FRANCAISE

[André Siegfried of l’Académie Française, French geographer and political writer, Petainist collaborator as member of Vichy National Council.] Autograph Letter Signed in English to the wife of W. D. Ross [Sir David Ross].

Author: 
André Siegfried (1875-1959) of l'Académie Française, French geographer and political writer, Petainist collaborator as member of Vichy National Council [W. D. Ross [Sir David Ross]]
Publication details: 
'Paris. 82. de Courty / la 9 Dec. 31' [1931].
£45.00

2pp, 12mo. On the rectos of the two leaves of a bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice. Begins: ‘Dear Mrs Ross. / We had the pleasure of having your daughter for tea yesterday & I hasten to tell you our pleasure in making her acquaintance. She is indeed charming & intelligent & bright; I am sure she will make the most of her stay here.

[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.

[Louise Michel, Communard, French anarchist] Address in her hand (le Docteur Vintras-see below) and signature on (empty) envelope. See image.

Author: 
Louise Michel, Communard, French anarchist, school teacher and medical worker.
Michel
Publication details: 
No place or date
£350.00
Michel

Envelope, 12 x 9cm, small closed tears, dusted but text clear and complete. Text: Address M. le docteur Vintras | Hanover Square | London ; cross signed Mlle Louise Michel underlined. See image. Note: Vintras wasa Doctor and poet. Published The Silver Net in London in 1903 as well being the physician to the French Hospital in London and later Director of the French Convalescent Home at Brighton and of the Annexe for the Preventive Treatment of tuberculosis; George Charles Louis Vintras, B.Sc.Paris, M.D.Durh, obit.

[Comte d'Orsay; French Benevolent Society] Autograph Letter Signed Ct d'Orsay to M. le Chevalier, in French, thanks his correspondent for le charmante Poème, discussing the state and progress of the French Benevolent Society just founded.

Author: 
Count d'Orsay [Alfred Guillaume Gabriel Grimod d'Orsay, comte d'Orsay (1801 – 1852), French amateur artist, dandy, and man of fashion].
d'Orsay
Publication details: 
Gore House, Kensington Gore, 5 Dec. 1842. See image.
£180.00
d'Orsay

Four pages, 16mo, bifolium, in narrow frame of stiffer paper, good condition.

[Maurice Thorez, leader of the French Communist Party.] Typed Letter Signed (‘Thorez’), in French, to Roy Hopkins of the Foreign Press Association, London, agreeing to an interview but asking to see the questions in advance.

Author: 
Maurice Thorez (1900-1964), leader of the French Communist Party (Parti Communiste, Section Française de l’Internationale Communiste’)
Publication details: 
15 October 1936; Paris, on letterhead of the ‘Parti Communiste / Section Française de l’Internationale Communiste’.
£100.00

1p, 4to. On somewhat worn and aged paper, cropped at head, and with traces of tape from mount to inner edge. Folded three times. Bold signature: ‘Thorez’. Having been informed of Hopkins’ request by the ‘secrétariat de notre Parti’, he will be very willing to grant him an interview, but asks if he can see the text of the questions in advance.

[Charles Nodier, French Romantic supernatural author.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Charles Nodier'), in French, explaining to an unnamed count that his friend and protégé 'M. Leharivel' is not eligible for membership of the Academie Française.

Author: 
Charles Nodier [Jean Charles Emmanuel Nodier] (1780-1844), French Romantic author of fantastic and supernatural tales, Librarian of Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal, Member of the Académie Française
Publication details: 
Without date or place.
£250.00

1p, 12mo. Seventeen lines of closely written text. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, laid down on a leaf from an album. The recipient is not named, but is addressed as 'Monsieur le Comte'. The letter concerns the count's 'ami et protégé' 'M. Leharivel' [author of 'Grammaire Francaise Pasigraphique, Simplifiee Et Regularisee, Pour Servir de Base Fondamentale; Et Anecdotes, Et Contes Historiques (1839) ].

[Ernest Alexandre Honoré Coquelin, French actor.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Coquelin Cadet') to 'Ma cher Alice', asking her to meet him in order to discuss 'l'affaire de Deauville pour laquelle Plumkett [sic] a écrit à mon frère'.

