PARIS

[Jean-Baptiste Louvet de Couvray, French novelist, playwright and journalist and Girondin during the French Revolution.] Autograph Manuscript of seven political memoranda, titled ‘un mot sur notre situation.’

Author: 
Jean-Baptiste Louvet de Couvray (1760-1797), French novelist, playwright and journalist and Girondin during the French Revolution
Jean-Baptiste Louvet de Couvray,
Publication details: 
No date or place. [During the French Revoultion: 1780s or 1790s.]
£450.00
Jean-Baptiste Louvet de Couvray,

See his entry in the Encyclopaedia Britannica. 1p, 16mo. Twenty-two lines. On watermarked laid paper. Seven numbered memoranda, possibly an aide-mémoire for a speech. Begins: ‘1o. la loi égale pour tous.’ Later on: ‘1o Ce n’est point un droit que la loi accorde; c’est un devoir qu’elle impose. et pour imposer ce devoir, elle n’a vue que son interêt. / une fonction publique n’est pas le droit de tous; elle est le devoir de quelques uns.’ And later: ‘5o. Quoi le Pere est b[?] . . . . les Dieux de l’oncle sont confisqués.’ The seventh and last memorandum concerns ‘Les malheureux!

[Yves Delage, Professor at the Sorbonne, French zoologist who believed in the authenticity of the Turin Shroud; critic of Darwinism] Printed publishers? catalogue, headed by Delage's ?La Structure du Protoplasma et les Th?ories sur l?H?r?dite?.

Author: 
Yves Delage (1854-1920), French zoologist who discovered the function of the canals in the inner ear and believed in the authenticity of the Turin Shroud [Librairie C. Reinwald & Cie, Paris.]
Publication details: 
Librairie C. Reinwald & Cie, 15, rue des Saints-P?res, Paris.
£180.00

A scarce piece of scientific publishing ephemera. No other copy traced. 8pp, 8vo. Aged, worn and spotted, with staples rotted away. The cover is headed 'Librairie C. Reinwald & Cie, 15, rue des Saints-P?res, Paris / Derni?res publications / relative aux sciences m?dicales et naturelles.' Delage's work ('Vient de para?tre') is noticed on the cover, with an 'Extrait de la table des mati?res' extending to the end of the second page. Other many other publications noticed are 'L'Embryologie compar?e par Le Dr Louis Roule'. and 'Trait? d'anatomie compar?e pratique par Carl Vogt et ?mile Yung'.

[Jean-Pierre Claris de Florian, French poet, author and fabulist.] Autograph Text of his poem ‘Le charlatan | fable’.

Author: 
Jean-Pierre Claris de Florian (1755-1794), French poet, author and fabulist
Florian
Publication details: 
Without date or place.
£220.00
Florian

A nice original item, unsigned but certainly in Florian’s distinctive hand. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged, with neat white-paper mount adhering to one edge on the blank reverse. Foliated 93. Sixteen-line poem, beginning ‘Sur le pont-neuf, entouré de badauds, / un charlatan criait a pleine tete, / venez, messieurs, accourez faire emplette / du grand remede a tous les maux.’ In the last line the remedy is revealed as ‘un peu de poudre d’or’.

[Poisoned on the orders of the French government? François-Antoine Chevrier, satirist.] Autograph Letter Signed to Dom Ambroise Pelletier, praising his recent work, and attacking the powerful and the church.

Author: 
François-Antoine Chevrier [François-Antoine de Chevrier] (1721-1762), satirical French author, who fled to Holland [Dom Ambroise Pelletier (1703-1757), curate of Senones, genealogist and illustrator]
Chevrier
Publication details: 
‘Pais le 7. Xbre. [October] 1756.’
£500.00
Chevrier

An excellent letter, exhibiting precisely the sort of indignation one would wish for from such a renowned satirist. As a result of the furore caused by the publication in 1762 of his best-known work, ‘Le Colporteur’, Chevrier fled to Holland. The French government attempted to have him extradited, and his death that same year was rumoured to have been caused by poisoning. 3pp, 4to. On bifolium. Thirty-nine lines of text. In good condtion, lightly aged. The item has been expertly mounted, and the thin white-paper mount still adheres to reverse of the final leaf.

