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175
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Alexandre DUMAS the Younger. Collection of correspondence wi…
See original version (French)
175
-
Alexandre DUMAS the Younger. Collection of correspondence wi…
See original version (French)
Estimate €1,000 - €1,500
Voluntary lot
Description
Alexandre DUMAS the Younger. Collection of correspondence with his godson Émile de La Charlotterie and his family.
- 19 letters to Caroline de La Charlotterie, Émile’s mother. 1849–1867. 26 pp., in-12 and in-8
- Approximately 175 letters to Émile de La Charlotterie. 1870–1894. Approximately 275 pp., in-12 and in-8.
Of note is an envelope dated 28 March 1872, bearing a black wax seal with the initials ‘AD’ surmounted by a marquis’s crown.
- 13 letters from Nadine Dumas [Alexandre’s first wife] to Émile. 1872–1876, with illegible seals. 30 pp., in-12 and in-8
- 3 letters from Henriette Dumas [Alexandre’s second wife] to Émile. 15 pp. in-12 and in-8.
Envelopes.
To Caroline: – 31 December 1851: ‘I shall be in Paris from 7 to 8 January. I shall go straight to you to embrace you and the bambino. Kiss him for me and tell him that I ask his forgiveness for having hurt him, to set him an example of condescension and to teach him that the strong owe… to the weak… ” – 18 April 1861: “Let me know how you and the child are getting on.” Naples – Palazzo Chiatamone – do not put a stamp on your letter – to ensure it arrives… ’ – 28 December 186?: ‘I am sending you a cash voucher – I cannot take the child with me…’ – 1 May 1866: ‘What you are asking of me is impossible this month. I shall try to do so by the end of the term.” – undated “I am giving Émile a letter for Demarquay. That boy must earn his own living… You should have made up your mind about him long ago… ”
To Émile: 25 June 1867: “You’ve been a child for twenty years. The time has come for you to be a man… Life isn’t laid out for you any more than it is for others. It was your mother’s fault for not teaching you that…’ – 8 August 1870: ‘This will be the last war in Europe, and one day you will be proud to have taken part in it… I shall send your mother whatever she needs.’ – 2 August 1871: ‘I only hear from you and your mother when you need money… ”
The young man, finally having secured a job and a small pension from Dumas, was entrusted by the latter in his letters with various errands: to go and buy sweets from Boissier and take them to the recipient; to fetch books from his library and send them to him; pop round to his art dealer’s: ‘Have a look at this painting. You know enough about art now to tell whether it might suit me, and find out the price and judge for yourself whether it’s a bit over the top. ’ – 19 September 1877, before the premiere of *La Tour de Nesle*: ‘You will reserve the front box for Mr Primoli… four balcony seats for Madame Pasca… two stalls seats for yourself. As for the rest, be generous to anyone who wants them…’ – undated. ‘You complain that I don’t give you any advice… I no longer give you advice, because it seems to me that you no longer need it; you are an honest, loyal, modest, hard-working lad; you live with your mother; you give her what you earn; you are a good son. What do you want me to teach you? – 14 October 1882: ‘Go and hand-deliver this letter to Roger… sign for me and give the money to Madame Dumas, who is leaving on Tuesday. ” – 5 September 1885: A long letter on the joys and burdens of marriage: “I’m no more convinced than you are that you ought to get married under these circumstances. It would mean hardship in the short term… With what I’m giving you, you have, quite modestly, what you need for yourself and your mother… You’re about to turn forty. A seventeen-year age gap between husband and wife is a lot… If she were eighteen and you thirty-five, the balance – whilst the same in terms of the number of years – would not have been the same in terms of feelings. With an eighteen-year-old girl, one can do as one pleases; with a twenty-three-year-old, no… If you get married tomorrow and have a son, he’ll be nineteen when you’re sixty – what a struggle it will have been to raise him to that age. Do you harbour the illusion that he’ll be any different from the rest…’ – 11 August 1888: ‘When you come, please bring me… the volume of the Larousse dictionary containing the word “materialism”.’ – undated ‘I hope you’ll find a way one of these Saturdays to come for dinner, stay over Sunday and not leave until Monday on the “husbands’ train”—the one that makes you appreciate being single the most. I’ll gladly pay for that journey for you. ” – 11 May 1893: “Keep these two letters: one to be opened should I be struck down by paralysis or some other mental illness that deprives me of my will and my speech; the other to be opened immediately after my death, whatever the cause of that death may be. I’m counting on you to carry out the wishes they contain…’ – Date illegible: ‘I couldn’t care less about paintings, and if you know of anyone interested in the ones I have left, they’re more than welcome… ” – 10 August 1894: “On leaving your office, go to the flower market at La Madeleine and send two or three pots of flowers to Madame Dumas with the enclosed card. It might cheer her up for a while.” – undated “Go and register me at 5 Rue Montalivet at the Duke of Aumale’s, imitating my signature.”
– Nadine Dumas to Émile. In this affectionate correspondence, she also sets him numerous errands and reminds him that he is welcome to come for dinner whenever he likes. 12 September 1876: “Try to see Mrs Nordilhoff if she is in Paris. Do not announce yourself as coming on our behalf; she would not receive you. At least, I fear she would not. ” – 21 September 1876: “Your mother is feeling better, and if the weather turns properly fine, she’ll be quite all right. Everyone here sends me all sorts of warm regards. I add my own, along with Jeannine’s affection.”
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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