Romanticism

First edition, printed on thick wove paper.
Bound in contemporary half brown shagreen, smooth spines decorated with black typographic motifs, marbled paper boards, hand-marbled endpapers and pastedowns, modern slipcase edged in brown morocco with matching marbled paper sides and olive-green felt lining. 
Some occasional foxing, the note "Henri Beyle" in black ink at the upper corner of the title page of the first volume, final catalogue leaf present at the end of the second volume, small corner restorations to four leaves of the first volume.
"Very rare and extremely sought after. Usually quite simply bound at the time. Often foxed" (Clouzot). "This work is of great rarity in fine condition" (Carteret).
A handsome and very rare copy, large-margined and attractively bound at the time, of this masterpiece by Stendhal—rarer still than Le Rouge et le Noir.

Rare and sought-after first edition.
 
Half-black shagreen binding, spine in four compartments, marbled paper boards, pebbled endpapers and pastedowns, speckled edges, contemporary binding.
Some occasional light foxing as usual.
 
Rare copy in strictly contemporary binding.

Rare and sought-after first edition, first issue.

Includes the subscribers' list and the foreword, which were omitted when the remainder of this edition passed into the hands of another publisher, Dion-Lambert. It also retains the pagination error in volume two: page 164 instead of 364. With a letter from the author, bearing his autograph signature, written and dated 14 April 1839, in the hand of his secretary. One page written in black ink on a leaf. Slightly darkened at the upper edge, with occasional foxing, and the usual folds from postal handling.

Our copy is enriched with an exceptional, prophetic and macabre letter by François-René de Chateaubriand: "mais moi je suis mort, absolument mort et s'il me fallait écrire un mot dans un journal, j'aimerais mieux être enseveli à mille pieds sous terre." ["but I am dead, utterly dead, and if I were required to write a single word in a newspaper, I would rather be buried a thousand feet underground."]

Signed with the author’s faltering hand, this apparently unpublished letter was penned by his secretary: "Vous connaissez la main de [Hyacinthe] Pilorge que j'employe pour remplacer la mienne souffrante de la goutte" ["You will recognise the hand of [Hyacinthe] Pilorge, whom I employ to replace my own, suffering from gout,"] the author explains in the introduction to the letter.

Black half-morocco bindings, smooth spines with double gilt fillets and double blind-stamped compartments, black paper boards, slight superficial rubbing to some boards, marbled paper pastedowns and endpapers, sprinkled edges; contemporary bindings. Sparse foxing.

First edition.

Some light foxing.

Contemporary half aubergine sheep binding, smooth spine decorated with gilt and blind fillets, gilt friezes at head and foot, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns.

Our copy is enhanced with a photographic portrait of Victor Hugo (Souvenir du 16 septembre 1862) which he has countersigned in ink, serving as frontispiece; as well as an autograph inscription signed by Victor Hugo added on a blue paper leaf: "A mon vaillant et cher compagnon d'épreuve C. Berru",

Camille Berru (1817-1878), French journalist, was editor at l'Indépendance belge, a Brussels daily newspaper directed since 1856 by the Marseillais Léon Bérardi (1817-1897), who later made him his private secretary. He was closely connected to the Hugo family, not only to Victor, but also to his son Charles and to Adèle Foucher. During his stays in Brussels, it was at Berru's home that the exile from Guernsey regularly stayed, with his wife, who died there of a cerebral congestion on August 27, 1868.

New edition of the French translation established by Amédée Pichot, partly original as it is enhanced with a historical notice on Lord Byron.

Half blue glazed calf bindings, spines partially faded with four raised bands framed by gilt garlands and richly decorated gilt compartments, navy blue glazed calf title and volume labels, blind-stamped floral tools at head and tail, marbled paper boards, gilt fillets at foot, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, marbled edges; a few lightly rubbed corners. Romantic bindings of the period.

Our copy contains 13 engraved plates, some serving as frontispieces.

Scattered foxing, a few leaves browned due to paper acidity.

A copy in an attractive decorative and romantic period binding.

First edition, now rare according to Clouzot.

Endpapers partially toned, occasional scattered foxing, light dampstains in the upper margins of some leaves.
Contemporary half tan sheep binding, spine skilfully restored, marbled paper boards, first endpaper partly toned, a modest period binding (most copies were simply bound at the time, cf. Clouzot).
Exceptional signed autograph inscription by Victor Hugo: "A mon cher et respectable monsieur de la Rivière. Hommage de profond et reconnaissant attachement. Victor."
 

First edition printed on vélin d'Angoulême. Complete copy with the six banned poems and the usual misprints.

Half shagreen binding, spine with four raised bands twice ruled in gilt with gilt fleurons, marbled paper boards, marbled pastedowns and flyleaves, contemporary binding. Some foxing scattered foxing.  

First edition, with no deluxe paper copies issued.

Half aubergine shagreen binding, spine with four raised bands decorated with triple gilt compartments, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, speckled edges. Contemporary binding.

This collection of poems is followed by essays on Henry Murger by Théophile Gautier, Jules Janin, Arsène Houssaye, and Paul de Saint-Victor.

Our copy is enriched with an autograph note signed by Henry Murger, informing his correspondent that he will visit him soon.

First edition on ordinary paper.

Half red morocco binding, spine with five raised bands framed with gilt fillets and decorated with double gilt panels, gilt lettering at the foot of the spine reading "Ex. de Sainte-Beuve", double gilt fillets on the marbled paper boards, small black spots on the covers, comb-marbled endpapers and pastedowns, original wrappers preserved, gilt edges.

Scattered foxing.

Precious autograph inscription signed by Auguste Brizeux: "A Sainte-Beuve, au poète et à l'ami. A. Brizeux."

First edition on ordinary paper.

Half black shagreen binding, spine with five raised bands framed by gilt garlands, gilt date at foot, marbled paper boards, comb-marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt top edge.

Scattered foxing, a few reading marks in red and blue pencil in the margins of certain paragraphs, printed stamp of the Armand Colin bookshop on the title page.

First edition, of which no copies were printed on deluxe paper.

Half black shagreen binding, spine with five raised bands decorated with gilt garlands, gilt date at foot, marbled paper boards, combed paper endpapers and pastedowns, gilt top edge, original wrappers preserved.

Scattered foxing, some reading marks in red and blue pencil in the margins of certain paragraphs, ink stamps of the Etienne Vion bookshop and stationery in Amiens on the title page, a library shelfmark at the head of the title page.