Author: 
'Coquelin cadet' [Ernest Alexandre Honoré Coquelin] (1848-1909), French actor, brother of 'Coquelin aîné' [Benoît-Constant Coquelin, known as Constant Coquelin] (1841-1909) of the Comédie Française
Publication details: 
'Mardi' [no date]; no place.
£50.00

2pp, 16mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. 'Alice' will be 'charmante' if she can let him know when he can see her 'chez vous'. 'Je voudrais vous parler de l'affaire de Deauville pour laquelle Plumkett [sic] a écrit à mon frère.' He asks again to be sent 'un mot' telling him when he can see her, any time other than 4 pm will do. He ends by remarking how long it has been since he last had 'le plaisir de vous serrer la main!'

['Coquelin aîné' [Constant Coquelin; Benoît-Constant Coquelin] of the Comédie Française, great French actor.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Coq') to 'Ma cheri Alice', giving his plans for the summer and referring to his 'depart de la Comédie'.

Author: 
'Coquelin aîné' [Constant Coquelin; Benoît-Constant Coquelin] (1841-1909) of the Comédie Française, one of the greatest French actors of the nineteenth century
Publication details: 
No place or date.
£50.00

1p, 16mo. In good condition. He begins by telling her that he will not be travelling anywhere that summer for work, but that he may go and rest at Aix, 'et voilà tout'. He continues: 'On m'a dit que vous etiez charmante dans Andrea, mon premier soir de liberté sera pour vous aller voir . . . . | J'irai vous dire bonsoir et vous raconter l'histoire de mon depart de la Comédie'.

[Joseph Cornudet; Revolution Francaise] Autograph Letter Signed "joseph cornudet' "au ministre de finance", seeking a position for a young man from the Jura.

Author: 
Joseph Cornudet des Chaumettes (1755-1834), magistrate and politician [French Revolution]
Cornudet
Publication details: 
[No date apparent] In French and lower case.
£150.00
Cornudet

See image on my website for full text. One page, cr. 8vo, foxed, minor damage, but text clear. Letter headed "Liberte egalite | [?] jour complementaire de lan g de la republique | Cornudet membre du Senat conservateur au Ministre de Finance| je vous [?], citoyen ministre, une petition du cite chabanne mon compatriote de departement tendante a obtenir une place de controlleur des contributions directes. | ce jeune homme sans fortune mais plein d'emulation s'est rendu dans le department du jura [?] d'un parent ingenieur des ponts et chaussees [?

[ The New Asbestos Company, Limited, London. ] Prospectus with application form, accompanied by reports by Sir Douglas Fox, T. J. Scoones and C. Lacoste.

Author: 
The New Asbestos Company, Limited, London [ Société Française des Amiantes, Tarascon; Sir Douglas Fox; T. J. Scoones; C. Lacoste; F. Vidal; Sir Richard Harington of Ridlington ]
Publication details: 
The New Asbestos Company, Limited, 37 Lombard Street, London. All items undated but circa 1889. [ Prospectus printed by 'The Argus Printing Company, Limited, 31, Bouverie Street, E.C.' ]
£120.00

The three items in fair condition, lightly aged and worn, with light damp staining to the Prospectus. ONE: Prospectus. 4pp., tall 8vo. Bifolium. First page headed 'Contractors to the French Government, Naval, Military, and State Authorities. | The New Asbestos Company, Limited. | Incorporated under the Companies Act, 1862 to 1886, whereby the liability of each Shareholder is limited to his Shares. | Capital - - £120,000, | Divided into 30,000 Shares of £4 each.

[ Anouilh ] A collection of material, mainly correspondence, from the papers of Edward Marsh, translator of Anouilh and others, including two ALsS in French from Anouilh and a publishing agreement signed by him (about 40 items).

