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139
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Alexandre DUMAS the Younger. 7 signed autograph letters to P…
See original version (French)
139
-
Alexandre DUMAS the Younger. 7 signed autograph letters to P…
See original version (French)
Estimate €180 - €220
Voluntary lot
Description
Alexandre DUMAS the Younger. 7 signed autograph letters to Paul Bourget. [1886–1895]. 33 pp. in-8.
– 1886. He congratulates him on his book *Un crime d’amour*, ‘excellent in terms of both structure and logic… You have got to the heart of the matter when it comes to adultery… Women are so contemptible and yet so dangerous in their innermost being that there is only one way to render them harmless: to respect them in their tangible form…’
– [1894]. On *Outremer*. ‘… I now know my America as if I’d been there. I read many books about it whilst writing *L’Étrangère*… none gave me such a sense of that particular civilisation as yours. Feminism is captured and rendered perfectly in it… I had no desire to see those people up close… I have even less now…”
– He recommends d’Arpentigny’s book on chirognomy to her. “When you get round to reading it, it will inform you as to how much or how little importance you should attach to your relationships. I’ve studied my own hands and recognised the truth of all these signs; it just requires a great deal of attention because some lines contradict one another… I have no fear, no concern whatsoever about death, and no interest in the afterlife… ”
– On Bourget’s election to the Academy in 1894, on which he congratulates him: “… you missed out by a single vote. And some of those who love you most seemed to be fighting against you. Once you’re on the inside, you’ll see many such apparent contradictions…’
– [June 1895] – Before Bourget’s induction ceremony, to be held on 13 June: ‘I love you for intellectual and moral reasons. On the day you saw me in such a foul mood, it was at myself that I was angry… I was caught up in my commitment to a candidate just like any other. I had the most trivial of opportunities to give you clear proof of my affection for you as a person and my admiration for your talent… ”
– [Late June 1895]. ‘When you receive this letter, there will be a Madame Alexandre Dumas whom you have known for a long time, who has read your work from cover to cover and who believes that you and I are always right… She is, moreover, a woman who would be comparable to your wife, if anyone could be compared to her.’
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
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