Alexandre DUMAS, Jr. 21 signed autograph letters to George Sand....
Alexandre DUMAS, Jr. 21 signed autograph letters to George Sand. 1851–1875. 107 pp. in-12 or in-8; some bearing his initials or those of his wife Nadine, “ND.”
In 1851, during a trip to Poland, Alexandre Dumas, Jr., found George Sand’s letters to Chopin and, at the request of the writer—whom Dumas, Sr., had informed—brought them back to France to return them to her. Their friendship truly began in 1853, as the theater—in which they were both involved—brought them closer together: they attended performances of each other’s plays, discussed them, and exchanged letters. They saw each other rarely in the 1850s, but their relationship took a new turn when, in 1861, Dumas the Younger visited Nohant. To her, he was “my dear son”; to him, she was “my dear mother.”
– August 20, 1851: Because he is in rehearsals, he cannot go to Nohant, but is glad that she enjoyed his book [Le Régent Mustel]. His father, “who continues to be sentenced to hard labor, asks her forgiveness for not having been to Nohant...” – October 28, 1855: A long letter in response to a letter from Sand dated October 26, in which she asked him about the actor Bache—whom he had recommended to her and whom she did not know: “He is a grotesque figure full of ingenuity, expressiveness, and the unexpected. His physique is reminiscent of Debureau… His face bears a striking resemblance to moonlight preserved in a dictionary… His voice has the clear tones of Pierrot when, by chance, he speaks of the delicate feelings of his soul, and the rolls of a funeral drum…” – [August 22, 1861]. Reply to a letter from Sand dated June 18: “Beautiful, kind, great, and dear Mother, I, too, love you with all my heart, and I miss you all by myself just as much as the two of you [George Sand and Manceau] miss me… I’ve received a letter from Father Dumas, who, too, is losing heart.” Could Sand write to him: “Perhaps he’ll seize the lifeline you extend to him. He’s so strong, and his initial impulse is always so good.” – October 31, 1861. *Le Drac* is dedicated to her: “When a writer like you inscribes a contemporary name on one of your works, he can pack his bags—he is sure to stand the test of time. So here I am on my way, and I’ll try not to put my great companion to shame. In fact, you’re such a good woman that people no longer dare tell you that you’re a great man…” – [December 15, 1861]: He regains his zest for life: “I wouldn’t want to leave without having said a host of little things that I know—things that will be of no use to others, but which are worth having said… I had to make myself on my own, and teach myself what is good, true, and just… Today I understand the truth…” – [May 23, 1863]: Response to a letter from Sand the previous day regarding a plan to stage *Le Marquis de Villemer* at the Odéon: “I have made the work I’ve started available to her [La Rounat], if needed, and even everything else I could still do with a collaborator… So I’ll have the beginning transcribed so that you have a clean copy, and I am at your service…” – [October 26, 1863]: Still on *Villemer*: “There is only one thing in all this that doesn’t sit right with me: the question of authorship and the question of rights. The book is yours—the play is yours… I’ve framed the picture as best I could, but the painting is yours, yours alone, and you alone must sign it. As for the rights, I don’t want any.” – [July 14, 1864]. On Carrier-Belleuse: “He’s asking to make a life-size terracotta bust of you—which he’ll give you—but he’ll sell the smaller version. He’ll come to Palaiseau—you’ll look at it two or three times, and that’ll be that…” – [December 5, 1865]. On the stage adaptation of the latest Aldini play. He does not want to revise La Rounat’s work: “This method of piecing things back together is not my style; I’d be clumsy at it, and besides, I cannot and will not collaborate. My time, my advice, my support with the theater managers, marginal notes once their work is finished—in short, everything that falls within the literary realm, wholeheartedly—but not in the business side of things—and above all—no money.” – [January 12, 1866]. A long letter in response to a letter from Sand dated January 9–10, still on the subject of *La Dernière Aldini*, which she feels lacks sufficient substance for the theater: “You can only return to the theater with a hit.” A *comic opera* would be preferable: “There you will be able to regain what you are losing today—and even more—to the music of Merdi, as you call him, but money doesn’t stink.”—May 26, 1866. “Here’s one that’s starting to annoy me: L’Affaire Cl
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Alexandre DUMAS, Jr. 21 signed autograph letters to George Sand. 1851–1875. 107 pp. in-12 or in-8; some bearing his initials or those of his wife Nadine, “ND.”
