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Flaubert, Gustave (1821-1880) Autograph letter signed. [to Ernest Feydeau], January 1861

 File — Box: 1, Folder: 21

Scope and Content

From the Collection:

This collection consists of letters and supporting documentation, books on the art of letter writing, a small miscellaneous grouping of catalogs and photographs, and issues of The Wolf Magazine of Letters from June-July 1979 to Summer Quarterly 1991. The earliest letter, from the Marquise de Sevigne, dates from 1695; while the most recent was signed by entertainer Mike Douglas in 1980. Most of the letters date from the 19th century. The collection, which now numbers 85 letters, will continue to grow; in conjunction with his gift, Mr. Lang established a gift annuity to be used for the maintenance and augmentation of the collection.

Dates

  • Creation: January 1861

Creator

Language of Materials

From the Collection:

The records are in English

Restrictions on Access

There are no restrictions on access to this collection.

Extent

From the Collection: 1.26 linear feet

Condition

Fine. Slight wear and small tear in upper right, minor weakness in some folds, moderate bleeding of ink through leaves

3 pages on 1st, 3rd and 4th leaves, 8"x5" (8vo) in French

Transcription

Translated and transcribed

[page 1]

If I do not write you, my good friend, it is because I have absolutely nothing to tell you. I am turning to stone with so much gloom, and what goes on in the Capital is not made to enthrall me. I am so disgusted with what they applaud here and with the depravity they publish, that I am sick just at the thought of it. The uproar they made over those two inept spewers-forth of nothing, Lacordaire and Guizot! Ah! - Ah! I advance delicately in Carthage. With some good days and some bad (these last the more frequent, of course)

[page 2]

I wrote a chapter in the last six weeks, which isn’t bad for a lazy animal like me. - I hope to have a good start on another (the 11th) by the middle of March and after that I’ll have four left. -It’s long! In the afternoon I read Virgil, and I swoon before the style and precision of his words. Such is my life. But let’s talk of yours, which is going to change. Blessed be she, dear friend. All my best wishes - you must know that they are sincere and profound. We hardly follow the same paths. Have you noticed this? You believe in life and love it,

[page 3]

I distrust it. I am fed up with it and endure as little as possible. It is more cowardly. But more prudent — or, rather, in all of this there is no system. Each follows his own way and rolls down his little hill as the Mahtoub has decided he will. Write me when you have nothing better to do. A thousand joys, and all of them lasting.

I embrace you. Gustave Flaubert

This evening I am almost too tired to hold my pen. - This is the result of the ennui caused by the life of a bourgeois. The Bourgeois is becoming physically intolerable to me. I could scream.

Repository Details

Part of the Kelvin Smith Library Special Collections Repository

Contact:
Kelvin Smith Library
Case Western Reserve University
Cleveland OH 44106-7151 United States
216.368.0189