DUMAS fils (Alexandre).

Lot 64
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Estimation :
1500 - 2000 EUR
DUMAS fils (Alexandre).
La Princesse Georges. Paris, Michel Lévy frères, Librairie nouvelle, 1872. Large in-8, brown morocco, on the first plate a mosaic crowned coat of arms in various tones, accompanied by a mosaic motto gilded on a banner, interior lace, yellow moire lining and endpapers, gilded AD on the first guard, edges gilded on marble, not trimmed (Gruel). First edition. This play in three acts was first performed on December 2, 1871 in Paris at the Théâtre du Gymnase. It is preceded by a preface in which Dumas fils defends his plays, in particular La Princesse Georges, against the prejudices and attacks of a certain public. One of the 24 copies numbered on hollande, this one n°1, the only one in large paper with a copy on vellum skin. Precious copy offered by the author to the actress Aimée Desclée (1836-1874), creator of the main role of the play, that of Séverine, Princesse de Birac, known as the Princesse Georges It bears on a flyleaf this letter signed and dated twice, on December 2, 1871 [evening of the first performance] and March 11, 1872: To Madame la Princesse de Birac, née Aimée Desclée - the most honest woman in her world and the leading actress of her time. An outstanding actress who lived her roles, Aimée Desclée played Alexandre Dumas fils's great roles with immense success, from the revival of Diane de Lys, La Dame aux camélias and Le Demi-monde, to the creation of Une Visite de noces, La Princesse Georges and La Femme de Claude. Dumas fils, who said that he could hear notes of crystal and gold in her voice, described her as a very singular actress: "The misguided creature goes from error to revolt, to vice, to blasphemy, and dies cursing, because she believes herself to be cursed. There was all this in the woman who was Desclée and whose talent the crowd acclaimed, without suspecting to what painful emotions, to what poignant and tenacious memories, she asked for this warmth, this grace, this poetry, this disturbing charm, then, suddenly, these impulses, these cries, these fierce audacities, this je ne sais quoi which can never be learned, which constituted her in her art a person who resembled nothing of what one had seen, of what one saw. (Notes of a Wedding Visit). Interesting binding, commissioned by Dumas fils from Léon Gruel, decorated on the first plate with an imaginary coat of arms (Gules with a natural salamander amidst golden flames) which are those of Princess Georges, with the motto Per ignes. Other armorial bindings of this type are known, which the author had executed and reserved for his interpreters (cf. Uzanne, Le Livre, 1886, pp. 37-38). Yellowed title page. Very slight scuffing on the first cover.
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