Search Results: Titles starting with V from Le Manuscrit Français

VERDI, Giuseppe (1813-1901)
Autograph letter signed " GVerdi " to M. Cartier
Busseto, 25th July 1898, 1 p. in-8° on laid bi-folio paper
Verdi sends his signature to his correspondent


" Mon cher Monsieur Cartier,
N'ayant pas depuis longtemps entendu parler de l'affaire Mollien, je vous avais écrit hier. Aujourd'hui je viens de recevoir votre billet, et je m'empresse de vous envoyer la signature que vous me demandez.
Recevez mes compliments distingués
GVerdi "


We will notice the hesitant writing of Verdi, here in the last years of his life. He was to die three years later at the age of 87.
Verdi's letters written in French are rather uncommon.

[RIMBAUD] VERLAINE, Paul (1844-1896)
Autograph letter signed " Votre P Verlaine " to l'abbé Louis Le Cardonnel
Paris, 9 Feb[ruary] [18]86, 2 p. 1/4 in-8° on mourning paper
Fold marks, some stains
Verlaine is looking for the manuscript of Les Illuminations


" Mon cher Le Cardonnel
On ne vous voie plus ; que devenez-vous donc ?
Combien j'aimerais à vous voir !
Tâchez d'avoir le plus tôt possible les Illuminations et apportez-les-moi en toute hâte.
Très pressé [en] vue [d']
une édition probable de Rimbaud complet[e].
– Hélas 15 ans tout ce que cette femme intelligente [Mathilde Mauté]
n'en détient ou a [deux mots caviardés] détruit.
Ma situation se fonce ou se défonce, au choix. Je ne sais vraiment où je vais, c'est ce qu'on appelle ne plus vivre. Une inquiétude animale que berce je ne sais quel zutisme qui est peut-être l'espoir en tel lieu.
Je travaille ferme cependant ? Voici presque les mémoires d'un veuf sur le " marbre ", et je termine deux autres volumes en prose dont la… Read More

[FLAUBERT] Paul NADAR (1856-1939)
Late print depicting Flaubert in bust[Paris, c. 1910], cabinet format, laminated on thick cardboard to the photographer's creditNear fine condition except for a very slight defect on the right part of the portrait"Flaubert" inscribed on verso by an unknown personStamp on verso: "E. Hautecœur – 35 avenue de l'Opéra – Paris"
Very rare and legendary portrait of the writer by Nadar, during the years of writing his novel L'Éducation sentimentale
Flaubert's iconography is limited, to say the least. Only four photographic portraits of the writer are known:-Two portraits by Étienne Carjat in Italian format, taken during two different sessions-A portrait in profile by Giacomo Borelli, probably taken during the Universal Exhibition of 1867, which Flaubert attended-A portrait by Felix Nadar, of bust in three quarters (the one presented here)
Paul Nadar, son of Félix Nadar (1820-1910) had begun to collaborate with his father in 1886. This late print is therefore based… Read More

MAUPASSANT, Guy de (1850-1893)
Period albumen print by Benque & Co
[c. 1885], mounted on this cardboard and signed on lower margin, cabinet format (10,5 x 15,4 cm)
Small stain on lower margin of the mounting
Very scarce original portrait of the novelist by Benque & Co


We know the reluctance that Maupassant had to be photographed. He threatened a lawsuit pending thy publisher Charpentier in 1890 for desmoulin's unauthorized distribution of an etching from a photograph by Liebert.
He believed that they were part of private life and that the writer should be judged only by his works. This repugnance to see his effigy delivered to the curiosity of the crowd is certainly also proof of a certain "dull fear of a split personality, of a dispersion of his physical appearance, of a triumph of the Horla who would have taken his features and strutted in the world" (H. Troyat). Maupassant's original photographs are therefore all the more valuable.
There are very few other copies of this print, including one sent… Read More

BEAUMARCHAIS (de), Pierre-Augustin Caron (1732-1799)
Autograph letter signed " Beaumarchais " to comedian Préville
Paris, 31st March 1784, 2 pp. in-8°, autograph address on fourth page
Spots, fold mark, missing bit on second folio (broken seal) without affecting the text
Very scarce letter from Beaumarchais entirely about to The Marriage of Figaro, written less than a month before the first official performance


" Paris ce 31 Mars 1784
Nous nous sommes trompés tous les deux, mon vieil ami. Je tremblais que vous ne quittassiez le théâtre à Pâques ; et vous, mon vieil ami, vous étiez dans l'opinion que le Mariage de Figaro ne pouvait pas se jouer.
Mais il ne faut jamais désespérer de garder un acteur que le public adore ni de voir vaincre un auteur courageux qui croit avoir raison et qui ne se dégoûte pas par les dégoûts.
J'ai, mon vieil ami, le bon du Roi, le bon du Ministre, le bon du lieutenant de Police. Il ne manque plus que le vôtre pour voir un beau tapage à la rentrée. Allons… Read More

