Alphonse DAUDET (1840-1897) Autograph manuscript, Le Lys, drama in 1 act, [1862]; folio (34 x 21 cm) of 23 ff (the rest blank). Complete working manuscript of the first version of the play L'OEillet blanc, first performed at the Théâtre- Français on April 8, 1865, by Maubant, Coquelin aîné, Mme Victoria-Lafon (a transvestite) and Mlle Provost-Ponsin. The play takes place during the Revolution; titled Le Lys on the manuscript, it will be renamed L'OEillet blanc (The White Carnation), as the imperial censorship does not like lilies. The characters will also change their names: the conventionnel Vandal will become Vidal, and his servant Cunctator Cadet-Vincent. The manuscript is written on the front and back of the pages, on the left side, leaving on the right side a large margin in which corrections, additions and remarks, notably those of Ernest L'Épine (1826-1893), Daudet's collaborator, are written. It presents numerous strikethroughs in red pencil, with deleted passages, and numerous erasures and corrections, and important variants with the final text.