[Victor de Cottens, French dramatist and director, associated with the Folies Bergère in Paris.] Two Autograph Letters Signed and an Autograph Note Signed, in French, one from London to ‘Monsieur Clarkson’, and the other two to the same recipient.

Author: 
Victor de Cottens (1862-1956), French dramatist, librettist and director, associated with the Folies Bergère, Olympia music hall and Théâtre du Vaudeville in Paris
Publication details: 
ONE (ANS to 'Monsieur Clarkson): 14 May [no year]. On illustrated letterhead of the Queen's Hotel, Leicester Square, London. TWO: ALS, 26 [March? 1910?]; on letterhead of the Olympia, 8 Rue Caumartin, Paris. THREE: ALS, 22 Mai [no year or place].
£50.00

The material is in fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Items Two and Three are addressed to ‘Cher ami’. De Cottens’ handwriting is somewhat opaque. ONE: ANS, 14 May [no year]. The letterhead includes an engraved illustration of the Queen’s Hotel in Leicester Square. 1p, 12mo. ‘Cher Monsieur Clarkson / tous mes bien vifs remerciements pour votre aimable envoi de tickets. / Bien votre / Victor de Cottens.’ TWO: ALS, 26 [March? 1910?]. 1p, 12mo. He wonders whether the recipient might put his ‘experience à la disposition’ of a named colleague from Brussels. THREE: ALS, 1p, 16mo.

[John Cooke of Hendon, English cartographer.] Engraved map of Cairo, Egypt, titled 'Plan du Kaire et des Environs', including plan of the 'Chateau du Kaire' and key to 'Ghize'.

Author: 
John Cooke of Hendon (c.1765-1845), English cartographer, successively of Mill Hill, Hendon, Middlesex, and (from 1799) Howland Street, London [Cairo ('Kaire'), Egypt; Pierre Didot, Paris publisher]
Publication details: 
[Paris: Pierre Didot, 1802.] Engraved at bottom right: 'John Cooke, sc. 50 Howland St' (London).
£220.00

Thirty-six works by Cooke are listed between 1790 and 1843. The present item, along with its companion piece ‘Carte de la basse Egypte: dressée d'après les observations astronomiques de C. Nouet, et les reconnaissances des ingénieurs et officiers employés à l'Armée d'Orient’, appeared in ‘Planches du Voyage dans la Basse et la haute Egypte, par Vivant Denon’, published in Paris by P. Didot in 1802. Both have the engraved signature ‘John Cooke, sc, 50 Howland St.’ The dimensions of the map are approximately 31.5 x 23.5 cm.

[Giacomo Meyerbeer, German operatic composer.] Secretarial Letter (because of injury to his right arm) in French, Signed 'Meyerbeer', to instrument maker Raoul Allary, recommending the opera singer Louise Gned to a post.

Author: 
Giacomo Meyerbeer [born Jakob Liebmann Meyer Beer] (1791-1864), German opera composer of Jewish extraction based in Paris [Raoul Allary, instrument maker; Louise Gned (b.1810), Austrian opera singer]
Publication details: 
'Paris, 15 Décembre 1853.' On his embossed armorial letterhead, with initals 'G M'.
£250.00

Meyerbeer’s diary records (25 May 1853) a visit ‘from Raoul Allary, who makes wind instruments. He is an opponent of Sax, and came to me because he had heard that I had spoken to the emperor on Sax’s behalf’ (1999 English translation of volume for 1850-1856). A pencil note at the head of the present letter identifies the subject as ‘Louise Gned / 4 Rue [de] Bellefond [Paris]’. Gned (b.1810) was an Austrian soprano from a musical/theatrical family, who faded into obscurity.

[Baron de Barante [Amable Guillaume Prosper Brugière], French liberal politician and historian.] Autograph Letter Signed, in French, asking for assistance in getting a letter to the daughter of Madame Bouvier, who is with Princess Sapieha’.

Author: 
Baron de Barante [Amable Guillaume Prosper Brugière] (1782-1866), French liberal politician and historian
Publication details: 
18 July 1847. No place.
£50.00

1p, 16mo. In fair condition, lightly aged, with three creased from folding into envelope. Neatly written out in Barante’s distinctive neat and tiny hand. Addressed to ‘Monsieur’ and signed ‘Barante’. He is writing on behalf of Madame Bouvier, who wishes to find out where the Princess Sapieha is residing at present, as her daughter is ‘attachée à la princesse’, and she would like the enclosed letter (not present) to reach her. He would be most obliged if the recpient could help Madame Bouvier’s letter reach its destination.

