192 - CHATEAUBRIAND (François René, Viscount of), 1768–1848.

CHATEAUBRIAND (François René, Viscount of), 1768–1848. Letter from the author, undated, August 16 [1830], 3 pp., in-8 [with a handwritten note signed by the Countess of Ludre, most likely Télésie (or Thérésie) de Girardin, Countess of Ludre (1801–1886), a salon hostess and prominent figure in Catholic and Legitimist circles: “written in response to a letter of congratulations from me regarding her fine farewell speech to the Chamber of Peers following the 1830 Revolution”]: “I am deeply touched, madam, and almost ashamed of the praise that I feel I have so little right to receive. I fulfilled a duty; that is a very small merit [...]” The letter was in fact written just a few days after the July Revolution. Chateaubriand had just delivered, on August 7, his famous speech to the Chamber of Peers in support of the rights of the young Duke of Bordeaux and refused to rally behind Louis-Philippe. Also included, from the same source: - a handwritten letter “Chateaubriand,” London, May 31, 1822, 2 pp., in-4 (Chateaubriand was then French ambassador to London): “The mere fact that Mr. Dufaud is my compatriot is enough for me, Sir, to hasten to render him any service within my power; but he is fully entitled to be received with the utmost courtesy [...] Would you be so kind, Sir, as to convey my warmest regards to Mrs. Malery [or Walery?]?”” - L.S. “Chateaubriand,” Paris, December 7, 1836, 1 p., small in-8 on Weynen paper with embossed watermark: “The time has passed, Sir; I can do nothing more [...] I wrap myself in my devotion and my loyalty, which will always remain unshakeable: after I am gone, my Memoirs will set the record straight [...]” - L.S. “Chateaubriand,” Paris, April 12, 1831, 1 p. and 1/3 in-8: “Your first observation, Sir, is excellent, and I should have explained myself better regarding industry; the second is correct, and I made it myself in the preface you were kind enough to read, regarding disbelief not as a crime, but as a misfortune for certain souls. [...]