First edition on ordinary paper.

Half black shagreen binding, spine with five raised bands decorated with gilt garlands, marbled paper boards, comb-marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt top edge, original covers and spine preserved.

Scattered foxing mostly affecting the edges.

First edition on ordinary paper.

Half black shagreen binding, spine with five raised bands decorated with gilt garlands, gilt date at foot, a small tear at the foot of the spine, marbled paper boards, comb-marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt top edge.

Scattered foxing.

Partly original edition, expanded with a preface and entirely unpublished fragments.

Bound in contemporary half black shagreen, spines with five raised bands decorated with gilt garlands, gilt dates at the foot, marbled paper boards, comb-marbled endpapers, gilt edges.

Some foxing, mainly at the beginning and end of the volumes.

Complete with the folding table bound at the beginning of the second volume.

Partly original edition, with no mention of a deluxe paper issue.

Half black shagreen binding, spine with five raised bands tooled with gilt garlands, gilt date at foot, marbled paper boards, comb-marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt edges, contemporary binding.

Pleasant copy.

First edition.

Bound in black half shagreen, spines with five raised bands decorated with gilt garlands, gilt dates at foot, marbled paper boards, comb-marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt edges.

Some foxing, mainly at the beginning and end of the volumes.

Preface by Prosper Mérimée.

Partly first edition.

Half black shagreen binding, spine with five raised bands decorated with gilt garlands, date gilt at foot, marbled paper boards, combed paper endpapers and pastedowns, gilt edges.

Some scattered foxing.

Edition largely original.

Half black shagreen binding, spine with five raised bands decorated with gilt garlands, gilt date at foot, marbled paper boards, comb-marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt edges.

Some foxing, chiefly at the beginning and end of the volume.

Partly original edition, entirely revised.

Some foxing.

Rare copy preserved in its original wrappers.

First edition illustrated with wood engravings in the text by Gavarni, Daumier, D'Aubigny...
Bradel binding in full beige percaline, smooth spine with a black paper label, front cover decorated with an oil painting after the frontispiece, signed lower right "A. Dangleterre d'après document d'époque". Headcaps and joints skillfully restored.
A rare publication on Paris under Louis-Philippe. The work proceeds by subjects and articles: the wet-nurses’ office, flower sellers, baths, streetlamps, pavements, theatre outings, beards and moustaches, the Luxembourg Gardens, the Opera Ball, the auctioneers’ hall, lorettes and courtesans (Alexandre Dumas), restaurants and cheap eateries, the pawnshop, Monographie de la presse parisienne (Balzac), Jockey Club, etc.
"A very important work, remarkable for the fine gathering of writers and artists of the Romantic period who contributed to it." Carteret (Le trésor du bibliophile romantique et moderne).

Autograph letter signed by George Sand, addressed to her friend Stéphanie Bourjot, daughter of Étienne Geoffroy-Saint-Hilaire. Four pages written in blue ink on a folded bifolium bearing George Sand’s monogram. Fold marks as usual.
 
This letter was partially published in Correspondance, vol. XIV, no. 7846.
A beautiful and partly unpublished letter in which George Sand discusses Marie Pape-Carpantier’s book and the education of her young maid, Marie Caillaud : « It is an excellent book, which I use to teach my young maid to read. She is extraordinarily intelligent, and this book opens her mind to all sorts of sound ideas. Educating this 18-year-old child—who, six months ago, was only two in terms of knowledge—has been a unique experience. She now seems her age, yet retains all the innocence of childhood. So every evening, we read Marie Carpentier’s little stories, and I enjoy them just as much as my pupil does. »
 
Marie Caillaud was only eleven years old when George Sand hired her to wash dishes and tend to the chicken coop, a task that earned her the nickname “Marie des poules.” But the writer soon recognized the young peasant girl’s intelligence, appointed her as housekeeper, and by 1856 included her in the performances of the Nohant theatre. Her education is first mentioned in early 1858, notably in a letter from George Sand to her friend Charles Duvernet: « During my winter evenings, I took on the education of little Marie, the one who acted with us. From a dish washer, I immediately raised her to the rank of housekeeper, a role for which her excellent mind makes her perfectly suited. The greatest obstacle was that she couldn't read. That obstacle no longer exists. In thirty half-hour lessons—fifteen hours in a month—she mastered all the difficulties of the language slowly but perfectly. This miracle is due to the admirable Laffore method, which I applied with the utmost gentleness to a perfectly lucid mind. » (16 February 1858)
 
Marie Caillaud would go on to become a notable actress at Nohant and move in the circles of George Sand’s illustrious guests: Delacroix, Gautier, Dumas, Prince Jérôme Bonaparte…
But Marie was not George Sand’s first pupil. All her life, Sand was deeply interested in pedagogy and taught not only her children and grandchildren, but also members of her household staff and local peasants.
 
This letter is a remarkable testament to her hands-on approach as a teacher, always seeking new and effective ways to impart knowledge : « What is lacking—or at least what I haven’t found—is a true reading method. I’ve devised one for my own use (never written down), based on Laffore’s and adapted to my own ideas. But what I haven’t found in primers for children or public school manuals is a well-crafted exercise book that teaches reading logically while also making sense of spelling. Does such a book exist? » Far from a casual activity, education was central to George Sand’s worldview. As Georges Lubin noted, her aim was not merely to teach literacy. Taught to write by her own mother at the age of five, Sand understood from an early age that the only path to equality lay through intellectual emancipation: « She understood very early on that the only road to equality was intellectual emancipation. The ignorance imposed upon women was the root of their servitude. The ignorance imposed upon the working classes underpinned class inequality. Education was the key to opening locked doors. » (« George Sand et l'éducation » in Nineteenth-Century French Studies, 1976)

A beautiful and important testimony to George Sand’s tireless struggle for the emancipation of women through education.

First edition published in the author’s collected works.
Some occasional foxing.
Half black morocco shagreen binding, smooth spine decorated with triple blind fillets and gilt fleurons, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, contemporary binding.
Signed autograph inscription by George Sand : "to my friend Charles Fournier."
Handwritten note by George Sand beneath the title on the title page: "suite de Flamarande" published the same year and by the same publisher as "Les deux Frères".
 

"Tu me dis : Aime l'art, il vaut mieux que l'amour
[...]
Et moi. je te réponds : La langue du poête
Ne rend du sentiment que l'image incomplète" ["You tell me: Love art, it is better than love [...] And I answer you: The poet's language renders only an incomplete image of feeling"].

