LAMARTINE (de), Alphonse (1790-1869)
Letter signed « Lamartine » to M. Meyer
Paris, 21st May [1842], 1 p. small in-8°
« I have not received the comments on Montesquieu’s Persian letters of which you were kind enough to mention to me »
Fact sheet
LAMARTINE (de), Alphonse (1790-1869)
Letter signed « Lamartine » to M. Meyer
Paris, 21st May [1842], 1 p. small in-8° on bi-folio with his initials on letterhead
Post marks
Lamartine asked his correspondent for a study of Montesquieu’s Persian Letters, which the latter had promised him
The letter was written by one of Lamartine’s secretaries and signed by him:
« Je m’empresse de répondre, monsieur, à la lettre que vous m’avez fait l’honneur de m’écrire, en vous offrant mes félicitations sur votre nouvelle position.
Je n’ai pas reçu les commentaires sur les lettres persanes de Montesquieu dont vous avez la bonté de me parler.
Je n’aurais pas manqué sans cela de vous en adresser tous mes remerciements. Veuillez, Monsieur, les recevoir ici d’avance et agréer l’assurance de ma considération distinguée.
Lamartine »
An epistolary novel published in 1721 bringing together the fictitious correspondence exchanged between two Persian travellers, Montesquieu does not admit that he is the author, out of prudence. According to him, the collection was anonymous, and he presented himself as a simple publisher, which allowed him to criticize the French society of the time without risking censorship.
To our knowledge, there are no other occurrences of this famous work by Montesquieu in Lamartine’s correspondence.