MODIGLIANI, Amedeo (1884-1920)
Autograph letter signed " Modigliani " to art dealer Léopold Zborowski [Nice, New year's eve 31th December 1918], 2 pp. in-8° Browning, fold marks, pale ink on some letters, pinhole, small tears on margins
Very scarce letter from Modigliani written in a facetious tone on New Year's Eve

" Minuit juste. Mon cher ami. Je vous embrasse comme j'aurais [voulu] si j'avais pu… le jour de votre départ. Je fais la bombe avec Survage(1) au Coq d'or. J'ai vendu toutes les toiles. Envoyez vite l'argent. Le Champagne coule à flot. Nous vous souhaitons, à vous et à votre chère femme(2) les meilleurs vœux pour la nouvelle année. Resurrectio Vitae. Ic incipit vita nova. (3) Il novo Anno ! Modigliani " [Survage ajoute " bonne année ! " en russe puis, en français, " Vive Nice vive la première nuit de la première année "]
This letter was sent from Nice, where Modigliani stayed at the instigation of his patron, Leopold Zborowski. The latter managed to convince the painter to… Read More

HUGO, Victor (1802-1885)
Autograph letter signed "Victor H" to Joséphine Trébuchet
Brussels, 19th December [1851], 1 page in-8 on double sheet
Fold marks
Vibrant and precious letter from Victor Hugo, written in the early hours of his exile from Brussels, just 17 days after Napoleon III's coup d'état


"Brussels – 19 Xbre
My wife tells me all your lovely gratitude, dear cousin, how to thank you. Alas! I no longer have a long arm, otherwise I would kiss you from Brussels to Paris.
Tell my dear and good cousin that my heart is full of him. I have fought for the right, for the truth, for the righteous, for the people, for France, against crime in all its forms, from treason to atrocity. We have succumbed, but valiantly and proudly, and the future is ours. Praise God always!
I kiss your hands, my cousin.
Victor H.
Kiss my dear daughter for me."


On December 2nd, 1851, the day of Napoleon III's coup d'état, Victor Hugo was put a price on his own head for his opposition to the emperor and for trying,… Read More

[HUGO] QUINET, Alexandre (1836-1900)
Original photography of Victor Hugo by Alexandre Quinet[Veules-les-Roses, c. 1882], 11,8 x 16,4 cmPeriod albumen print mounted on yellow cartonSome light stains, low contrasts
From the Paul Meurice archives
Victor Hugo's only period print portrait at Veules-les-Roses, at his friend's Paul Meurice
This portrait can be dated to the year 1882, when the poet was 80 years old. Despite the great age, the pose is both full of energy and derision. Hugo, with his white beard and crossed arms, appears more than ever as an unshakable patriarch.
Paul Meurice's house was located on the coast of Veules-les-Roses, in Normandy. During his stays at his friend's house, Victor Hugo stayed below the house in a small pavilion, directly adjacent to the beach. This photo is taken on the promenade along the staircase of that same pavilion.
French novelist and playwright Paul Meurice (1818-1905) was one of Victor Hugo's loyal friends. When the latter died, Meurice and the other great… Read More

ARAGON, Louis (1897-1982)
Autograph letter signed "Aragon" [to the "Red duchess" Elisabeth de Clermont-Tonnerre]
N.p.n.d, [1950], 1 p. in-4to
Violent reproaches of Louis Aragon against Thomas Mann – The poet explains his hostility to the idea of meeting the German writer, then on an official visit to Paris


" Excusez-moi, Madame, de ne pas vouloir déjeuner avec Thomas Mann, dont la conduite pendant la guerre, le pacifisme d'entre deux guerres, et la signature au bas de l'ignoble manifeste contre les exécutions en Russie ne peuvent pas me rendre plus aimable la détestable littérature.
Très respectueusement
Aragon "


Thomas Mann officially received in Paris in May 1950
At the beginning of May 1950, Thomas Mann had begun a European lecture tour. On May 12, he arrived in Paris, accompanied by his wife Katia. At the "Ritz", where his French publishing house has booked a suite, they receive a very warm welcome.
If during his stay in Paris, which must have lasted a few days, Thomas Mann could not… Read More

ZOLA, Emile (1840-1902)
Autograph letter signed " Emile Zola " to a colleague Paris, 12th November [18]93, 1 p. 1/2 in-8 Usual fold marks, some tiny spots
A very moving letter, almost entirely unpublished, written at the end of the Rougon-Macquart saga – Zola explains that he no longer owns his books once published and evokes with a superb metaphor what they represent years later. The writer expresses with relevance and sensitivity the distance he feels from his books, once all published. This letter offers a more general reflection on the author's relationship to his work.


" Mon cher confrère, Je ne préfère aucune de mes œuvres. Dans chacune, j'aime mieux certaines pages, celles où j'ai dit nettement ce que je voulais dire : voilà tout. Lorsque j'ai terminé un livre et que je l'ai donné au public, il n'existe plus pour moi. Toute ma passion tombe, et j'en commence un autre, pour lequel je me passionne, jusqu'à ce qu'il soit aux autres. Il faut que je fasse un effort, lorsque je veux me… Read More