"Des maîtres les plus grands les œuvres les plus belles,
Auprès du beau vivant, compare, que sont-elles ?" ["The most beautiful works of the greatest masters, compared to living beauty, what are they?"]

Tu me dis : Aime l'art, il vaut mieux que l'amour ;
Tout sentiment s'altère et doit périr un jour !
Pour que le cœur devienne une immortelle chose,
Il faut qu'en poésie il se métamorphose,
Et que chaque pensée en sorte incessamment,
En parant sa beauté d'un divin vêtement.
Sentir, c'est aspirer!... c'est encor la souffrance ;
Mais créer, c'est jouir, ! c'est prouver sa puissance ;
C'est faire triompher de la mort, de l'oubli,
Toutes les passions dont l'âme a tressailli!
Et moi. je te réponds : La langue du poête
Ne rend du sentiment que l'image incomplète ;
Concevoir le désir, goûter la passion,
Nous fait dédaigner l'art et sa création ;
Formuler les pensers dont notre esprit s'enivre,
Ce n'est que simuler la vie : aimer, c'est vivre ; !
C'est incarner le rêve, et sentir les transports
Dont l'art ne peut donner que des emblèmes morts !
Des maîtres les plus grands les œuvres les plus belles,
Auprès du beau vivant, compare, que sont-elles?
Corrége et le Poussin, Titien et Raphaël,
Rubens, dont la palette est prise à l'arc-en-ciel,
Éblouissant nos yeux, ont groupé sur leurs toiles
Des visages divins et de beaux corps sans voiles !
Mais hier, quand soudain à nos regards charmés
Ces tableaux immortels se trouvaient animés,
Lorsqu'au lieu de la chair que la couleur imite,
Nous avons admiré cette chair qui palpite,
Où le sang, à travers l'épiderme soyeux,
Circule en répandant des reflets lumineux ;
Lorsque nous avons vu d'exquises créatures,
Dont les beaux torses nus, les bras aux lignes pures,
Le sein ferme et mouvant, le visage inspiré,
Faisaient vivre à nos yeux quelque groupe sacré,
Oh ! n'as-tu pas senti quelle impuissante envie
C'est de vouloir dans l'art inoculer la vie
Et ne t'es-tu pas dit, du réel t'enivrant :
La beauté seule est belle, et l'amour seul est grand !

Edition with some parts in first edition.

Half green straight-grained morocco with corners, smooth spines faded and decorated with gilt romantic arabesques, gilt friezes at head and foot, almond paper boards, covers and spine preserved, top edges gilt, handsome pastiche romantic bindings.

The Poésies nouvelles and the Oeuvres posthumes are here in first edition, and the Comédies et proverbes in edition with some parts in first edition.
This set comprises: "Oeuvres posthumes" (2 volumes), "Poésies nouvelles" (3 volumes), "Poésies complètes", "Mélanges de littérature & de critique", "Contes", "Comédies et proverbes" (2 volumes).
Some light foxing of no consequence.

Handsome set in uniform pastiche romantic binding.

Rare first edition of Hector Berlioz's first book.
Some restorations to the top spine-end, volume label on the spine of the second volume not fully visible, boards strengthened or lined (first board of the first volume), some stains on the first boards of both volumes.
Fine condition inside almost without any foxing.
Our copy is housed in green half shagreen chemises and slipcases, marbled paper boards, slipcases lined with the same shagreen, gilt titles and dates on the spine.
Rare.

New edition.
Contemporary binding in half green shagreen, spine in four compartments set with gilt stippling, gilt fillets and gilt fleurons in the corner pieces, multiple blind tooled frames on the boards, white iridescent paper endpapers, all edges gilt.
Some leaves shorter in the bottom margin.

Handwritten inscription signed by George Sand on the first endpaper: “à mon bon ami Edmond Plauchut. G. Sand".

Today the only outsider to the family buried in the cemetery of the Nohant house, is Lucien-Joseph-Edmond Plau
chut (1824-1909) who began an epistolary relationship with George Sand in the autumn of 1848 when he was a voluntary expatriate after the fall of the Republic. Leaving for Singapore, he was shipwrecked off the coast of the Cape Verde Islands and was able to save only one cassette containing Sand's letters that he had preciously bound. These missives were his salvation: they allowed him to be collected, fed and laundered by a rich Portuguese admirer of the Lady of Nohant, Francisco Cardozzo de Mello.

After several journeys toward the Far East, and several exotic presents sent to his distant and yet so close friend, Plauchut finally met George Sand in
1861. In 1870, she paid a vibrant tribute to him in the preface of her novel Malgrétout.

Despite everything, she recounts the shipwreck of which he was a victim and expresses with emotion her friendship for this courageous friend. Plauchut, much loved by the Sand family – and particularly George's granddaughters who nicknamed him Uncle Plauchemar – was an integral part until his death in January 1909.

The handwritten signed inscriptions on La Mare au Diable are very rare, this one is from a superb provenance.

Long autograph letter by Stendhal, addressed to his sister Pauline, written in fine handwriting with black ink.
Address of Stendhal's father, where his sister resides, in Grenoble, with the stamp "n°51 Grande Armée." Red wax seal bearing Stendhal's coat of arms.
Several original folds, inherent to postal delivery. A paper loss due to the unsealing of the letter has been skillfully restored.
A very beautiful letter, filled with romantic passion, blending childhood nostalgia with sentimental tales, and foreshadowing The Red and the Black.

First edition, one of 12 numbered copies on Hollande, the only deluxe issue. 

Complete with the folding map at the end.

Full fawn morocco binding, five raised band spine, date at foot, comb-marbled paper pastedowns framed with a rich gilt roll, comb-marbled endpapers, gilt fillet to headcap, gilt fillet to leading edges, gilt roll to headcaps, original wrappers and spine preserved, all gilt deckled edges, housed in a fawn morocco-edged slipcase. Binding signed by Semet & Plumelle. 

Provenance: From the libraries of Dr André Chauveau, Lucius Wilmerding, and RBL, with their bookplates affixed.

A splendid deluxe copy of exceptional rarity. 

First edition, very rare (cf. Lorenz XII, 926).

Half caramel calf with corners, spine with four raised bands ruled in black, brown shagreen lettering-piece, restored original wrappers and spine bound in, modern binding.

Loss of paper to the upper right corner of the half-title, some passages underlined in pencil, pp. 399-400 detached with loss of text.

An important work: one of the most comprehensive studies on Toussaint Louverture and the revolution in Saint-Domingue.