Author: 
Jean Anouilh, French playwright [Edward O. Marsh, translator and biographer of Anouilh].
Publication details: 
1951-1967.
£350.00

A small archive of material relating to the translation into English and production in the UK and USA of works by Jean Anouilh (particularly "Dinner with the Family"), comprising: A. Two Autograph Letters Signed "Jean Anouilh", in French, to Edward Marsh, translator and biographer of Anouilh, one dated in pencil "Feb. 1953", one of two pages, the other of one, both 4to, condition only fair.

[ Textiles; French ]Collection of 105 items of correspondence, in French, 1815 and 1822 by various companies to Messrs Henry Pierre Delacroix et Fils, textile manufacturers of Elbeuf, Normandy, including accounts and political and social references.

Author: 
Messrs Henry Pierre Delacroix et Fils, textile manufacturers of Elbeuf, Normandy
Publication details: 
Written between May 1815 and October 1822. Addressed to Messrs Henri Pierre Delacroix et Fils of Elbeuf, Normandy, from various French locations (principally Paris).
£550.00

105 items of correspondence, in French, in various formats (mainly 8vo). In good condition on lightly-aged paper. Each text clear and complete. The whole contained in a grey paper folder with 'Juillet 1818' on the front wrap. Each item unobtrusively numbered in neat red pencil. Featuring a wide range of the correspondents, as few write more than once. Occasional letters docketed. Accompanied by a modern abstract by a French-speaker, reflecting the difficulty of the various hands contained in the collection.

[ Émilie Broisat, actress with the Comédie-Française. ] Autograph Letter Signed to 'Monsieur Laval', declining an invitation.

Author: 
Émilie Broisat (1846-1929), French actress with the Comédie-Française
Publication details: 
'Dimanche soir' [ no place or date ].
£30.00

2pp., 12mo. On bifolium. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. Gracefully declining an invitation.

[ J. Thierry, teacher of French in Georgian London. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('I. Therry') in French, to the editor of the Court Journal, regarding his publication in London of a work on French pronunciation ('

Author: 
J. Thierry, teacher of French in Georgian London [French pronunciation]
Publication details: 
40 Great Marlborough Street [London]. 25 May 1829.
£120.00

3pp., 4to. Bifolium. In fair condition, on aged and worn paper. Addressed, with red wax seal, on reverse of second leaf, 'To the Editor | of the | Court Journal.' The letter concerns a work published by Thierry in London in 1829, and titled in English, 'Forty-four lines, by the aid of which the pronunciation of the French may be learned in a few hours', and in French, 'Quarante-quatre vers, par le moyen desquels on peut apprendre la prononciation française en quelques heures'. (The only two copies on COPAC at Glasgow and Oxford.

['Gabrielle Réjane' [Gabrielle-Charlotte Reju], French actress.] Autograph Note Signed ('Réjane') thanking 'mon cher Maitre'.

Author: 
Gabrielle Réjane, stage name of the French actress Gabrielle-Charlotte Reju (1856-1920)
Publication details: 
Place not stated. 'Mercredi' [no date].
£56.00

1p., 12mo. Good, on lightly aged and worn paper. The note reads: 'Mercredi. | Merci mille fois, mon cher Maitre, si vous êtes content, me voilà ravie! | Encore merci | Réjane'. In a postscript she states that she has profited from his criticisms.

[Printed item.] Mémoire contenant Réponse, Pour le Sieur Étienne-Privat Girard, Seigneur de l'Herm & du Colet, de Deses, Intimé, Appellant de son chef, & Suppliant. Contre Dame Marie-Anne-Angélique de de Juges, [...] En presence de Me. Cabiron [...]

Author: 
M. de Celés de Marsac; Me. Duroux; Finiels [Étienne-Privat Girard, Seigneur de l'Herm & du Colet; Marie- Anne-Angélique de Juge; Jean-Louis-François de Valmalète; Joseph Dalles, imprimeur de Toulouse]
Publication details: 
'A Toulouse, Chez Joseph Dalles, Imprimeur-Libraire, aux Arts & Sciences, près les Changes.' [c. 1786]
£120.00

46pp., 4to. Stitched and unbound. In fair condition, with slight staining, and discoloration and wear to the first leaf and blank final leaf. Drophead title, beneath vignette, reading in full: 'Mémoire contenant Réponse, | Pour le Sieur Étienne-Privat Girard, Seigneur de l'Herm & du Colet, de Deses, Intimé, Appellant de son chef, & Suppliant. | Contre Dame Marie-Anne-Angélique de de [sic] Juges, Veuve en premieres noces du Sr. de Troulhas, & à présent Epouse en secondes noces du Sr. de Valmalette, citoyen de cette Ville, Appellant & Suppliant. | En présence de Me.