In 1851, during a trip to Poland, Alexandre Dumas, Jr., found George Sand’s letters to Chopin and, at the request of the writer—whom Dumas, Sr., had informed—brought them back to France to return them to her. Their friendship truly began in 1853, as the theater—in which they were both involved—brought them closer together: they attended performances of each other’s plays, discussed them, and exchanged letters. They saw each other rarely in the 1850s, but their relationship took a new turn when, in 1861, Dumas the Younger visited Nohant. To her, he was “my dear son”; to him, she was “my dear mother.”
– August 20, 1851: Because he is in rehearsals, he cannot go to Nohant, but is glad that she enjoyed his book [Le Régent Mustel]. His father, “who continues to be sentenced to hard labor, asks her forgiveness for not having been to Nohant...” – October 28, 1855: A long letter in response to a letter from Sand dated October 26, in which she asked him about the actor Bache—whom he had recommended to her and whom she did not know: “He is a grotesque figure full of ingenuity, expressiveness, and the unexpected. His physique is reminiscent of Debureau… His face bears a striking resemblance to moonlight preserved in a dictionary… His voice has the clear tones of Pierrot when, by chance, he speaks of the delicate feelings of his soul, and the rolls of a funeral drum…” – [August 22, 1861]. Reply to a letter from Sand dated June 18: “Beautiful, kind, great, and dear Mother, I, too, love you with all my heart, and I miss you all by myself just as much as the two of you [George Sand and Manceau] miss me… I’ve received a letter from Father Dumas, who, too, is losing heart.” Could Sand write to him: “Perhaps he’ll seize the lifeline you extend to him. He’s so strong, and his initial impulse is always so good.” – October 31, 1861. *Le Drac* is dedicated to her: “When a writer like you inscribes a contemporary name on one of your works, he can pack his bags—he is sure to stand the test of time. So here I am on my way, and I’ll try not to put my great companion to shame. In fact, you’re such a good woman that people no longer dare tell you that you’re a great man…” – [December 15, 1861]: He regains his zest for life: “I wouldn’t want to leave without having said a host of little things that I know—things that will be of no use to others, but which are worth having said… I had to make myself on my own, and teach myself what is good, true, and just… Today I understand the truth…” – [May 23, 1863]: Response to a letter from Sand the previous day regarding a plan to stage *Le Marquis de Villemer* at the Odéon: “I have made the work I’ve started available to her [La Rounat], if needed, and even everything else I could still do with a collaborator… So I’ll have the beginning transcribed so that you have a clean copy, and I am at your service…” – [October 26, 1863]: Still on *Villemer*: “There is only one thing in all this that doesn’t sit right with me: the question of authorship and the question of rights. The book is yours—the play is yours… I’ve framed the picture as best I could, but the painting is yours, yours alone, and you alone must sign it. As for the rights, I don’t want any.” – [July 14, 1864]. On Carrier-Belleuse: “He’s asking to make a life-size terracotta bust of you—which he’ll give you—but he’ll sell the smaller version. He’ll come to Palaiseau—you’ll look at it two or three times, and that’ll be that…” – [December 5, 1865]. On the stage adaptation of the latest Aldini play. He does not want to revise La Rounat’s work: “This method of piecing things back together is not my style; I’d be clumsy at it, and besides, I cannot and will not collaborate. My time, my advice, my support with the theater managers, marginal notes once their work is finished—in short, everything that falls within the literary realm, wholeheartedly—but not in the business side of things—and above all—no money.” – [January 12, 1866]. A long letter in response to a letter from Sand dated January 9–10, still on the subject of *La Dernière Aldini*, which she feels lacks sufficient substance for the theater: “You can only return to the theater with a hit.” A *comic opera* would be preferable: “There you will be able to regain what you are losing today—and even more—to the music of Merdi, as you call him, but money doesn’t stink.”—May 26, 1866. “Here’s one that’s starting to annoy me: L’Affaire Cl
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