This was his final work, published on the occasion of the centenary of the French Revolution. It recounts, in particular, the events following the slave rebellion in Saint-Domingue in August 1791, the abolition of slavery in the colony in August–September 1793, the Convention’s decree of emancipation on 16 Pluviôse Year II (4 February 1794), and the protracted war waged by the French troops—dispatched by Napoleon Bonaparte to the colony in December 1801—against the newly freed slaves, ending with the French defeat in November 1803 and the proclamation of independence.

Autograph letter from George Sand to Gustave Flaubert dated December 21, 1867, 8 pages on two lined leaves. Published in Sand's Correspondance, XX, pp. 642-645.
From one of the finest literary correspondences of the century, this letter written on Christmas Eve 1867 is a sublime testament to the frank friendship between George Sand, the “old troubadour”, and Gustave Flaubert, christened “cul de plomb” [leaden ass] after declining his invitation to Nohant to complete L'Éducation sentimentale.

Despite their seventeen year-age gap, opposing temperaments and divergent outlooks on life, the reader is gripped by the tenderness and astonishing verve of George Sand's long confession to Flaubert. At the height of her literary fame and enjoying her theater in Nohant, Sand talks at length about politics, their separation, their conception of the writer's work, and life itself.

In this “stream-of-consciousness” letter, Sand naturally and freely sets down on paper eight pages of conversations with Flaubert who made only too rare and brief appearances in Nohant: “But how I chat with you! Do you find all this amusing? I'd like a letter to replace one of our suppers, which I too miss, and which would be so good here with you, if you weren't a cul de plomb [leaden ass] who won't let yourself be dragged along, to life for life's sake”, whereas Flaubert's motto, then busy writing L'Éducation sentimentale, was rather art for art's sake. In the end of 1867, Sand grieved the death of an “almost brother”, François Rollinat, which Sand appeased with letters to Flaubert and lively evenings at Nohant: “This is how I've been living for the last 15 days since I stopped working [...] Ah'! [...] Ah! when you're on vacation, work, logic and reason seem like strange swings.” Sand was quick to criticize him for working tirelessly in his robe, “the enemy of freedom”, while she was running up and down mountains and valleys, from Cannes to Normandy, even to Flaubert's own home, which she had visited in September. On this occasion, Sand had happily reread Salammbô, where she picked up a few lines for her latest novel, Mademoiselle Merquem.

Their literary and virile friendship, similar to Rollinat's, defied the old guard of literati who declared the existence of a “sincere affair” between man and woman utterly impossible. Sand, who has been described in turn as a lesbian, a nymphomaniac, and made famous for her resounding and varied love affairs, began a long and intense correspondence with Flaubert, for whom she was a mother and an old friend. She called herself in their letters “old troubadour” or “old horse” and no longer even considered herself a woman, but a quasi-man, recalling her youthful cross-dressing and formidable contempt for gender norms. To Flaubert had compared the female writers as Amazons denying their femininity: “To better shoot with the bow, they crushed their nipples”, Sand replied in this letter: “I don't share your idea that you have to do away with the breast to shoot with the bow. I have a completely opposite belief for my own use, which I think is good for many others, probably for the majority”. A warrior, yes, but a peaceful warrior, Sand willingly adopted the customs of a world of misogynistic intellectuals, while remaining true to herself: “I believe that the artist should live in one's nature as much as possible. To the man who loves struggle, war; to the man who loves women, love; to the old man who, like me, loves nature, travel and flowers, rocks, great landscapes, children too, family, everything that moves, everything that fights moral anemia,” she then adds. A fine evocation of her “green period”, this passage marks the time of Sand's country novels, when, mellowed by the years, she gave herself over entirely to contemplation to write François le Champi, La Mare au diable and La Petite Fadette. But her love of nature didn't stop her from conquering language over men, even though at 63 she was still “scandalizing the inscandalizable”, according to the Goncourt brothers.

Faithful to her socialist ideals, she openly criticizes Adolphe Thiers in the letter: “Étroniforme [shithead] is the sublime word that classifies this species of merdoïde [shitty] vegetation [...] Yes, you'll do well to dissect this balloon-like soul and this cobweb-like talent!” As the leader of the liberal opposition to Napoleon III, Thiers had just delivered a speech in defense of the Papal States, turning his back on Garibaldi, future father of unified Italy. Everyone in Sand's home of Nohant had had a good laugh at Flaubert's logorrhea, sent three days earlier: “Let us roar against Monsieur Thiers! Can one see a more triumphant imbecile, a more abject scoundrel, a more etroniform [shit-like] bourgeois!” he wrote. Sand echoed his sentiments: “Maurice [Sand] finds your letter so beautiful [...] He won't forget étroniforme, which charms him, étronoïde, étronifère”. Against this backdrop of intense political debates, Sand also warned Flaubert, who risked jeopardizing his novel by including his criticism of Thiers in L'Éducation sentimentale: “Unfortunately when your book arrives, [Thiers] may be over and not very dangerous, for such men leave nothing behind. But perhaps he will also be in power. You can expect anything. Then the lesson will be a good one.”

Their shared socialist and anti-clericalist opinions did not prevent them from holding widely divergent views on the essence of the novel and the work of the writer: “the artist is an instrument which everything must play before it plays others. But all this is perhaps not applicable to a mind of your kind, which has acquired a great deal and only has to digest". Flaubert's detachment, his open cynicism for his characters, like a Madame Bovary harshly judged by the narrator, differed sharply from Sand's emotional and personal relationship to writing. Flaubert's almost schizophrenic attitude readily confused her and made her fear for her sanity: “I would insist on only one point, and that is that physical being is necessary to moral being, and that I fear for you one day or another a deterioration of health that would force you to suspend your work and let it cool down.” Flaubert never betrays or reveals himself through his novels, unlike Sand, who throws herself body and soul into her writing: “I believe that art needs a palette always overflowing with soft or violent tones, depending on the subject of the painting”.