[Alphonse Daudet, distinguished French author.] Affectionate Autograph Letter Signed (‘Alph Daudet’), in French, to ‘notre cher Mérédith’ [George Meredith], ‘grand romancier Anglais’, after visiting him at Box Hill.

Author: 
Alphonse Daudet (1840-1897), distinguished French author, noted for ‘Le Petit Chose’ and ‘Lettres de mon Moulin’ [Georges Meredith, Victorian novelist and poet]
Publication details: 
[1896.] ‘31 Rue de Bellechasse à Paris’.
£220.00

An excellent letter, linking leading nineteenth-century writers of the French and English nations. See Daudet's entry in the Encyclopaedia Britannica, and Meredith’s in the Oxford DNB. Daudet’s association with Meredith during his ‘first and only visit to England’ is described on pp.122-124 of the 1911 edition of J. A. Hammerton’s ‘George Meredith, his Life and Art’, which also quotes extensively from Madame Daudet’s account of the Englishman, referred to in the letter. 2pp, 16mo. Twenty-one lines of closely- and neatly-written text. On the rectos of the leaves of a bifolium.

[Prince Philippe d’Orléans, Comte de Paris, Orléanist claimant to the French throne as King Louis Philippe II or Philippe VII.] Autograph Note in English, in the third person, to the novelist George Meredith.

Author: 
Prince Philippe d’Orléans, Comte de Paris (Louis Philippe Albert (1838-1894), Count of Paris], Orléanist pretender to the throne of France from 1848 as King Louis Philippe II or Philippe VII
d'Orleans
Publication details: 
‘Claremont 31/5/63’. 31 May 1863; Claremont House, Esher, Surrey.
£100.00
d'Orleans

From the autograph album of the novelist George Meredith's daughter Marie Eveleen (Mariette; 1871-1933), later the wife of Henry Parkman Sturgis (1847-1929), American-born banker and Liberal politician. Queen Victoria lent Claremont House to the Count of Paris’s father Louis-Phillipe, after his abdication and flight from France. On one side of an 11 x 7.5 cm piece of grey paper. In good condition, lightly aged. Written in a neat hand, it reads: ‘With the compliments of the Count de Paris and his thanks for the books send [sic] by Mr. Meredith. / Claremont 31/5/63’.

[French science in the early nineteenth-century.] Substantial collection of manuscripts, in French, with illustrations, describing aspects of science: chemistry (from Fourcroy), botany, physics, hydrostatics, mechanics, pneumatics, optics.

Author: 
French science of the early nineteenth century [Antoine François de Fourcroy; Jean-Antoine Nollet; Pierre Bulliard; Jean-Paul Marat; Hyacinthe Bonnet]
French Sciences
French Sciences2
Publication details: 
Undated, but circa the 1820s. [Paris, France.]
£3,500.00
French Sciences
French Sciences2

The anonymous author of this material is evidently a well-educated individual, and well-versed in the sciences. He has taken great care over the material, and it can be presumed that his intention was either to try for publication, or use it while lecturing.

[Sir Charles Stewart Scott, diplomat, British Ambassador to Russia.] 'Private & most Confidential' Autograph journal of ‘Charles: S: Scott’, largely written while an attaché in Paris (Franco-Austrian War, 1859), also in Dresden and Copenhage.

Author: 
Sir Charles Stewart Scott (1838-1924), diplomat, British Ambassador to Russia, 1898-1904 [Franco-Austrian War (Second Italian War of Independence), 1859; American Civil War; Princess Alexandra]
Publication details: 
The first three-quarters from Paris, 18 June to 16 November 1859. The last quarter from Dresden and Copenhagen, 1860 to 1863.
£2,500.00

The papers of Sir Charles Stewart Scott (an Ulsterman: see his entry in the Ulster Dictionary of Biography) are held by the British Library. The present journal, described by its writer as ‘Private & most Confidential’, covers the very start of his career, from Paris in 1859 to Copenhagen in 1863.

[Miron Grindea, editor of the literary magazine ‘Adam’.] Typed Letter Signed to Philip Dosse, publisher of ‘Books and Bookmen’, regarding the rudeness (‘to the point of sheer impertinence’) of a member of his staff, and the ‘exchange of ads’.

