Description
This collection reunites three first editions
of Madame de Sévigné’s Lettres.
It contains 823 letters, of which 209 were previously unpublished.
A precious copy
preserved in its contemporary dark blue morocco binding
with the arms of Jean de Boullongne (1690-1769).
Sévigné, Marie de Rabutin Chantal, marquise de. Recueil des lettres de Madame la marquise de Sévigné, à Madame la comtesse de Grignan, sa fille.
Paris, Rollin, 1738.
6 volumes 12mo.
Recueil de lettres choisies, pour servir de suite Aux Lettres de Madame de Sévigné à Madame de Grignan, sa Fille. Paris, Rollin, 1751.
12mo of (10) ll., 499 pp., (2) ll.
Lettres nouvelles de Madame la marquise de Sévigné à Madame la comtesse de Grignan, sa fille : Extraites de l’Edition de 1754… en six volumes. Paris, De Saint & Saillant, 1754.
2 volumes 12mo.
Ensemble of 9 volumes 12mo [162 x 93 mm].
Full dark blue morocco, triple gilt fillets around the covers, arms stamped in gilt in the center, ribbed spine decorated with small fleur-de-lis and heart tools, lettering pieces in red morocco, decorated leading edges, gilt over marbled edges. Contemporary binding.
A precious collection reuniting three first editions of Madame de Sévigné’s letters.
It contains 823 letters, of which 209 were previously unpublished.
Tchemerzine, V, 824, 825 et 826-827 ; Brunet, V, 325 ; Quérard, IX, 102 ; Rahir, Bibliothèque de l’amateur, 639 d.
Part VII is made up of the collection published in 1751 by the chevalier Perrin, which contains, in first edition, 25 letters by Mme de Sévigné to Coulanges, Mme de Coulanges, Mme de La Fayette, Duc de Chaulnes, Ch. De Sévigné and 98 letters by Mme de Grignan, by Coulanges and his wife, by Madame de la Fayette (14 letters), by Retz and by La Rochefoucauld.
Parts VIII et IX are made up of the collection of the Lettres Nouvelles in a first edition, a supplement of 86 letters previously unpublished.
“The 1738 Paris, Rollin, edition is different than the 1734-37 one.
The Recueil de lettres choisies is a first edition. It contains 25 letters by Mme de Sévigné to Coulanges, Mme de Coulanges, Mme de La Fayette, Duc de Chaulnes, Ch. De Sévigné and 98 letters by Mme de Grignan, by Coulanges and his wife, by Madame de la Fayette (14 letters), by Retz and by La Rochefoucauld.
The supplement in 2 volumes 12mo of the Lettres nouvelles, Paris, Desaint & Saillant, 1754, contains 86 letters.” (Tchemerzine)
A daily diary of her time, the letters of Madame de Sévigné were written for the most part between 1671 et 1696.
They remain in our collective memory as the liveliest chronicles of Louis XIV’s reign.
“Maternal love is at the heart of this private correspondence between mother and daughter. These letters by Mme de Sévigné to her daughter would have apparently remained buried in the trunks where the recipient had lovingly put them if she hadn’t been Bussy-Rabutin’s cousin. Exiled in 1665 for his renowned Histoire amoureuse des Gaules, he stayed busy sharing his life and writing letters. In 1697, the Lettres de Bussy were published in 4 volumes, 2 of which contained his correspondence with his cousin: 247 letters more or less equally split. The success of the one who seemed, on his own, capable of replacing Balzac and Voiture drew the the right peaople’s attention to the marquise’s talent. Bussy’s eldest son ended up asking Mme de Simiane, Mme de Sévigné’s grand-daughter, to send him the correspondence she had just inherited from her parents. The wheels were set in motion, that would result in the 1725, 1726, 1734-1754 editions and transform the marquise into the epistolary reference.” (En français dans le texte)
Madame de Sévigné loved her daughter. Her wedding to a lieutenant from Provence caused her mother to endure a brutal and terrible separation and this is when a regular and animated correspondence between Mme de Sévigné and her daughter was born.
“It is possible to find, but very rarely, copies of these different editions bound in morocco.” (Rahir)
A precious copy bound in its contemporary uniform dark blue morocco binding with the arms of Jean de Boullongne (1690-1769).
Son of Louis, the renowned first painter of the king, Jean Boullongne was first commis des finances in 1724, intendant des finances in 1744, contrôleur général des finances from 1757 to 1759 and commandeur and grand trésorier des ordres du roi in 1758. (O. Hermal, pl. 24)
Provenance : Library of Jean de Boullongne (arms).
