CHATEAUBRIAND (de), François-René (1768-1848)

CHATEAUBRIAND (de), François-René (1768-1848)

Autograph letter signed « Chateaubriand » [to Hippolyte La Morvonnais ?]
Paris, 18 July 1834, 2 p. in-8° à l’encre noire
Slight browning, skillful repairs

Moving unpublished letter from Chateaubriand, imagining eternal rest in his tomb on the islet of the grand Bey in Saint-Malo

« Vous avez été, Monsieur, fidèle au culte de la patrie ; c’est à la Bretagne que je fais honneur de tout ce que vous voulez bien dire de moi. À vous jeunes hommes l’avenir. Bientôt je serai couché dans ma petite isle de sable et j’entendrai le bruit de vos pas et des flots.
Vous voyez, Monsieur, qu’en parlant de M. l’abbé de la Mennais, vous m’avez mis en train de poésie. Recevez de nouveau, je vous prie monsieur, mes sentiments les plus empressés et l’assurance de ma considération la plus distinguée.
Chateaubriand »

Although Chateaubriand conceived the idea of ​​being buried on the islet of Grand Bey (at the foot of the ramparts of Saint-Malo) from 1823, it was not until 1828 that he actually expressed his wish to the mayor of the time, Auguste de Bizien du Lézard (1777-1852): “You cannot doubt, Sir, the very keen interest I have in my native town […] For a long time I have had the plan of asking the town to grant me, at the western point of Grand Bey, the furthest out to sea, a small piece of land just large enough to contain my coffin […]” (Corr. t. VIII, n°103). Although he was initially refused for local political reasons, the matter was taken up again in 1831 under the impetus of the young Saint-Malo poet Hippolyte La Morvonnais (1802-1853). At the latter’s request, the Municipal Council asked the State for the few feet of land necessary for the burial of the great man. Louis-François Hovius (1788-1873), who had in the meantime become the new mayor of Saint-Malo, finally acceded to Chateaubriand’s request.
The writer died in Paris on July 4, 1848. His grave was transported to Saint-Malo on July 16. He was buried there two days later after a grand mass.

Unpublished, this letter is likely addressed to Hippolyte La Morvonnais, 32 years old at the time. A pious and fervent Catholic, he was the disciple and friend of Félicité Robert de Lamennais (1782-1854). It will be remembered that Lamennais had contributed to the newspaper Le Conservateur, founded by Chateaubriand in October 1818.