Author: 
Miron Grindea [formerly Mondi-Miron Grimberg] (1909-1995), editor of the literary magazine ‘Adam’ [Philip Dosse (1925-1980), publisher of ‘Books and Bookmen’]
Publication details: 
1 May 1974; 1 Palmeira Square, Brighton.
£120.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The recipient Philip Dosse was proprietor of Hansom Books, publisher of a stable of seven arts magazines including Books and Bookmen and Plays and Players. See ‘Death of a Bookman’ by the novelist Sally Emerson (editor of ‘Books and Bookmen’ at the time of Dosse’s suicide), in Standpoint magazine, October 2018. The present item is 1p, 4to. In good condition, lightly aged and creased. Folded twice for postage. Signed ‘Miron Grindea’.

[Saint-Marc Girardin of the Académie Française, French Orléanist politician, professor, and anti-Romantic literary critic.] Autograph Letter Signed, in French, asking ‘Monsieur le Marechal’ for an audience.

Author: 
Saint-Marc Girardin (1801-1873) of the Académie Française, French Orléanist politician, professor, and anti-Romantic literary critic with the Journal des débats and the Revue des deux mondes
Publication details: 
No date. Rue de l’Odean 27 [Paris].
£56.00

1p, 8vo. In good condition, lightly aged. Removed from an album, and with stub still adhering to inner edge. Folded twice. He asks to be accorded ‘un quart d’heure d’audiénce’, as he is leaving on a journey and needs a passport and letters of recommendation. The recipient is not named, but he has written ‘Samedi à midi’ at top left.

[Vendôme Column; entry into Paris of Prussians and Russians, 1814.] Hand-coloured engraving: ‘Wie die verbündeten Heere, an ihrer Spitze der Kaiser von Russland, und der König von Preussen, unter dem Iubel des Volks’.

Author: 
[Vendôme Column; entry of Prussians and Russians into Paris, 1814] Friedrich Campe (1777-1846), Nuremberg print and book publisher [Napoleon Bonaparte]
Publication details: 
Circa 1815. [‘Nurnberg bei Friedrich Campe’.]
£65.00

An uncommon illustration: no other coloured copy traced. Rovinsky 1889, No. 773 (p.151); and Morozov 1912, No. 782 (p.125). Approximately 21.5 x 17 cm, with dimensions of plate 21.25 x 15.5 cm. Tightly cropped, and without the publisher’s details at the foot, and the number 552 at top right. Tastefully coloured in blue, yellow, brown and red. Discoloured and spotted, with closed tear at head over blank area of design, and other damage to blank areas repaired on reverse with archival tape.

[Lord Stanhope, historian, antiquary and Tory politician.] Autograph Letter Signed to the editor of The Times, J. T. Delane, bewailing the state of Paris following the Franco-Prussian War, criticising French typography, and praising ‘Dr. Russell’.

Author: 
Lord Stanhope [Philip Henry Stanhope, 5th Earl Stanhope] (1805-1875) [styled Viscount Mahon between 1816 and 1855], historian and Tory politician [John Thadeus Delane (1817-79), editor of The Times]
Publication details: 
‘Chevening [Chevening House, Sevenoaks, Kent] | Oct. 14. [1870]’ No year, but with 1869 watermark.
£120.00

See the two men’s entries in the Oxford DNB. 4pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, with thin neat strip from windowpane mount adhering to the outer edges. Folded twice for postage. Writing during the Siege of Paris, he begins by thanking him ‘for the specimen of the present Paris printing. Alas how different is this blurred & blotted mass of types from the beautiful pages of typography which that brilliant city afforded!

[Gaspard Mermillod, Roman Catholic cardinal of Swiss extraction, noted for his preaching.] Note in French in the third person, to Théodor de la Bire, on his calling card, in envelope addressed by him, introducing ‘Mr. & Mme. Jenner de Londres’.

