[MUSSET] SAINTE-BEUVE, Charles-Augustin (1804-1869)
Autograph letter signed « Ste Beuve » to Auguste Lacaussade
N.p.n.d, « this 21st July », 1 p. in-8° on creamy paper
« Musset should not be judged until after having reread Byron. Then one would have the true feeling of insults and distances »
Fact sheet
[MUSSET] SAINTE-BEUVE, Charles-Augustin (1804-1869)
Autograph letter signed « Ste Beuve » to Auguste Lacaussade
N.p.n.d, « this 21st July », 1 p. in-8° on creamy paper
Some tiny stains, slight browning
A delightful comparison between Musset and Byron by the famous literary critic
« Merci, cher Ami – Grâce à vous j’ai tout ce qu’il me faut & au delà. Vous avez bien raison sur Byron : on ne devrait juger Musset qu’après avoir relu Byron. Alors on aurait le vrai sentiment des injures et des distances, mais ne sommes-nous pas le plus paresseux des peuples pour les poètes et la poésie ? Mille remerciements encore à vous.
De tout cœur
Ste Beuve »
Introduced to Alfred de Musset by Paul Foucher, Sainte-Beuve became an intimate of the poet. An ardent defender of his literary work, he was one of Musset’s confidants during his tumultuous relationship with George Sand. When his Poésies complètes had been published in 1840, Sainte-Beuve said of him: “He dared to have wit, even with a touch of scandal. Since Voltaire, we have forgotten too much the wit in poetry; M. de Musset gave him a large share of it; with this he had again what our modern poets have so little, passion.”
We also remember that Sainte-Beuve was the dedicatee of a poem by his friend, soberly entitled “À Sainte-Beuve” (Poésies nouvelles, Charpentier, 1857).