While Flaubert, hard-working and full of literary anxieties, was secluded in Croisset, Sand enjoyed her freedom at Nohant, a place of family bliss but also of egalitarian living, where she “[had] fun to the point of exhaustion”. She willingly swapped tête-à-tête sessions with the inkwell for her little theater in Nohant: “These plays last until 2 a.m. and we're crazy when we get out. We eat until 5 am. There are performances twice a week, and the rest of the time, we do stuff, and the play (which) goes on with the same characters, going through the most unheard-of adventures. The audience consists of 8 or 10 young people, my three grand-nephews and the sons of my old friends. They're passionate to the point of screaming”. Persevering, she once again urged her “leaden ass” Flaubert to come out of his voluntary confinement: “I'm sure you'd have a wonderful time too, for there's a splendid verve and carelessness in these improvisations, and the characters sculpted by Maurice seem to be alive, with a burlesque life, at once real and impossible; it's like a dream.” Two years later, Flaubert would make a sensational entrance at Nohant, and Sand would leave “aching” after days of partying. During his memorable stay at Sand's he read his Saint-Antoine aloud in its entirety and danced the cachucha dressed as a woman!

Exceptional pages of George Sand in spiritual communion with her illustrious colleague; Flaubert was one of the few to whom she spoke so freely, crudely, but tenderly, sealing in words her deep friendship with the “great artist [...] among the few who are men” (letter to Armand Barbès, 12 October 1867).

Our letter is housed in a half-black morocco folder, with marbled paper boards, facing pastedown in black lambskin felt, Plexiglas protecting the letter, black morocco-lined slipcase, marbled paper boards, signed P. Goy & C. Vilaine.

Rare first edition.
Signed autograph inscription by Alexandre Dumas on the half-title, the only leaf left untrimmed by the binder so as to preserve the full dedication.
Several political texts are bound together with it: L'indépendance de la magistrature - Affaire Séguier; Articles publiés dans le journal La Presse et lettres diverses by Emile Ollivier; L'Empire parlementaire est-il possible by Gustave Chaudey; Les décrets du 22 janvier 1852 by M. Reverchon; Défense du droit de propriété by M. Degouve Denuncques; Qu'est-ce donc que la commune?
Half red shagreen binding, smooth spine tooled with gilt fillets, dotted lines, rolls and fleurons, broad black fillets, marbled paper boards, edges rubbed, contemporary binding.

First edition.

Black half morocco binding, spine with four raised bands adorned with gilt dotted fillets and double gilt compartments decorated at the corners, gilt date and the inscription "Ex. de J. Drouet" at the tail, marbled paper boards and endpapers, preserved covers and spine, top edge gilt, binding signed by René Aussourd.
Some minor foxing, mainly at the beginning and end of the volume.

Precious signed and inscribed copy by Victor Hugo to Juliette Drouet, the great love of his life: ‘To you, my lady. Humble homage. V.'

This copy comes from the library of Pierre Duché, who acquired Juliette Drouet's entire library and commissioned René Aussourd to bind the volumes uniformly, marking each with an identifying inscription at the foot of the spine.

Bookplates pasted on a pastedown and a flyleaf.
In late 1878, after more than forty years together, Victor Hugo and Juliette Drouet finally moved in together at Avenue d'Eylau, in the small town house where the poet would spend his final years. "From that moment on, Juliette's life became little more than an unbroken sorrow, a servitude of every hour. She herself suffered from stomach cancer, knowing she was condemned—to die of hunger!" (Louis Guimbaud, Victor Hugo et Juliette Drouet, Paris, 1927). Despite her illness and severe physical weakness, she remained devotedly at Hugo's side as his caregiver. It was during this time that Bastien Lepage painted a strikingly realistic portrait of her: "From her goddess-like face, once serene and noble, the relentless illness had made a frail human visage, drawn and hollowed, furrowed with wrinkles—each one telling a story of pain." (ibid.)

Religions et religions was published two years before Juliette's death; is was one of the last books Hugo dedicated to the unwavering love of his life. In a final tribute to her lifelong devotion, he later offered her a photograph inscribed: "Fifty years—that is the most beautiful marriage."

Copy from the most intimate source.

Edition illustrated with 16 original watercolours by Auguste Leroux, engraved on copper by Delzers and Feltesse, one of 90 numbered copies on Imperial Japan paper.
Bound in navy blue half morocco with corners, spine with four raised bands decorated with gilt pointillé and triple gilt panels with typographic motifs, gilt date at foot, gilt fillet borders on marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, original wrappers and spine preserved, gilt edges, contemporary binding signed by Bernasconi. 
As stated in the justification of the print run for the copies on Imperial Japan paper, our copy is complete with its two suites: one in colour with remarques and the other in colour.
In addition, our copy is exceptionally enriched with 2 original drawings by Auguste Leroux, one heightened with watercolour, signed with his initials and placed at the beginning of the volume, just after the justification of the print run. 
A fine copy, perfectly bound and enriched with two original drawings.

First and only edition of this beautiful album, illustrated with a double-page map and 12 mounted plates after drawings by the author, including 11 aquatints offering spectacular views of the island.

The half-title page bears the following title: Voyage pittoresque aux îles Hébrides.

Some occasional spotting, otherwise a pleasing copy of this album.

Contemporary full purple shagreen binding, spine with four raised bands, compartments decorated with blind-ruled panels, minor rubbing to spine, covers framed with double blind fillets and scrollwork, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt dentelle border on pastedowns, gilt dots along the edges, all edges gilt. Half-title: Voyage pittoresque aux îles Hébrides, title, 32 pp., a double-page map and 12 mounted plates after drawings by the author, including 11 aquatints depicting striking island views.

Publisher Charles-Louis-Fleury Panckoucke (1780–1844), son of the renowned Charles-Joseph, recounts a journey to the islands of Skye, Iona, and Staffa from Glasgow, with particular emphasis on the latter. Staffa is famed for its basalt cave, known as "Fingal's Cave" in homage to Ossian and his pseudo-Gaelic creations, which in the 19th century drew numerous writers and artists enchanted by the wild majesty of its interior.

First edition of this beautifully lithographed album after various artists, alternating picturesque views with architectural details. (Not listed in the Ornamentstischsammlung catalogue, Berlin.)

This splendid album contains 51 lithographed plates outside the text, our copy with two additional duplicate plates bound in.

Contemporary binding in half black morocco, smooth spine decorated with gilt typographic motifs, original black moiré paper boards with gilt title on upper cover preserved, original delivery wrappers bound in, corners rubbed, some marginal tears and wear to board edges, modern binding.

Some occasional foxing.

First edition.

Contemporary Romantic bindings in half green Empire calf, flat spines slightly faded, richly gilt with Romantic decorative motifs, marbled paper-covered boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns; Romantic period bindings.

A few light spots of foxing; a discolouration mark on a blank endpaper of the first volume.

