257 - MUSSET (Alfred de), 1810–1857.

MUSSET (Alfred de), 1810–1857. Autograph letter, undated (postmark dated February 2, 1830), ½ page, in-8 format, addressed to Alfred de VIGNY (1797–1863) (""To Count de Vigny / No. 30 Rue de Miroménil""), with a red wax seal bearing his cipher still intact (and a tear in the corner resulting from its opening). A charming letter from the very young Musset to Alfred de Vigny, blending social banter and a declaration of friendship, set within the heart of the Romantic circle. Musset responds enthusiastically to an invitation from Vigny, beginning playfully in English: “It will please me certainly, sir.” He thanks his friend as well as the “beautiful eyes of Lady Wetherington[?]” (probably an English nickname—the exact spelling of which remains uncertain—given here by Musset to Lydia Bunbury (1798–1862), Vigny’s English wife). With the nonchalance already characteristic of the young poet, he then offers a delightful justification for his nocturnal habits: “I hope you’ll forgive a poor young man who drags himself out of bed at two in the afternoon for not visiting his friends in the morning.” Finally, Musset assures Vigny of his affection by alluding to the literary rumors and debates then circulating in Romantic circles: “See you Tuesday evening, then, and believe that I wholeheartedly return a friendship that is concerned neither with gossip nor with prosody,” a beautiful phrase summing up the two main concerns of early Romanticism: personal quarrels and disputes over versification, just three weeks before the famous “Battle of Hernani.” Written at a decisive moment in Musset’s early career, this letter reveals the nineteen-year-old poet, fresh from the success of his “Tales of Spain and Italy,” which had just caused a sensation with their boldness. Already familiar with the Cénacle and with Vigny—his elder and one of the leading figures of Romanticism—Musset reveals, beneath the banter, his precocious independence from literary schools and controversies. Includes its original cultural property export certificate from the Ministry of Culture. Also included is a set of three autograph letters (L.A.S.) from his brother Paul de Musset (1804–1880), addressed to Buloz, editor of the *Revue des Deux-Mondes*, Paris, June 5, 1849 (1 p. and ½ in-8), June 17, 1851 (1 p. in-8, torn with the blank second half missing), and April 11 (no year) (1 p. in-8). In one of them, he explains that, since his brother had asked him to attend rehearsals for “Les Caprices de Marianne,” he was unable to work for fifteen days. The article he promised on Naples will be delayed. Elsewhere, Musset complains that he was unable to meet with Buloz at the Revue’s offices. He has made three fruitless trips there since sending the manuscript of “Mademoiselle de Gournay.” In the third letter, “[...] I would very much like to provide you with an article, but I would like to do it as well as I possibly can [...].” With a preserved envelope bearing a postmark.