Lot n° 87
Estimation :
800 - 1000
EUR
GUIBERT Jacques-Antoine-Hippolyte, comte de (1743-1790) officier, tacticien et écrivain [AF 1785, 30e f].
TWO autograph MANUSCRIPTS, Anne de Boleyn, tragedy in 5 acts, [1777]; 95 and 90 pages small in-4 (a few chipped leaves to 1st manuscript). Plus TWO MANUSCRIPTS with autograph CORRECTIONS, and a COLLECTION of three MANUSCRIPTS, one partly autograph, [ca. 1774-1777]; 2 notebooks of 54 pages in-fol. and 27 pages in-4; and 68 pages small in-4 in 3 notebooks, bound in one volume small in-4 beige cloth bradel (Petitot).
Important set of the dramatic works of the count of Guibert.
In publishing in 1822 the dramatic works of her husband, the countess of Guibert wrote: "It is in these moments when he felt the need to relieve his mind of more serious and useful works, that M. de Guibert composed these plays: they had a lot of success in the particular readings; but he always refused the repeated requests of the first actors of the Comédie française to have them played. [Of all the genres of poetry, the dramatic genre must have been the one that best suited the genius of M. de Guibert, the warmth of his soul, the natural elevation of his mind and the habitual direction of his thought. [In 1777, M. de Guibert composed Anne de Boleyn, his third tragedy, in which he paints with as much energy as eloquence the despotic character of Henry VIII and the courageous piety of Anne de Boleyn.
Anne of Boleyn. In this tragedy in 5 acts and in verses, around the two main characters, the king of England Henry VIII and his wife Anne of Boleyn, Guibert puts in scene the brother of Anne, Alfred de Boleyn count of Rocheford, a friend of Anne Miss Juliette Hertford, Sydney confidant and minister of Henry VIII, and the future queen Elizabeth, three years old, plus judges, sheriffs, guards and soldiers. - Working manuscript, extensively erased and corrected (95 pages in 5 quires, with verse count at the end of the first two quires: 446 verses and 334). - Autograph cleanup, still presenting some erasures and corrections (90 pages in 5 quires, with verse count at the end of each quire : 464, 320, 388, 290, 292 verses, and summary at the end of the last act, i.e. 1754 verses). - Plus 2 old copies, one (the quires tied with a blue ribbon) in the hand of Mme de Guibert, wife of the author (who also copied the role of Anne in act I, probably for a private performance), the other (incomplete of act IV) in the hand of Mme d'Azincourt, sister of the author.
Les Gracques, tragedy in 3 acts. [The tragedy of the Gracques was composed in 1774. Saint-Lambert, when receiving Guibert at the French Academy, praised him: "you paint this moment of the Roman republic, where the patrician tyranny prepared the people to the anarchy, you defend there with the most touching sensitivity the abandoned cause of justice and the poor"]. Complete copy, with numerous and important autograph corrections by the Count of Guibert, and the verse count at the end of each act, that is to say 1384 verses (54 pages in-fol.). Plus a complete copy in the hand of Mme de Guibert (notebook in-4), plus another complete copy (notebook in-fol.; and an incomplete copy).
Apelle et Campaspe ou Le triomphe d'Alexandre, opera in one act (after Noverre's ballet of 1776). Copy with numerous and important autograph corrections (27 pages in-4); a note from Mme de Guibert indicates that this opera was to be set to music by GLUCK, then after his death by SALIERI. A complete copy made in 1814, with corrections in Mme de Guibert's hand (20 p. in-fol.) is attached.
Collection of two fragments of tragedies. This collection includes first two manuscripts of the first act (out of three) of the tragedy in verse Les Gracques (12 and 10 leaves) with some erasures and corrections, including a copy probably in the hand of the sister of Guibert, Mme d'Azincourt. This is followed by the first act (13 leaves) of the tragedy Anne de Boleyn, with some autograph corrections, and whose end is entirely in Guibert's hand (8 pages), who then adds these few lines: "Voila tout. I am almost as tired as you were last night. Good morning, I am leaving, write to me. I am not worried about this deposit. Juliette is worth Henriette at least. Find me a name for Suffolk. I would also like to call Henriette Juliette because Henriette looks too much like Henri&". This is a first version where two characters have not yet found their final name.
Provenance : Archives of the Count of GUIBERT (sale 14 October 1993, nos 61 and 70).
My orders
Sale information
Sales conditions
Return to catalogue