Autograph Letter Signed, in French, from Etienne Allègre to 'Cher Monsieur Manfield'

Author: 
Etienne Allègre, French rugby player and Communist politician, Deputy for Toulon, 1935-1940, brother-in-law of Jean Bartolini (1899-1977), Mayor of Toulon from 1945 to 1947
Publication details: 
5 Chemin de Plaisance, Toulon. 12 July 1954.
£45.00

1p., 4to. In fair condition, on lightly-aged paper, with a few short closed tears along fold lines. He apologises for replying with 'un retard inqualifiable!' He apologises profoundly for 'ce contretemps' which has not allowed him to thank Mansfield properly 'pour l'Admiration que vous avez bien voulu me temoigner - sans doute à l'occasion de l'un des derniers Salons à Paris'. He is sending a photograph, with his autograph.

[Printed sheet music for children.] Récréations de l'Enfance. Recueil de Rondes avec Jeux et de Petites Chansons pour fair jouer, danser et chanter les enfants avec un accompagnement de piano très-facile.

Author: 
Charles Lebouc [French children's songs]
Publication details: 
Troisième édition, revue et corrigée. Paris: E. Heu, éditeur, 10, Rue de la Chaussée-d'Antin. Propriété pour la France et l'etranger. [Circa 1866.]
£280.00

[6] + 36pp., 8vo. In original yellow printed wraps. Title carries illustration by Fouget. Inscribed, at head of title, 'To "The Bairns" from Mr. ', 8 February 1866. Lightly-aged, with slight damp staining, in worn wraps. Clearly printed with simple musical scores, including such classics as 'Frère Jacques' and 'Sur le Pont d'Avignon'.

[Printed handbill poem.] A la Garde Nationale de Honfleur. Choeur des Républicains. Air du Chœur des Girondins.

Author: 
'Achille de Naguet Desportes, Propriétaire à Equemauville, près Honfleur' (d.1879) [La Garde Nationale de Honfleur; E. Dupray, printer]
Publication details: 
'Honfleur. Typographie ve E. Dupray.' Undated [1840s].
£150.00

1p., 8vo. On wove paper. Lightly worn and aged. Text in two columns within ornate decorative border. Author's details at foot, above printer's slug. Thirty-five line poem, in five seven-line stanzas. First stanza: 'O! toi, ma France bien-aimée, | Pour toi, nous faison tous des voeux, | Oh! sois à jamais vénérée, | Élevons nos voix vers les cieux. | Oh! France, ma patrie!

Anonymous French nineteenth-century handbill poem, containing precepts on the game of chess, entitled 'Le Jeu d'Échecs.'

Author: 
'Le Jeu d'Échecs' [anonymous French nineteenth-century handbill poem on the game of chess]
Handbill poem, containing precepts on the game of chess
Publication details: 
Date of publication and name of printer not stated [1840s Paris?].
£650.00
Handbill poem, containing precepts on the game of chess

4 pp, 16mo. Paginated [1] to 4. On a bifolium of wove paper. Fair, on lightly-aged and creased paper, with thin strip of previous mount adhering to inner margin of first page.

[Printed pamphlet.] Explication des Tableaux, Statues, Bustes, etc. composant les Galerie [sic] du Palais de la Chambre des Pairs de France.

Author: 
[Pierre Didot, l'ainé, printer; Musée national du Luxembourg, France ]
 Explication des Tableaux, Statues, Bustes, etc.
Publication details: 
A Paris, de l'Imprimerie de P. Didot l'Ainé, Imprimeur de la Chambre des Pairs de France, rue du Pont de Lodi, no 6. 1814.
£125.00
 Explication des Tableaux, Statues, Bustes, etc.