Author: 
Gaspard Mermillod, Roman Catholic cardinal of Swiss extraction, noted for his preaching [Théodor de la Bire; Jenner of London]
Mamillod
Publication details: 
No date or place.
£80.00
Mamillod

The Catholic Encyclopedia declares him to be ‘one of the great preachers of modern times’.On one side of a 10.5 x 6 cm calling card, with slightly larger envelope. Card in good condition, lightly aged; envelope in fair condition. Printed on the card is ‘Le Cardinal Mermillod’, and beneath this he has written: ‘Présent au cher Mr. de la Bire Mr. & Mme. Jenner de Londres, il lui demande pour eux son cordial acceuil.’ Card is addressed to ‘Monsieur / Théodor de la Bire / hôtel d’Angleterre/’. See image

[Louis Blanc, French socialist politician and historian.] Autograph Letter Signed, in French, regarding the purchase of books, including one on ‘notre digne et excellent ami Karl Blind’.

Author: 
Louis Blanc [Louis Jean Joseph Charles Blanc] (1811-1882), French socialist politician and historian and advocate of co-operative enterprise, who obtained an amnesty for the Communards [Karl Blind]
Publication details: 
18 April 1861; no place.
£100.00

3pp, 16mo. Bifolium. 25 lines of text. In good condition, on thin paper, with minor staining from label to mount. Signed ‘Louis Blanc’. The salutation is ‘Cher Monsieur’. The recipient, who is not named, is presumably a bookseller. He is returning two of the books, keeping only the ‘Cabinet Lawyer’, whose price he asks. He wants to acquire a copy of the latest edition of ‘la Biographie des contemporains de M. Vapereau’: ‘naturellement plus complète, et où beaucoup d’erreurs se trouvent, je suppose, corrigées’.

[Sir George Prothero, historian, as editor of the Quarterly Review.] Autograph Letter Signed (‘G. W. Prothero’) and dictated Manuscript Letter to Professor H. W. C. Davis regarding article on H. W. V. Temperley and Paris Peace Conference of 1919.

Author: 
Sir George Prothero [Sir George Walter Prothero; Sir G. W. Prothero], English historian, editor of Quarterly Review [Henry William Carless Davis; Harold William Vazeille Temperley]
Publication details: 
7 November [1921] and 30 March 1922; each on letterhead of The Quarterly Review, 50A Albemarle Street, London, W.1.
£60.00

In addition to the entry for Prothero in the Oxford DNB, see those of H. W. C. Davis (1874-1928) and H. W. V. Temperley (1879-1939), which reveal the interest all three had in the Paris Peace Conference of 1919. Both items in good condition, lightly aged. Each folded once. Both addressed to 'Davis'. ONE: 7 November [1921]. 4pp, 12mo. Dictated, and entirely (including signature) in the hand of an amanuensis.

[Duff Cooper, author and diplomat.] Autograph Letter Signed and Typed Letter Signed to ‘Tommy Earp’ of the Daily Telegraph, regarding the book ‘Voyage de Shakespeare’ (by Léon Daudet) and his own book on the same subject (‘Sergeant Shakespeare’).

Author: 
Duff Cooper [Alfred Duff Cooper, 1st Viscount Norwich] (1890-1954), author, diplomat and Conservative politician [Thomas Wade Earp (1895-1958), art critic and writer; Léon Daudet; Shakespeare]
Publication details: 
Typed letter, 9 January 1952; autograph letter, 11 April 1952. Both on letterhead of Château de St. Firmin, Vineuil, Oise.
£90.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. Both letters in good condition, lightly aged. Both signed ‘Duff Cooper’ and the first addressed to ‘Thomas Earp, Esq., / Kitcombe House, / Newton Valence, / Alton, / Hants.’ ONE: TLS, 9 January 1952. 1p, 12mo. He will try to get hold of a copy of ‘Voyage de Shakespeare’ and is glad Earp liked his ‘little book on the same subject’. In an autograph postscript he writes: ‘I suppose you have tried the London Library.’ TWO: ALS, 11 April 1952. 2pp, 12mo.

[Albert Saléza, French tenor opera singer.] Autograph Letter Signed (‘Alb. Saléza’), in French, asking ‘Monsieur Forsythe’ to secure him ‘le plus grand nombre de places possible’ for a production (his own?) that evening.

Author: 
Albert Saléza (1867-1916), French tenor opera singer
Publication details: 
18 June 1900; no place [London?].
£56.00

2pp, 12mo. On bifolium. Folded once. The first page is scored through in ink, with pencil annotations at head. The final page, with Saléza’s signature, is unmarked. He asks him for as many seats as possible for that evening. He would like ‘une bonne loge, deux Stalls et plusieurs petites places’. He will pass by the office to collection, and asks for them to be left in his name.

