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

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

Autograph aphorism signed « Chateaubriand »
N.p.n.d. [Paris, 1836] 1 p. in-8°
Glued on an Album amicorum page
Tiny spots

Chateaubriand borrows an aphorism from John Milton

« Je fuyais, le spectre me poursuivit
(Milton)
Chateaubriand »

Chateaubriand harbored a deep admiration for the English poet and pamphleteer John Milton (1608–1674). From Milton, he translated Paradise Lost—the most famous epic poem by Milton, published in 1667—into French. While many translations of this work have emerged, Chateaubriand’s remains the most renowned. The passage quoted here by the writer is taken from the following excerpt: « Death! Hell trembled at that horrible name, sighed from the depths of all its caverns, and repeated: Death! I fled; but the specter pursued me, though it seemed more inflamed with lust than rage: much swifter than I, it overtook me, me, its mother, all terrified. » (Paradise Lost, Book II, Renault et Cie, ed. 1861, p. 43).

Included:
A handwritten note by Ludovic Guyot’s son, recounting the amusing circumstances in which his father obtained this autograph from the writer:
« A precious autograph by Chateaubriand
During a visit my father paid to him, my father insisted repeatedly on obtaining an autograph from the great man (who initially refused). Faced with my father’s persistence, Chateaubriand took up his pen and, copying a line from Paradise Lost by Milton—which happened to be on his desk and which he was translating at the time—he handed my father this sheet of paper, a playful allusion. »