12mo, 72 pp. Stitched. In remains of original grey wraps, with front wrap present (though worn at extremities), but only a trace of rear wrap remaining. Text clear and complete. On aged paper with many dog-eared corners. An ephemeral item by one of the greatest of French printers: COPAC only lists three copies, at Oxford, University College London, and the Victoria and Albert Museum. None of these record the misprint in the title of 'les Galerie' for 'les Galeries', and it is not present in the Harvard copy either.

[Reports in 2 issues of the French Revolutionary] Gazette Nationale ou Le Moniteur Universel, nos. 200 and 201.

Author: 
[The Champ de Mars Massacre], July 1791
Publication details: 
[Paris], 19 and 20 Juillet 1791 Troisième Année de la Liberté.
£125.00

Pp.[159]-164 and [165]-172, reports and debates on the "massacre" on pp.163-4 and 166-8. On the 17 July the Assembly decided that Louis XVI could continue as King. Republicans led by Danton held a protest meeting on the Champs de Mars and were in the end fired upon by Lafayette's National Guard, about 50 people being killed.

Autograph Card Signed ('Déroulède P.') by the French anti-Dreyfusard author and politician Paul Déroulède, written from prison, congratulating a couple on their newborn child.

Author: 
Paul Déroulède (1846-1914), French right-wing author and anti-Dreyfusard politician
Autograph Card Signed ('Déroulède P.') by the French anti-Dreyfusard author
Publication details: 
19 October 1899; on the letterhead of his magazine 'Le Drapeau', with portrait of Déroulède and the motto 'Prison de la Santé - 1899'.
£165.00
Autograph Card Signed ('Déroulède P.') by the French anti-Dreyfusard author

9 x 14 cm. Backed on piece of card, and hence with the details of the addressees obscured. Fair, on aged paper with central vertical crease. Sending 'Compliments au père et à la mère. Bon veux pour le nouveau né!' Written while waiting for trial, following Déroulède's re-arrest for treason. He was found guilty and banished for ten years. His funeral procession in Paris attracted a larger crowd than any since Victor Hugo.

Autograph Letter Signed, Amédée de Willot [un comte et général de la Révolution française], to a British Admiral [Was Sidney Smith the only Admiral who could speak French?], hostile to democracy among other things.

Author: 
Amédée de Willot, French General.
Autograph Letter Signed, Amédée de Willot [un comte et général de la Révolution
Publication details: 
Baltimore, [Maryland, USA], 29 October 1810.
£380.00
Autograph Letter Signed, Amédée de Willot [un comte et général de la Révolution

Two pages, 4to, bifolium, fold marks, some discoloration, but text clear and complete. He takes the liberty of introducing "deux voyageurs,pour vous renouveller l'expression de ma reconnaissance: ce jour deux jeunes américains bien Elevés, fils des Colonel Howard [American Revolutionary hero and important in the development of Baltimore, etc] et [Sloan?] ... et ce qui est mieux de la consideration publique ils voyagent pour ... et désirent beaucoup de voir un héros de l'angleterre, c'est pourquoi j'ai pris la liberté de vous les adrèsser.

Autograph Letter Signed ('C. Genest'), in French, to unnamed male recipient.

Author: 
Claude Genest [editor, 'La Revue du XIXème siècle']
Publication details: 
Undated, on printed 1840s lettehead of the 'Revue du XIXème siècle', 'Bureaux, 11, rue de Lille', Paris.
£38.00

12mo, 1 p. 20 lines of text. Clear and complete. On aged paper and lightly-creased paper. Writing to ask how the recipient wishes to deal with 'traités de Botanique et de Chimie' in his reviews. Written during the first of several incarnations of the 'Revue', this one beginning around 1836.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Robt. Walpole'), in French, to 'J. Fr. Ostervald Esq'.