[Albert Saléza, French tenor opera singer.] Autograph Letter Signed (‘Alb. Saléza’), in French, asking ‘Monsieur Menager’ to secure him ‘deux places pour ma femme et une de ses amies’ at the Opéra that evening.

Author: 
Albert Saléza (1867-1916), French tenor opera singer
Publication details: 
11 July 1906; on letterhead of the Hotel Cecil, Strand, WC [London].
£56.00

1p, 12mo. On bifolium. In fair condition, with two pencil notes at head, one in orange. Folded twice. He hopes he is not abusing the kindness of 'Monsieur Menager' (i.e. the house manager) by asking for two seats, for his wife and her friend, as they would like to go to the opera that night. After terminating the letter in the customary Gallic fashion, he adds a postscript asking for the reply to be left with the porter.

[‘Snub him & send him home.’ President Woodrow Wilson is a ‘Bally Ass’ and ‘distinctly Socialistic’.] Autograph Letter Signed from Republican politician A. H. Olmsted to P. A. Currie, attacking Wilson on the eve of the Paris Peace Conference.

Author: 
A. H. Olmsted [Albert Henry Olmsted] (d.1842-1929), banker and Republican party politician, half-brother of ‘father of landscape architecture’ Frederick Law Olmsted [President Woodrow Wilson]
Publication details: 
26 January 1919; on letterheads of the Hotel Del Monte, California.
£650.00

Having made the first state visit to the United Kingdom by an American President, 26 to 28 December 1918, Wilson was in Europe at the opening of the Paris Peace Conference, which would result in the League of Nations and Treaty of Versailles. The present letter presents in forthright terms the Republican position on his activities in the aftermath of the First World War. 5pp, 12mo. On five leaves of letterheads of the Hotel Del Monte, California (‘Carl S. Stanley, Manager’). In postmarked envelope from the Hotel (stamps torn away), addressed to ‘Mr. P. A.

[‘Mademoiselle Rachel’ [Elisabeth Félix], celebrated French actress.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Rachel') to ‘Madame Goreau’, about getting the Comte de Noailles or Marquis of Normanby to help in getting fabrics for costumes to Paris from London.

Author: 
‘Mademoiselle Rachel’ [Elisabeth Félix] (1821-1858), French actress of Jewish extraction, mistress of Napoleon III and others [Comte de Noailles; Marquis of Normanby]
Publication details: 
7 October 1847; no place [Paris?].
£120.00

2pp, 12mo. On first leaf of bifolium. Folded three times. In fair good condition, lightly browned. 36 lines, sloping upwards and written in an untidy hand, which renders the following report somewhat tentative. Signed ‘Rachel’. In French. She has been so busy since the resumption of the ‘théâtre français’ that she is only now able to tackle the need to get her ‘étoffes’. She reports that the ‘Comte de Noailles’ is in London, and asks the recipient, who also appears to be there, to go again to the embassy to ask him to send by two or three packets what she needs to make ‘mes robes’.

[François Guizot, Prime Minister of France, in exile in London following the Revolution of 1848.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Guizot'), in French, to Lady Cullum, explaining his reasons for declining an invitation to visit Hardwick House.

Author: 
François Guizot [François Pierre Guillaume Guizot] (1787-1874), French historian and statesman, Prime Minister of France [Lady Ann Cullum (1807-1875) of Hardwick House]
Publication details: 
'Brompton [London] 14 Sepr 1848'.
£100.00

The recipient is Lady Ann Cullum (1807-1875), widow of Sir Thomas Gery Cullum (1777-1855) of Hardwick House, Bury St Edmunds. 1p, 12mo. On grey paper. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice. The salutation of the letter ('My dear Lady Cullum') is in English, the rest in French. Written at a turbulent period in Guizot's life, following the Revolution in 1848, with the overthrow of the monarchy and its ministry of which he himself was head.

[Florian [Jean-Pierre Claris de Florian], French poet and writer of romances and fables.] Autograph Letter in the third person to his printer Firmin Didot, regarding the latter's request for information regarding 'le véritable homo'.

