BARBEY D'AUREVILLY Jules (1808-1889).

Lot 12
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Estimation :
700 - 800 EUR
BARBEY D'AUREVILLY Jules (1808-1889).
L.A.S. "Jules Barbey d'Aurevilly", Good Friday [21 March 18]56, to Armand DUTACQ; 3 pages and a half in-8. Beautiful letter about his critical articles. He sent him about ten days ago an article on BOSSUET about the Studies on the life of Bossuet by Amable Floquet: "Such an article could not be questioned. No political or religious question was asked, and there were only praises, soberly distributed". But it is still not published: "I thought of a delay. The Empress has given birth. It was necessary to put in the Country the execrable verses, the spoiled pralines which one offers to his child, by the age exempted from tasting such nonsense!" But here is that one proposes to him to write on the Memoirs of the abbot LEDIEU on Bossuet, "when my article is on Bossuet & that the very known manuscripts of Ledieu were used by Floquet to make the book which I examined! I do not think that my article has been lost [...] Ask Lhéritier to publish it - there is not a word that can stop its printing. When will we stop being regaled with gall and vinegar in the country? [...] your letter of this morning stunned me. I was going to send you the article on the RACINE. It was finished and was going to leave this evening. You can tell Cohen that he had me do an article, - another one for the King of Prussia"... As for the publication of LA ROCHEFOUCAULD, it is "a sham. The unpublished is unpublished like the old streets of Paris, if there are still any. What kind of speculation hides the book of this great lord fallen in the writing desk? I am trying to unravel this question without being able to succeed: "Is M. de La Rochefoucault a fool, a rascal, or a fool?" In my article, I had stuck it under tape politely, - not for him, but for his name, - but if we had a newspaper, (We!) I would have taught him to respect his coat of arms. Ah! Dutacq, Dutacq, you are very guilty. When will we make a newspaper? - A newspaper that can light a powder keg under the feet of fools! What a success you are pushing back there! The age is dying of boredom. The newspapers are advertising, as stupid as the directors of shows. We will have peace. What a good time to get back to literary things and clean up the place of false literati!" He would like to do an article on BAUDELAIRE and Edgar POE, and one on CHAMPFLEURY's HOFFMANN. "I don't want to start doing an article again, like on the useless Racine..."
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