henry Bordeaux… Well, one has to make a living… (despite Barbey, who would reply: Is it really so necessary? – 1 September 1920: On the first issue of the magazine *L’Œil de bœuf*, founded by Brach. ‘I have reread your verses, those of Regnier and Chalupt’s prose with great pleasure. The first issue as a whole is not bad. But what a mediocre presentation! It’s much like a chemist’s leaflet…’ – 1 January 1925: ‘I love too many things to devote myself to just one. I love play, love, books, music, the city and the countryside—in short, everything… Even the sombre pleasure of a melancholic heart, as La Fontaine says in *Psyché*. But he says it so delightfully.” – 19 May 1926: ‘I ask you, rather insistently, not to mention the disagreement we discussed this morning… If I was tactless, I do not want my tactlessness to be used as a weapon against a talent for which I still have great esteem… ’ – 10 October 1929: ‘I have a column to finish, which I must take to *Vogue*, where Colette and Princess Bibesco are twiddling their thumbs…’ – 27 April: *Le Hollande* is of excellent quality. So is the preface. I don’t want to write to you about it, as it would take me twenty pages of the magazine… The foremost quality of a novel, if we accept that it is a story being told, is that it gives the reader the illusion of truth…’ – undated: ‘I’ve received a new draft contract from Flammarion. It’s not exactly what I’d hoped for… I’m not going to haggle when you’re offering me the chance to be a petal on a rose you’ve crafted yourself!” – undated, on letterhead from the Royal Hotel in Gstaad. “Guy de Pourtalès and his wife are charming to me and very pleasant company. He has a realistic view of things and what I love so much: a mind free of prejudice (which is no mean feat for someone like him who could harbour plenty of it)… ”
- Gérard BAUËR. Photographic portrait with a dedication to Paul Brach dated 1925.
- Gérard BAUËR. “Memories of a Century”. Signed autograph manuscript. 4 pp. in-4. On the exhibition organised by the *Revue des Deux-Mondes* to mark its centenary. Amidst the manuscripts of the most illustrious authors of the time, next to Mr de Balzac’s walking stick… ‘There we see Théophile Gautier’s stool, M. de Vigny’s cathedral-shaped inkwell, some of Dumas the Elder’s hair (which I know well) and Lamennais’s quill… ”
- Gérard BAUËR. Two autograph manuscripts signed ‘Guermantes’ (Bauër’s pseudonym at *Le Figaro*, where he wrote a column entitled ‘Les jours se suivent’: ‘Romances’ (1 p. in-4) and ‘Pas de chance’ (1 p. in-4)
- Two autographed visiting cards and one autographed postcard.
- 3 photographic portraits. Photographs by Lipnitzki-Viollet.
Also included are 18 books, including:
- Henry BAUËR. *Une comédienne*. – *Scènes de la vie de théâtre* –. Paris, Charpentier, 1889. In-12, red half-basane, ribbed spine gilded and decorated with gilt fleurons, scattered foxing.
- Henry BAUËR. *De la vie et du rêve*. Paris, Simonis Empis, 1896. Publisher’s percaline. 332 pp.
- Henry Bauër. Tours, Imprimerie Arrault, 1901. In-8, paperback, untrimmed, stains on the cover, small pinholes. 46 pp., [1 f.], portrait on the frontispiece. Copy on Holland paper printed especially for Lucien Besnard. Articles by Jean Jullien and Henry Béranger. Report on the dinner held on 24 March 1897 in honour of Henry Bauër.
- Marcel CERF. *The Musketeer of the Pen*. The Life of a Great Theatre Critic: Henry Bauër, illegitimate son of Alexandre Dumas, 1851–1915. Foreword by Jean Savant. Paris, Académie d’Histoire, 1975. In-8, paperback, flapped cover, dedicatory note. 148 pp., [2 ff.], illustrations, loose errata sheet.
- Gérard BAUËR. In Praise of Disorder. Paris, Hachette, 1926. In-12, paperback. 58 pp., [2 ff.]
- Gérard BAUËR. The Metamorphoses of Romanticism. Paris, Cahiers de la Quinzaine, 1928. Small 8vo, paperback, untrimmed. 63 pp. Copy on Holland paper.
- Gérard BAUËR. *Le Romantisme de couleur*. From Chateaubriand to Mr Paul Morand. Principality of Monaco, Société des Conférences, 1930. In-8, paperback, 40 pp. A fine dedication to Lucien Descaves.
- Gérard BAUËR. *Les Billets de Guermantes*. 2 octavo volumes, paperback. Vol. 1: Paris, Plon, 1937 – Vol. 2: Porentruy, Éditions des Portes de France.
- *Paris: Painters and Writers*. Preface by Gérard Bauër. Lausanne, Mermod, 1944. In-12, fawn half-calf with a smooth spine, slightly rubbed. 335 pp., [1 f.], illustrations on separate sheets. Ex-dono.
- Gérard BAUËR. Rendez-vous avec Paris. Paris, Albin Michel, 1959. In-8, paperback, cover with flaps. 209 pp., [3 ff.]
- Gérard BAUËR. *Rien ne sert d’aimer* and three other plays. Paris, Gallimard, 1961. In-12, paperback, padded cover. 234 pp., [2 ff.]. Copy on alfa paper.
ALEXANDRE DUMAS THE YOUNGER
Born in 1824 to an unknown father, acknowledged only in 1831 by Dumas, Alexandre II never recovered from his illegitimate birth.
His entire body of work, both novels and plays, bears the mark of this original sin, and he never ceased to explore, as recurring themes, adultery, divorce, the seduced and abandoned woman, the ‘illegitimate’ child, and the search for paternity. In doing so, this avowed misogynist—though he was doubtless unaware of it—presents a damning picture of the social status of women during the second half of the nineteenth century.
His books also reveal, caught between resentment and love, the son’s feelings towards his father.
Whilst he was better at managing his financial affairs than his father, his love life was just as tumultuous: he had numerous mistresses and, towards the end of his life, a long, public affair whilst his wife was still alive…
See original version (French)
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Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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