For the first three volumes, first edition, complete with all 84 parts published between February 1842 and October 1843 of this "admirable publication printed on thick vellum paper [...] one of the finest of the 19th century, justly esteemed and comparable to the beautifully illustrated books of the 18th century" (Carteret), (see Carteret III, 143–153; Vicaire II, 234–248).

The first three volumes are bound in full violet morocco, spines with five raised bands bordered with gilt pointillé tooling, compartments richly gilt with double gilt frames, gilt rolls on caps, covers framed with quintuple gilt fillets, gilt monogram MG at the corners, comb-marbled endpapers and pastedowns framed in gilt dentelle, double gilt fillets on board edges, all edges gilt. Splendid bindings signed by Dunezat, active between 1870 and 1895.

Illustrated by Charles François Daubigny, Ernest Meissonier, Anthelme Trimolet, Adolphe Steinheil, Gustave Staal, Emy, Louis-Léopold Boilly, Charles Edouard de Beaumont, among others.

Texts by Marc-Antoine Desaugiers, Fabre d'Églantine, Pierre-Jean Béranger, André Chénier, Florian, Sedaine, Constance de Salm, Jean-Joseph Vadé, etc., set to music by various composers, including André Grétry, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Étienne Nicolas Méhul, and François-Adrien Boieldieu.

The complete collation is as follows: 1) 5 preliminary leaves (half-title, engraved title-frontispiece, list of songs, introduction by Delloye) and 28 parts of 4 unnumbered leaves each (28 songs, each including a 2-page note, 4 pages of text with illustrations, and 2 pages of music—i.e., 4 unnumbered leaves per song); 2) 5 preliminary leaves and 27 parts of 4 unnumbered leaves each, except for La Parodie de la Vestale, which includes 10 unnumbered leaves; 3) 5 preliminary leaves and 28 parts; 4) 2 unnumbered leaves, engraved frontispiece, xxiv and 224 pages.

The general series wrappers were not bound in this copy, which shows several first-issue points.

Enclosed: bound in violet half morocco with corners, Chansons populaires des provinces de France. Notices by Champfleury. Piano accompaniment by J. B. Wekerlin. Paris, Lécrivain et Toubon, booksellers, 1860, 2 unnumbered leaves, engraved frontispiece, xxiv and 224 pp.

Binding in violet half morocco with corners, spine with five raised bands bordered with gilt pointillé tooling, richly gilt compartments framed in double gilt fillets, marbled paper-covered boards, comb-marbled endpapers and pastedowns, a few scuffs to board edges and extremities, all edges gilt, an elegant unsigned binding likely attributable to Dunezat, active between 1870 and 1895.

A very handsome set, perfectly bound.

First edition, one of 50 copies numbered on pure white rag paper, deluxe printing.

Binding in red half-shagreen with corners, spine with five raised bands framed by black fillets, some small rubbing on a few of the bands, date in gilt at the tail, framed by black fillets on the boards of speckled paper, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, covers and spine preserved, top edge gilt on witnesses.

Illustrated with 60 heliogravure plates hors-texte.

Pleasant copy despite minor marginal spots of little significance on the endpapers.

Our copy is enriched with an autograph note dated June 1929 and signed by Pierre Abraham, mounted on tab, thanking Joseph Gabalda, then president of the Balzacian Circle, for his active contribution to the realization of this work.

The work also contains another autograph note, dated and signed by the author, mounted on tab, addressed to the same person, discussing the iconographic documents used to illustrate the book.

He promises him, in return for his investment, a copy from the deluxe printing.

Belgian printing that followed the 1836 edition described in Vicaire IV, 259-60.

The preliminary note reproduces the introductory text from December 1832 announcing the inclusion of the three chapters missing from the original 1831 edition.

The half-title pages of the three volumes were not preserved by the binder.

A few occasional spots, otherwise a pleasant copy, attractively bound in contemporary Romantic style.

Contemporary Romantic bindings in burgundy long-grain half morocco over marbled boards, smooth spines decorated with gilt Romantic arabesques, spines very slightly faded with minor, unobtrusive rubbing, double gilt fillet frames on the marbled paper boards, orange endpapers and pastedowns, sprinkled edges, three corners slightly bumped.

Provenance: copy of Humphrey Saint John-Mildmay (1794–1853), son-in-law and associate of Alexander Baring, later a director of the Bank of England, with his engraved bookplates mounted on the pastedowns.

Rare first edition, as referenced by Clouzot (see Guide du bibliophile français XIX^e siècle, p. 256).

A few insignificant spots of foxing, a small black ink stain at the bottom of pages 354–355. Complete with the errata leaf at the end of the volume.

Caramel half calf binding, spine with five raised bands ruled with gilt dotted lines and decorated with gilt and black tools, gilt fillets at head and foot of spine. Minor rubbing to the spine. Brown morocco title label. Marbled paper-covered boards framed with blind-stamped vertical rolls, endpapers and pastedowns in cat’s-eye paper, all edges gilt. Roman bookseller’s label at the top of a pastedown. Period-style binding signed in blind by Durvand.

Rare and important work (cf. Carteret), notable for being the first to bear Stendhal’s pseudonym on the title page.

New illustrated edition, one of 35 copies printed on chamois vellum, deluxe issue following 25 copies on China paper.

Contemporary Bradel bindings in half Bordeaux morocco with marbled paper boards, smooth spines, corners in morocco, comb-marbled endpapers and pastedowns, original wrappers bound in. Binding signed by Carayon.

This 1882 edition is a reissue of the 1844 edition illustrated by Charles François Daubigny, Valentin Foulquier, Thoedor Josef Hoffbauer, Victor Hugo, Tony Johannot, Aimé de Lemud, Ernest Meissonier, Célestin Nanteuil, Camille Roqueplan, Louis Henri de Rudder and Louis Steinheil...

Complete with the double-page map of Paris inserted between pages 178 and 179 of the first volume.

A very handsome copy of Victor Hugo’s masterpiece, attractively bound by Carayon.

Rare and highly sought-after first edition.
Contemporary binding in black half shagreen, flat spines richly decorated with gilt ornamental rolls, discreet and skilful restoration to the foot of one joint, black paper-covered boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, sprinkled edges. Discreet restoration to the lower hinge of the first volume.
Exceptionally clean copy, virtually free of foxing (a rarity according to Clouzot, who notes that most copies are usually heavily spotted).
Provenance: from the libraries of Saint-Germain (with printed crowned bookplate beneath the titles on the half-titles); Count de Bonvouloir (with his printed bookplate, Château de Magny in Calvados, above the title on the half-title of the second volume and above the next bookplate on an endpaper of the first volume); Charles-Albert Gigault de Crisonoy de Lyonne, with his bookplate mounted on a pastedown and endpaper; and more recently Max Brun, with his bookplate mounted on the front pastedown of the first volume.
Shelving labels mounted at the top of the rear pastedowns, minor losses to white paper and some corner stains on the endpapers.
A rare copy preserved in a strictly contemporary binding.

