[ZOLA] FLAUBERT, Gustave (1821-1880)


[ZOLA] FLAUBERT, Gustave (1821-1880)


Autograph letter signed « Votre Gve Flaubert » to Emile Zola
[Paris, 17 December 1874], 1 p. in-8°
Trace of previous mounting on last folio

Flaubert summons his friend Zola to attend their next meeting with Tourgueneff, de Goncourt and Daudet

« Mon cher ami,
Tourgueneff, de Goncourt & Daudet seront dimanche chez moi dans l’après-midi pour s’entendre avec vous sur le jour prochain de notre festival.
Donc je vous convoque – & suis
Votre
Gve Flaubert
Jeudi
Rien du gymnase ! Problème ! »

The first dinner of this small group was called the “Flaubert dinner”, then called the dinner of the “Auteurs sifflés” or the “dîner de Cinq”, which took place on April 14, 1874. The Five – Goncourt, Flaubert, Zola, Turgenev and Daudet – met first in various restaurants, and later at one of them. At the same time cenacle of good food, meeting of friends and literary tribune, this group of five meets around meals that are as many moments of life, laughter and excess.

Flaubert’s death in May 1880 shattered the sociability of the group, which had difficulty reconstituting itself.