DESBORDES-VALMORE Marceline (1786-1859)

Les Pleurs, autograph manuscript [1832-1833] 142 pp. in-folio, in brown ink, on 92 leaves mounted on tabs and laid paper, pagination in the same ink, some numbers missing. Edges of title page and two other leaves repaired and reinforced with a tab. Mounting of the poetess' hand by a tab glued at the bottom of the page, covering five lines to the poem entitled Louise Labé (f. ch. 119). Autograph corrections, a few tiny stains from ink rubbing. Signed binding by Marius Michel. Midnight blue jansenist morocco, spine with 4 nerves titled in gilt, gilt fillet decoration, band and pieces of aubergine morocco in the form of a tulip on the opposite sides, embroidered grey silk endpapers, double marbled paper guard. (Joints slightly rubbed). Case. Precious manuscript of Les Pleurs, poésies nouvelles, a collection published by Charpentier in 1833 with a preface by Alexandre Dumas, by "the only woman of talent and genius of this century and of all centuries", in Verlaine's own words. Unlike a large number of scattered manuscripts, preserved either in private hands or in the important collection of the library of Douai (Marceline Desbordes-Valmore's birthplace), this manuscript of Les Pleurs constitutes a collection in its own right, with 70 poems that have been cleaned up in order to be handed over to the publisher, but which nevertheless present variants with the definitive version, which will comprise a total of 65 pieces, including 5 that are absent from this manuscript. Ten poems present in this manuscript were not included in the original edition: "C'est l'heure où par mon âme en secret implorée"..., 8 lines (f. ch. 15); Serment, 6 lines (f. ch. 23); "Je ne reproche rien au passé"..., quatrain (f. ch. 29); "I am his first friendship"..., quatrain (f. ch. 33); "The air breathed by him"..., quatrain (f. ch. 43); "Why did he bind himself so well with my heart"..., quatrain (f. ch. 47); Reverie, 8 verses (f. ch. 51); "And I, when the sun languishes"... 8 lines (f. ch. 71); "What! You want to know the secret"..., quatrain (f. ch. 79), and On the grave of an orphan - July 1832, quatrain (f. ch. 115) As for the other variants, they are mainly the absence of titles, changes in the order of the poems or modifications in the titles: Amour / Attente, Dernière fl eur / Une fl eur, La fl eur sauvage / La dernière fl eur and L'éveil / Écrivez-moi. Some variants. PROVENANCE Pierre Douze, Louis Barthou (bookplate) H. Bradley-Martin.