Author: 
Florian [Jean-Pierre Claris de Florian] (1755-1794), French poet and writer of romances, author of fables and pastoral novels [Firmin Didot (1764-1836), Paris printer]
Publication details: 
22 July 1787. No place ['la Campagne'].
£350.00

1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged, with stub from mount adhering along one edge. From the celebrated manuscript collection of Richard Monckton Milnes (Lord Houghton). In 1787 Didot published Florian's 'Mélanges de poésie et de littérature'. A courtly and characteristic response to a request for information, reading: 'Mr. de florian a l'honneur de souhaiter le bon jour a monsieur Firmin. [a contemporary hand glosses this as 'Didot'] il arrive de la Campagne, et ne peut lui donner aucun détail sur cequ'il [sic] demande. demain il s'en informera, ou priera qu'on s'en informe.

[Jules Massenet, French composer.] Autograph Letter Signed ('M. Massenet') [to husband of Swedish soprano Sigrid Arnoldson-Fischhof?], written on a trip with his wife, regarding a portrait of 'votre “merveille” de femme', and 'notre grand ami Hengel'

Author: 
Jules Massenet [Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet] (1842-1912), French composer [Sigrid Arnoldson-Fischhof (1861-1943), Swedish soprano]
Publication details: 
8 February [no year]. No place.
£200.00

3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. On aged paper, with punch hole through both leaves at head, small closed cut along bottom edge of first leaf, and with paper and part of another letter (from an album) glued onto the reverse of the second leaf. Folded once. The signature 'M. Massenet' is explained in Massenet's obituary in the Musical Times, 1 September 1912, which speaks of 'the composer's known antipathy to the name Jules […] He preferred to be called “M. Massenet” simply'. The recipient of this enthusiastic letter is not named.

[Antoine Destutt de Tracy, French philosopher.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Dustutt-Tracy') to the French printer Firmin Didot, discussing the various editions of du Val's Aristotle with a view to obtaining a copy of one.

Author: 
Antoine Louis Claude, Comte Destutt de Tracy (1754-1836), French philosopher, politician, soldier, who coined the term 'ideology', admired by Jefferson [Firmin Didot (1764-1836), French printer]
Publication details: 
'A Anteuil ce 25 floreal an 11'. [i.e. 15 May 1803]
£450.00

An interesting letter, casting light on bibliographic and book trade practices in Consulate Paris. 2pp, 12mo. Forty-two lines of closely-written text on the first leaf of a bifolium, the recto of the second leaf being addressed 'Au Citoyen Firmin Didot | Rue du Regard | A Paris'. In good condition, lightly aged, with white paper stub of mount adhering to second leaf.

[Association des Artistes Musiciens, Paris.] Seven lithographed circulars from the early years, each containing facsimiles of the signatures of Baron Isidore Justin Séverin Taylor and the 'Membres du Comité Central' (including Berlioz and Meyerbeer)

Author: 
Association des Artistes Musiciens, Paris [Baron Isidore Justin Séverin Taylor; M. Thuillier, treasurer]
Publication details: 
Association des Artistes Musiciens, Paris. One dated 1845, another 1846 and a third 1848. The others undated, but from around the same period.
£950.00

The Association des Artistes Musiciens was founded by the traveller and author Baron Isidore Justin Séverin Taylor (1789-1879), and existed between 1843 and 1868. Its aims were to improve the status of musicians, to provide a pension fund and relief, and to promote the art of music. Over the years the Association's committee contained eminent personalities inclulding Berlioz, Liszt, Meyerbeer, Auber, Thalberg, Zimmerman, Herz and Érard.

[Raymond Devos; Caryl Brahms & Ned Sherrin; typescript] OOM-PAH-PAH! Adapted by Caryl Brahms & Ned Sherrin.

Author: 
Raymond Devos [(1922 – 2006), Belgian-French humorist, stand-up comedian and clown].
Publication details: 
ENDOR PRODUCTIONS LIMITED, Royalty House, Dean Street, London W.1.
£250.00

Stiff paper covers clipped together, blue, stained, 95pp., 4to, text, good condition. From the lack of information about this play, it obviously bombed. The script by Ned Sherrin and Caryl Brahms was called Oom - Pah - Pah. It was a translation of a long - running Parisian hit Les Pupitres, which means the music stands. The idea was simple. A second - rate orchestra runs out of money and disbands. The musicians wander around Paris using their instruments in weird and witty ways to earn a sou or two. Based on Devos's Les Pupitres (see Braham Murray, The Worst it can be is a Disaster, p.36.

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