Author: 
Robert Walpole (1736-1810), Clerk of the Privy Council and British Ambassador to Portugal (nephew of the Prime Minister) [J. F. Ostervald; the French Revolution]
Publication details: 
30 October 1792; Clifford Street [London].
£180.00

4to, 3 pp. Bifolium. Text clear and complete. Fair, on aged paper with damp staining causing the fading of ink in some parts, and a little chipping to bottom edge. Since writing there has been no packet from Falmouth, and the news from the continent are reported with sufficient detail in the gazettes, so 'il est inutile de vous en parler. Les procedes du Duc de Brunswick [he led an invading German army into France], et le systeme du Roi de Prusse sont egalement mysterieux [...] Les Emigrants [...] sont reduits a la derniere necessite'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('La Ctesse. De Maudet'), in French, to an unnamed 'Chevalier' [English knight?].

Author: 
The Countess de Maudet [La Comtesse de Maudet], wife of the Count de Maudet [Le Comte de Maudet], Governor of Corsica, who surrended Toulon to Admiral Hood in 1793 [Samuel Hood, Viscount Hood]
Publication details: 
Docketed 'Comtesse De Maudet | Apl. 11th. 1795.'
£85.00

4to: 1 p. Twenty-four lines of text. On a bifolium of laid paper, and docketed on the reverse of the second leaf. Good, in faded ink on lightly-aged paper. Begins 'La france republicainne [sic] me fait perdre des renttes [sic] viageres'. She complains of the attack on her 'legitimes droits a mes biens de Corses que le roy de france garrante par un Contract', and speaks of 'droits inalterables et inprescriptible'. She asks for a 'paquet' to be passed to 'Milord Hood'.

Belle Fresque Napoléonienne', in the form of a broadside poster in a wallet, inscribed by de Régie to Jules Dechamps, together with twenty cuttings of newspaper and magazine articles by de Régie.

Author: 
René de Vivie de Régie, 'Rédacteur à la "Revue des Études Napoléoniennes" [Napoleon Bonaparte; Professor Jules Dechamps (1888-1968), Queen Mary College]
Publication details: 
The poster dated 1925; the cuttings circa 1928-29.
£250.00

The poster is printed on one side of a piece of paper approximately 110 x 75 cm. Good, on lightly-aged paper. With its green printed wallet (21 x 28.5 cm), lightly worn and creased. Wallet covered in text, including the words 'NAPOLÉON FLORILÈGE' in large type. A curious piece of Napoleonic hagiography, with the text, consisting of a large number of unconnected effusions on his greatness ('Astre humain. Dieu terrestre'), in a variety of types and point sizes, arranged in six columns.

Five hand-coloured prints of French actors performing in French and Italian plays at the Comédie Française in the eighteenth century.

Author: 
Robert Sayer of Fleet Street, London printseller [theatrical prints; Comédie Française; Bellecour; Marie Favart, Trial, Clerval; Laurette]
Publication details: 
All five prints 'Publish'd by Robt. Sayer, No. 53 Fleet Street London, as the Act directs, 1st. Septr. 1772.'
£200.00

Each of the five on a piece of good laid paper, roughly 15 cm square. Wide margins, with indentation of plate 9.5 x 8 cm. All five good, with occasional light creasing to margins. The second and third items more aged that the others, but all good and suitable for framing. Delicately engraved and skillfully coloured. Item One: 'Mr. Bellecour. 3 Comed. Franc. Le Joueur. dans la Comédie du même nom.' Item Two: '19 Comed. Franc. Michau et Henri. dans la Partie de Chasse d'Henri IV. Qu'êtes-vous? allons, qu'êtes-vous?' Item Three: 'Made. Favart. 22 Coméd. Ital. La Vieille.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Ernest Havet'), in French [to someone living in Sainte-Beuve's old house].

Author: 
Eugène Auguste Ernest Havet (1813-1889), French scholar.
Publication details: 
21 February 1872; Vitry.
£56.00

16mo: 1 p. 14 lines of text. Close hand. He is touched that Sainte-Beuve has found time, in the midst of his labours, to write a letter expressing his 'adhésion'. 'Je suis heureux de penser, en vous écrivant rue Montparnasse [Sainte-Beuve lived at no. 11], que la philosophie et l'esprit d'indépendence ont toujours un ami dans la maison de Sainte-Beuve'.

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