Jules BARBEY D'AUREVILLY.
Les Prophètes du passé. Paris, Louis Hervé, 1851.
In-12 square : long grain tobacco half-maroquin, smooth spine, untrimmed, gilt head, cover preserved (Semet et Plumelle).
First edition.
Literary and political essays on Joseph de Maistre, Bonald, Chateaubriand and Lammenais, by the flamboyant Connétable des Lettres.
(Rahir, Bibliothèque de l'amateur, p. 308.- Clouzot, 1996, p. 37 : "Très rare.")
Autograph signed letter on the false title : to M. Philibert Audebrand,/in the name of all the sympathies of the heart/and of the intelligence./
Jules Barbey d'Aurevilly
Writer and journalist willingly satirical, Philibert Audebrand (1815-1906) is the author of a considerable work. Already in 1857 (he was only 42 years old), Charles Monselet said of him: "One would cover the surface of the Place du Carrousel with the prodigious total of the writings of this man of letters." In particular, he frequented the literary bohemia and the world of small newspapers of which he became the historian.
On June 25, 1851, Barbey d'Aurevilly mentioned Audebrand to Trébutien, probably hoping for a review of Les Prophètes du passé in Le Corsaire, in vain. The critic however paid homage to the Constable in L'Événement in November 1897 and January 1898, devoting to him "curious memories; fantasy was mixed with truth, but with a lot of charm and a respectful esteem" (Eugène Grelé, Jules Barbey d'Aurevilly, sa vie et son oeuvre, 1904, p. 371).
A pleasant copy. The preserved covers have been lined.
