MÉRIMÉE Prosper (1803-1870).

Lot 32
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MÉRIMÉE Prosper (1803-1870).
2 autograph letters signed. To [Jean-Charles Gregori] Paris, April 9, 1840. 3 pp. in-4. And to Léon Laborde, Cannes, December 24, 1856. 2 pp. ½, in-8. Unpublished letter, dealing with the forthcoming edition of his work Notes d'un voyage en Corse. On April 9, he thanks his correspondent [Jean-Charles Gregori] "I have not yet thanked you for the excellent words I owe you & that I have inserted (...) in my, I should say, our volume. You will receive it together with this letter by today's mail. (...) I am not at the end of my tribulations with Don M Bertodano. The other day I was sent from Corsica an article from the Ajaccio newspaper, in which they accuse me without naming me, and in the style of a paillape, of trying to harm this virtuous foreigner who wants to make Corsica happy. My friends of Ajaccio were very scandalized by it, the article arrived to me in three different letters, and they had answered if the press was free. (...) on this occasion one tells me very old and very instructive anecdotes on the interest which it can have in these soups. (...) I was content to send my correspondents copies of my letters and those of Mr. B. for the edification of the idlers of the Cours Napoléon. See Sir what one gains by telling the Truth (...) Mr. de Talleyrand was quite right to say that the word had been given to the man to disguise the thought. (...)" he concludes with the request of Mr. Pierangeli who wishes to have a place at the court of Bastia. In his letter of December 24, 1856 he plebiscites "Mr. Herculano de Carvalho author of a history of Portugal my faith very good. He searched all the archives, read a lot, copied a lot, he has spirit and true erudition. (...)" he goes on to describe the weather and the frequentation of Cannes in this month of December "20 degrees Réaumur [or 25 degrees Celsius]. It is too hot in the sun. (...)" he evokes his meeting with Lady Londesborough and her husband "(...) a great antiquarian, i.e. one who spends a lot of money buying antiques (...)" he concludes "The English have built here unimaginable castles with towers with rings three feet in diameter I think they are places of ease. Such is the living room inhabited by Lady Londesborough (...)" follows a drawing of Lady Londesborough's castle. This letter was published in the Correspondance générale tome II.
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