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154
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(Manuscript) – (Alexandre Dumas the Younger).
See original version (French)
154
-
(Manuscript) – (Alexandre Dumas the Younger).
See original version (French)
Estimate €1,500 - €2,000
Voluntary lot
Description
(Manuscript) – (Alexandre Dumas the Younger). Alexandre Dumas the Younger and the New Writers.
86 ff. in-4, mounted on tabs and bound in a single volume in red half-maroquin (Carayon binding), with a cloth slipcase.
Following the death of Dumas the Younger on 27 November 1895, the press unanimously hailed the passing of this ‘great writer’ as an immense loss to literature. *Le Mercure de France* then launched a survey among young writers to ascertain whether the press’s fine unanimity would also be shared by the younger generation of writers. Eighty-one replies reached the newspaper, the autograph copies of which are collected in this volume.
Among the signatories are the names of Paul Adam – Henry Bataille, for whom *The Lady of the Camellias* was the favourite daughter of the nineteenth century, just as *Manon* had been that of the seventeenth – Tristan Bernard – Paterne Berrichon: ‘The language of a milliner, the sales pitch of a wig-maker, the wit of a travelling salesman ’ – Léon Bloy: ‘The younger Dumas was a FOOL and a HYPOCRITE’ – Jules Bois – Judith Cladel, who admits to not having read a single line of it – Édouard Dujardin – Remy de Gourmont: ‘Mr Alexandre Dumas the Younger was a very intelligent, very patient, very determined and very witty man. He would have succeeded in any career, any post or any trade; nothing in his nature predestined him for literature. ” – Francis Jammes – Tristan Klingsor – Pierre Louÿs: “The finest playwright France has had since Racine” – Maurice Maeterlinck – Stuart Merrill – Rachilde – Hugues Rebell – Henri de Régnier – Jules Renard – Saint-Pol-Roux – Albert Salmain – Emmanuel Signoret – Jean de Tinan: ‘As a writer, I can only offer a three-line review by stating that every summer I look forward to the pleasure of rereading some of his volumes. ”
The survey was published on 3 January 1896; Remy de Gourmont was tasked with summarising the general opinion, which was that Dumas Fils was not a great writer.
See original version (French)
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