Autograph letter signed to a friend named Alfred, 18 lines in black ink on a bifolium, in which the author urges him to help find employment for his brother, applying insistent pressure on his correspondent.

"Mon cher Alfred,
vous avez été excellent pour mon frère ... Il faut absolument qu'on le place. il est père de famille et sans emploi depuis un an. - Il y a 20 places qui auraient encore plus besoin de lui qu'il n'a besoin d'elles. Demandez formellement à votre illustre père un appui efficace et immédiat - pour un homme capable ... Votre père sera heureux de trouver une occasion de rendre service en rendant justice où je ne le connais pas. Tout à vous. Alph. Karr."

First edition, untrimmed with wide margins, very rare and highly sought-after (see Clouzot, "Le manuel du bibliophile français", p. 257).

Some occasional foxing.

Illustrated on the title pages of both volumes with two engraved vignettes by Porrêt. This copy contains the publisher’s notice leaf in the first volume and the author’s note leaf in the second volume.

Contemporary red half calf over marbled boards, calf corners, spines ruled in gilt with double gilt panels decorated with typographic gilt tooling, black calf title and volume labels, some minor rubbing to joints, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, lower corners a bit worn, bookplate pasted on the front pastedown of volume one, contemporary bindings.

A very rare and desirable copy, entirely untrimmed and preserved in a handsome contemporary binding - an even rarer feature. As noted by Clouzot: "les reliures de l'époque sont le plus souvent assez simples. Donc ne pas se montrer difficile sur la qualité."  ['Contemporary bindings are most often rather plain; one should not be overly particular regarding their quality.']

First edition of this theatre programme for Jean-Paul Sartre's adaptation of Alexandre Dumas's Kean, staged at the Théâtre Marigny in 1988, directed by Robert Hossein and starring Jean-Paul Belmondo in the title role.

A fine copy. Illustrated throughout.

Boldly signed by Jean-Paul Belmondo in black felt-tip pen on the cover.

Autograph letter signed by Roger de Beauvoir. One page in black ink on a bifolium of blue paper.
Discrete folds inherent to the mailing.
The writer and chronicler is preparing his Mémoires de Mademoiselle Mars, the immense actress who counted among his intimates. In this letter he invites his correspondent to go to the actress's residence with Alexandre Dumas to study her correspondence.

"Mon cher ami,
Hier soir à cinq heures j'ai appris une nouvelle si triste qu'elle a influé subitement sur ma santé ; j'ai combattu vainement cette impression, on m'a tant tourné le sang que je viens d'appeler un médecin. Il m'a fait une ordonnant indiquant 3 mois de régime, excusez du peu ! [...] Soyez donc allez bon vous deux Dumas pour venir demain relever dans les lettres de Melle Mars ce qui sera utile [...] " (My dear friend,
Yesterday evening at five o'clock I learned such sad news that it suddenly affected my health; I fought this impression in vain, my blood has been so disturbed that I have just called a doctor. He has given me a prescription indicating 3 months of regimen, excuse me for so little! [...] So please be so good you two Dumas to come tomorrow to extract from Mademoiselle Mars's letters what will be useful [...])

First edition.

Full celadon blue morocco binding, later (ca 1920). Smooth spine decorated with mirror-tooled ornaments at tail and head connected by fillets. Fillet frame on boards. Top edge gilt. Covers and spine preserved. Uncut copy. Scattered pale foxing. 

Handsome copy in full morocco.

Last flame of late romanticism, Dominique is a sentimental novel, imbued with profound melancholy, largely inspired by autobiographical events and narrating the story of an impossible love. It is the only novel by this celebrated painter, and remains one of the great works of 19th-century French literature.

First edition, "very rare and extremely sought-after" (Clouzot), one of 750 copies on laid paper, with title vignettes engraved by Henri Porret after Henry Monnier.

Skilful restoration of a tear at the foot of a page, with slight damage to a letter. A rare copy with no foxing.

Green half calf binding, smooth spines with arabesques stamped in gilt, black title labels and volume labels; marbled paper boards, spine boards and endpapers, speckled edges, later bindings in the Romantic style.

Autograph note by François René de Chateaubriand, 12 lines in black ink on a bifolium, addressed to Madame Amédée de Duras, rejoicing in her improved health.
A tear with loss, due to the seal having been broken to facilitate reading the note.
"Mde de CH[ateaubriand]. me dit de vous répondre: si je meurs, madame, ce sera à vos pieds le matin. Non pas à midi, mais à trois heures et demie. Je me porte à merveille chez ma soeur. Que cela ne soit pas vous, mais mde de Lévis qui m'ait vu perdre ma longue barbe er mon mouchoir turc. Ne venez pas, vous ne devriez pas venir. Mde de Ch[ateaubriand] est inconsolable... "

