[MAUPASSANT] DE VAUX, Charles Devaux, dit le baron (1843-1915)

[MAUPASSANT] DE VAUX, Charles Devaux, dit le baron (1843-1915)

Autograph letter signed « Bᴼⁿ de Vaux » to Robert Pinchon
Paris, 14 9bre [November] 1895, 1 p. in-8° on light blue paper
Stamped and obliterated

Rare letter from the Baron de Vaux, one of Georges Duroy’s models in Bel-Ami

« Cher Monsieur,
Je ne sais pas si j’orthographie bien votre nom, car si lui m’échappe le souvenir de nos bonnes journées chez Maupassant ne m’échappent pas. C’est même ce souvenir qui me conduit aujourd’hui à vous écrire pour vous demander si vous seriez disposé à parler de mon livre “à Cheval” qui vient de paraître […] À vous cordialement. Bᴼⁿ de Vaux »

In this epistle to Robert Pinchon, whom he knew to be a journalist, the Baron de Vaux asked him for an editorial service for his book that had just been published À cheval, étude des races françaises et étrangères, au point de vue du cheval de selle, de course, de chasse, de trait, d’armes, illustrated collectively by Ferdinand Bac, Clermont-Gallerande and Jules Rothschild. He does not fail to evoke the memory of their mutual friend Guy de Maupassant, for whom he served as a model for Georges Duroy, the main character in Bel-Ami.
Maupassant and Devaux met at Gil Blas, where he was head of Echos. He was in charge of writing sports articles and signed « Le Diable boiteux ». Maupassant also dedicated the short story Un Sage, published in 1883, to him.

Maupassant met Robert Pinchon at the Lycée impérial in Rouen. His father, Adolphe, taught French there. Robert was in the same class as Louis de Poittevin, Guy’s cousin. The two friends met again later in Paris. Pinchon, known as “La Tôque”, was part of the boating gang. He returned to Rouen around 1880 and became librarian in the city and music and drama critic in Le Nouvelliste de Rouen. He wrote many plays, which he published in 1894 under the title Théâtre. The memory of his friend Maupassant is evoked in the preface to the book.
Maupassant dedicated his short story to him: L’Aventure de Walter Schnaffs, in 1883.