Leducq Maison de Ventes aux enchères
107
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Alexandre DUMAS the Younger. Sins of Youth.
See original version (French)
107
-
Alexandre DUMAS the Younger. Sins of Youth.
See original version (French)
Estimate €250 - €350
Voluntary lot
Description
Alexandre DUMAS the Younger. Sins of Youth. Paris, Fellens and Dufour, 1847.
In-8, green half-maroquin with corner pieces, gilt fillets on the covers, decorated ribbed spine, gilt head, original covers preserved, untrimmed, modern slipcase (bound by David).
[3 ff.], 403 pp., portrait added as a frontispiece.
A collection of Dumas fils’s early poems. The volume is dedicated to his father – his best judge and his most indulgent friend.
It was claimed that the young poet eventually sought to have the volume withdrawn from circulation. He denied this: ‘That is not true. The truth is that only about a hundred copies were ever bound, of which 14 were sold. The galley proofs brought to my father’s house, unfolded, were used to wrap parcels. ”
Moreover, Dumas Fils was hardly pleased to have released his first attempts to the public, if we are to believe the dedication he later inscribed on Michel Lévy’s copy: ‘To Michel Lévy, who had the good sense not to publish this book’.
Yet it brings to mind the memory of Marie Duplessis, to whom Dumas Fils would dedicate his most famous work, *The Lady of the Camellias*, the following year. The final poem, ‘M.D.’, dated February 1847, is a moving and deeply regretful reflection on the death of this young mistress whom he had abandoned and who had passed away on 3 February.
This copy includes the following additional items:
- A handwritten note by Charles Monselet on the half-title page.
- 2 autograph, signed letters to Charles Monselet:
. 1 p., in-8, envelope: ‘Where on earth did you get hold of this volume? Only 14 copies were sold in total!’
. 1 p., in-8, envelope. He thanks him for his article. “It is true that I am a bit of a hypochondriac, but not towards those who, like you, do their best to cure me.”
- An engraved portrait has been added.
Vicaire III, 449; Talvart, 2.
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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