Autograph letter most probably unpublished signed addressed by Juliette Drouet to her lover Victor Hugo, four pages written in black ink on a bifolium. 
Transverse folds inherent to mailing, fold joining the two leaves reinforced with a fine strip of pasted paper barely perceptible.
Absent from the very complete online edition of Juliette Drouet's letters to Hugo by the Centre d'Études et de Recherche Éditer/Interpréter (University of Rouen-Normandy).
Very beautiful declaration of love and admiration by Juliette Drouet, the day after Hugo's plea defending his son. Charles Hugo had been brought before the assizes, and condemned despite his father's intervention, for having valiantly castigated the execution of Claude Montcharmont.
Hugo's great love addresses this letter in troubled times, where father and son find themselves at the forefront of the scene for their abolitionist positions. Scandalized by the execution of Montcharmont, a 29-year-old poacher from Morvan, Charles Hugo publishes an article in l'Événement which earns him a trial for contempt of respect due to the laws: the Second Republic already exists only in name, and the press is subject to frequent attacks, further aggravated here by the notoriety of the Hugos. Victor wants to defend his son and delivers a plea that remains famous: "Mon fils, tu reçois aujourd'hui un grand honneur, tu as été jugé digne de combattre, de souffrir peut-être, pour la sainte cause de la vérité. A dater d'aujourd'hui, tu entres dans la véritable vie virile de notre temps, c'est-à-dire dans la lutte pour le juste et pour le vrai. Sois fier, toi qui n'est qu'un simple soldat de l'idée humaine et démocratique, tu es assis sur ce banc où s'est assis Béranger, où s'est assis Lamennais !" (My son, you receive today a great honor, you have been judged worthy to fight, perhaps to suffer, for the holy cause of truth. From today, you enter into the true virile life of our time, that is to say into the struggle for the just and the true. Be proud, you who are but a simple soldier of the human and democratic idea, you are seated on this bench where Béranger sat, where Lamennais sat!)
Despite Hugo's historic intervention, Charles is condemned to six months in prison and 50 francs fine - a decision that Juliette bitterly castigates, overwhelmed by anguish at the outcome of the trial: "J'ai beau savoir que cet arrêt inique est non seulement supporté avec courage par vous tous, mais accepté avec orgueil et avec joie par le plus directement intéressé dans cette malheureuse condamnation, la fatigue et l'inquiétude que j'ai éprouvé pendant toute cette interminable journée d'hier m'a laissée une douloureuse courbature physique et morale" (However much I know that this iniquitous verdict is not only borne with courage by all of you, but accepted with pride and joy by the one most directly concerned in this unfortunate condemnation, the fatigue and anxiety I experienced during all that interminable day yesterday has left me with a painful physical and moral ache). 


12 juin jeudi matin 7h

Autograph letter signed by the painter Eugène Delacroix to his friend Baron Félix Feuillet de Conches, master of protocol at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs under Charles X and Louis-Philippe. One page in black ink on a folded sheet, with the autograph address on the verso. Traces of seal and postal stamps dated October 7.

The painter writes to his friend Feuillet de Conches, a distinguished man of letters whose works were well received, and who also amassed an elegant collection of art and autographs in his apartment on the rue Neuve-des-Mathurins, the address of this very letter.

A charming and witty missive, in which Delacroix expresses his enchantment with country life, far removed from the bustle of Paris.

"From the summer of 1844, Eugène Delacroix settled at Champrosay, on the edge of the Sénart forest near Paris. There, he recorded in his journal the impressions inspired by his regular walks through the countryside. He produced numerous sketches, later reworked into his large compositions, as well as more ambitious landscapes that reveal how, in his mature and later years, the observation of nature — now contemplated for its own sake — had become central to his art." (MuMa)

"I reply to you late, dear Feuillet, but you will forgive me: I promise you a Gros, very happy to add it to the collection. I pity you for living far from the fields. If we were still in the time of Ovid’s Metamorphoses, I might believe myself in danger of one day being turned into a tree. I am mad about these innocent and beautiful trees, while human nature, on the other hand, loses each day in my esteem. I except, of course, friends like you and the few who retain a little reason.
I embrace you while awaiting this winter
Eug. Delacroix."

"Les rentes majorées émises ont du être payées le 10 janvier Monsieur. Etant prêt à partir la semaine prochaine, je désire savoir si je puis disposer chez vous de la petite somme résultant de deux semestres que vous avez dû recevoir pour moi."

Benjamin Constant writes this missive during a period of his life marked by amorous and financial turmoil, requesting from his banker annuities owed to him. He still divides his time between his wife, Charlotte Hardenberg, whom he secretly married in 1808, and his longtime mistress, the writer Germaine de Staël. Constant was then constantly traveling and accumulating gambling debts. In this letter, he is "prêt à partir la semaine prochaine" (ready to leave next week) to visit Madame de Staël to discuss delicate money matters at her château de Coppet in Switzerland, where all of European intelligentsia then gathered.
Precious Constantian relic from the writer in full turmoil, torn between conjugal happiness and intellectual complicity with the great Germaine de Staël.

Mon cher Buloz, voici la lettre à M. Lerminier n'y changez rien. Relisez-en vous même et vous seul l'épreuve. Corrigez les fautes de typographie. Veuillez à la ponctuation et aux guillemets. Il va sans dire que les blancs de mon manuscrits sont le résultat de coupures et de transcriptions que j'ai faites, et ne demandent que de simples alinéas.
Bonjour et amitié,
George ("My dear Buloz, here is the letter to M. Lerminier change nothing. Proofread it yourself and yourself alone. Correct the typographical errors. Mind the punctuation and quotation marks. It goes without saying that the blanks in my manuscript are the result of cuts and transcriptions I have made, and require only simple paragraphs.
Good day and friendship,
George")

This letter perfectly illustrates the stormy yet fruitful collaboration that united François Buloz and George Sand. The latter gave Sand for many years a platform and a means to live by her pen. She published in the Review a great number of masterpieces, including Lettres d'un voyageur (1834-1836), Mauprat (1837), Spiridion (1839), Gabriel (1839), Mademoiselle La Quintinie (1863), Césanne Dietrich (1870). Through his mediation, she also actively participated in the political debates of her time. In 1838, Buloz was the great orchestrator of an ideological duel when Sand "decided to take on the critic Lerminier, who had just made a very critical analysis of the Livre du peuple in the review. Buloz, out of desire for publicity, allowed his two collaborators to publicly exchange blows in the review. Through Lerminier and his superior tone, the review then revealed its rather misogynistic vision of literature and philosophy: 'the time has come for you to give your philosophical opinions more consistency and scope because you are entering a new phase of life and talent. Inspiration and fantasy have raised you to a height where they would not suffice to maintain you. Draw now, madam, new strength from reflection and science'" (Marie-Eve Thérenty, George Sand, François Buloz et la Revue des Deux Mondes).
Sand reacted immediately and sent her response article accompanied by this peremptory missive, ordering Buloz to publish her text as it stood. Lamennais was very touched by her gesture: "I shall always count among the happy circumstances of my life, where I don't count many, to have been defended by you. In publishing my last book, I knew well that it would shock almost everyone, legitimists, juste-milieu, Catholics, even republicans, those at least who want neither God nor liberty, and their number is great, and they have a terrible faith in themselves. I have hoped only in the people who do not make systems, and who, under the influence of primitive and imperishable human instincts, judge by the heart, and judge alone infallibly. Without them I don't know what would become of liberty on earth. M. Lerminier and many others imagine that I speak at random, according to whatever idea of the moment occurs to me. They are mistaken" (Yves Chastagnaret, George Sand, Lerminier et le Livre du Peuple de Félicité Lamennais).