179 - BOILEAU DESPRÉAUX (Nicolas), 1636–1711.

BOILEAU DESPRÉAUX (Nicolas), 1636–1711. Letter from “Despreaux,” Paris, December 13, 1709, 3 pp., in-8, remnants of a red wax seal bearing a coat of arms (with a small resulting tear, not affecting the text), addressed to his friend the Reverend Father [Pierre-Joseph] Thoulier (1682–1768), at the Collège Louis-le-Grand (where the future Abbé d’Olivet taught rhetoric to, among others, the young Voltaire, a student at Louis-le-Grand from 1704 to 1711). A very beautiful letter written toward the end of his life, in which he reflects on his relationship with money and his booksellers, his voluntary withdrawal from literary life, and, above all, offers a very personal account of his friendships with the Jesuits and at Port-Royal. “I did not receive your two notes, Most Reverend Father, until yesterday evening, and I was unable to reply until this morning. To begin, then, with the latter—as it is the more significant of the two, since it concerns financial matters, which is what people value most—I will tell you that the bookseller on whose behalf you are asking me must not associate much with Thiery, his colleague. If he saw him occasionally, he would have learned from him that I have never taken a sou for the printing of my works, and Thiery would not refuse to tell him what he once said in my presence to his entire family. 'I declare to you—these are his exact words—that I have earned more than forty thousand francs with Mr. Despreaux without ever having been able to get him to accept any money or the slightest gift.' So there you have it, my most reverend father: I am strongly tempted to accept the 2,000 tt [tournois] from Grégoire Du Puys [a Parisian bookseller and printer].” He then thanks him for sending him the letter he had written to his friend François de Maucroix “very hastily and, as they say, ‘currente calamo.’ There are some careless turns of phrase that would be wise to correct. You did very well not to include the end of that letter in your copy, because that could cause me trouble with the Academy, and it is best not to stir up old quarrels. I forgot to tell you that it is true my publishers are pressing me hard to publish a new edition of my works, but I am in no way inclined to do so, as I am careful to avoid drawing attention to myself and to shun the limelight with as much care as I once sought it. I will tell you more the first time I have the pleasure of seeing you […] Please do me the favor of letting me know when you would like me to send my carriage for you. It will certainly be waiting at the gate of your college […]"" He regrets that he is no longer able to travel to visit him at his home. “I am returning to you the excellent commentary by Quinte Curce that you had placed in my hands. I found it marvelous, and I learned many things from it that I did not know […] Believe me when I say that I am deeply grateful for the kindness you have shown me, and that I hold you in high regard among the many excellent men of your Society whom I have counted as friends and who, like you, have done me the honor of loving me a little, without being deterred by thewell-founded esteem I held for Mr. Arnaud and for certain individuals at Port-Royal, having never involved myself in the disputes over “La Grâce” […] "" Included are four engraved portraits of the author. With its original cultural property export certificate from the Ministry of Culture.