Lot n° 3
Estimation :
1200 - 1800
EUR
Result with fees
Result
: 8 592EUR
Banville (Théodore de) - Lot 3
Banville (Théodore de)
Ɵ Les Stalactites. Michel Lévy Frères, Paris, 1846. Second edition, same year as the original published by Paulier (22.5 x 13.5 cm).
Contemporary binding: Green half-maroquin with corners, spine decorated with gilt fillets and fleurons, gilt head (Léon Fixin, a pupil of Thouvenin, who practiced until around 1850).
A very precious copy by Marie Daubrun, then aged 19, who was Banville's friend until 1863 (this is the first book he dedicated to her), a relationship punctually interrupted by that with Baudelaire, including a touching autograph letter in three quatrains "La lyre à l'amour se marie [...]".
The copy is dedicated by the author in black ink on the title page: "A mon amie
Mademoiselle Marie Daubrun
La lyre à l'amour se marie
Like a nightingale in spring
Here then, o dear Marie
Songs that take flight
Listen with me to the feast
Of shivering woods and waters,
And if you love the poet,
Gather his poor birds.
Defend their little wings,
And, against all evil purpose,
Like white turtledoves
Hide them under your beautiful bosom.
Théodore de Banville"
The second collection by Théodore de Banville (1823-1891), after Les Cariatides, Les Stalactites appeared three or four years after the poet met Baudelaire on his return from a long-haul trip. Initially close friends, the friendship between the two poets was cooled by their respective affairs with Marie Daubrun, in which Banville had the upper hand. This did not prevent Baudelaire from writing some of his finest poems for her, such as L'Invitation au voyage, L'Irréparable, Le Beau Navire, Causerie, Chant d'automne and Le Ciel brouillé, before the bitter break-up poem A une Madone.
Marie Daubrun (1827-1901) made her debut in 1845 at the Théâtre de Montmartre at the age of 18 ("cette actrice à la verte allure, l'œil mutin",
La France Théâtrale, October 2, 1845), then at the Vaudeville in 1846 ("La merveille de Montmartre", Le Mercure des Théâtres, October 1, 1846), the period of Les Stalactites and when she took her stage name, after having tried her hand at Mlle Marie ou Maria, then Mlle d'Aubrun. The touching letter - the earliest known - on this copy reflects her early encounter with Banville and the poet's budding love for her. Baudelaire's affair with Banville came later and more intermittently, in the 1850s, as did his relationship with Jeanne Duval and his short-lived affair with Madame Sabatier. Marie Daubrun remained with Banville until his meeting with Mme veuve Rochegrosse, whom he married in 1863.
Page 61 of the present collection contains a poem dedicated to Baudelaire, some lines of which seem premonitory of the two poets' relationship with Marie Daubrun: "O poëte, il le faut, honorons la Matière: / Mais ne l'honorons pas d'une amitié grossière, / Et gardons d'offenser, pour des plaisirs trop courts, / L'Amour, qui se souvient, et se venge toujours [...]".
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