SAND George (1804-1876). - Lot 208

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Lot n° 208
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8000 - 10000 EUR
SAND George (1804-1876). - Lot 208
SAND George (1804-1876). autograph manuscript, Simone, [ca. 1848-1850?]; 3 titles and 62 folio pages, in pencil. Manuscript of an unfinished and unpublished play, probably a first attempt at a peasant drama. The manuscript is entirely in pencil (unusual for Sand, except for a few canvases), written on double sheets of paper filled on both sides, except for the title sheets for the first three acts, which form a folder. It presents erasures, additions and corrections; one can see that Sand hesitated between the order of acts 2 and 3. We have not found any trace of this subject. The writing allows us to date the manuscript approximately from the years 1848-1850, when amateur performances in Nohant had encouraged Sand to return to the theater, after the canevas and small plays of the improvised theater; she will come to a more ambitious theatrical writing, with the dramatic adaptation of François le Champi (Odéon, November 25, 1849) and the drama Claudie (Porte Saint-Martin, January 11, 1851). Simone could be either a first attempt, abandoned during the events of 1848, or a first attempt at an original drama, set in a village, before choosing the subject of Claudie. The character of the beggar, Father Cadet Larose, is reminiscent of the "Père Va-tout-seul" that Sand had portrayed in an article in December 1844. The play in 5 acts (the last two unfinished) features: Germain "village carpenter", his wife Simone and their children, their neighbor Pierre Lanry, Marguerite "Simone's friend", Bastien "bad subject", and Father Cadet Larose "beggar". The setting at the beginning of the play is described as follows, and may evoke the square of Nohant: "The interior of a hamlet. Square planted with trees, the church in the background. Scattered rustic houses, separated by gardens. On the front Germain's house". Act I (13 scenes). One Sunday, Simone reads in the Gospel the parable of the workers of the eleventh hour, when father Cadet, who is considered to be a bit of a sorcerer, comes to beg his soup. The family is on the verge of ruin," Simone tells Marguerite, "and her husband, though a skilled craftsman, takes to drink and gambling, dragged down by Bastien. Bastien courts Marguerite, who rejects him; he makes Germain drink while the women are at vespers, and incites him to play with loaded dice, which provokes a quarrel in the cabaret. Germain, overwhelmed by shame, kills himself with his knife. Act 2 (4 scenes) takes place in the cemetery, at midnight. Marguerite tries to comfort Simone. The women move away, but Germain is not dead, and appears, wrapped in his shroud, to Cadet, who, without showing any surprise, asks him for alms. Cadet agrees to hide him in his hut. Bastien sees the two men and tells, frightened, his vision to Lanry, who tries to reason with him. Act 3 (11 scenes) is located at "La croix des trois buttes. A wide crossroads in the middle of which rise three uneven and gullied mounds. A rustic cross surmounts the highest one, and marks the center of the four roads. In the background and around a sad landscape, vaguely lit. The day decreases". Simone's two little girls bring in their sheep. A year after Germain's death, Marguerite and Lanry talk about Simone's situation, who has agreed to borrow money from Lanry, but who, to feed her family, runs around begging. Bastien, tormented by remorse, goes to seek comfort from Father Cadet, asks him for news of the two women, and confesses to him that he loves Marguerite. In a movement of despair, he is ready to give himself to the devil; Father Cadet gives him Germain's commemorative cross, covered in blood: "Yes, it's blood! It's enough to drive you crazy! What do you want from me, Germain? What revenge do you need from me? What reparation? Speak, speak if your spirit comes at night to moan around the crosses as they say is the custom of the dead. Come, I will not be afraid of you, command me what you want, I will do it. If it is necessary to shed tears to wash away this blood, I will try to find some because I have already shed so much that it seems to me that I have none left. Then he met Simone, who, at the end of a poignant conversation, granted him his forgiveness. He was transfigured and thanked God: "You have done a miracle for me and I will pay you back. I will do one too to make this wicked heart that had ignored you as good, as pure and as solid as the vault of heaven! The act .../... 4 (6 scenes, unfinished) sees Germain return, come to ask for work to Lanry, who does not really recognize him at once, and hides him at his place. In spite of Marguerite's denials, Lanry understands that she loves Bastien, who has become good and hard-working again, and he confesses that he has always loved Simone. Simone confesses to Marguerite that it is Bastien who, for two years, assists her "with his money and his work".
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