HUGO Victor (1802-1885) [AF 1841, 14e f]. L.A.S. "Victor", May 13 [1826], to the poet Alexandre GUIRAUD; 2 pages and a quarter in-4, address. He congratulates Guiraud on his election to the French Academy, thus opening the way for the "romantics". [Alexandre GUIRAUD (1788-1847) had just been elected on May 10, against Lamartine, to the chair of Mathieu de Montmorency]. Hugo learns the news on his return from a small excursion to a few leagues from Paris: "you judge with what joy. That Nodier and Lamartine follow you now; it is all that my admirations and my friendships ask. It is choices like yours and like those that the Academy needs. It does not take heed that it dates from the seventeenth century in the nineteenth, and that it needs a little young blood in its old veins. When its majority begins to be of our time, it will regain both influence and consideration. There are therefore two reasons for me to rejoice in your election: the interest of letters, and my tender friendship for your person and your glory ". L'Académie française au fil des lettres, p. 176-179