190 - [MANUSCRIPT - CRIMEAN WAR] MÈZIÈRES, J. de. *Les Myriologues*.

[MANUSCRIPT - CRIMEAN WAR] MÈZIÈRES, J. de. *Les Myriologues*. Unpublished autograph manuscript. This poignant family memorial, presented by the author to his wife, was written in tribute to their son, a young lieutenant in the 16th Light Infantry Regiment who was killed in 1855 during the assault on the Malakoff Tower. Versailles, 1865–1875. Small quarto, brown half-shagreen with corner pieces, spine ribbed and highlighted with blind-stamped fillets, title gilded in the center of the front cover, and at the bottom margin the medieval motto: “En avant, li méliors.” 16 pages of titles and subtitles, 55 numbered pages, and a final letter transcribed; lined leaves. Binding rubbed. Filed in Versailles between 1865 and 1875, the collection was given by a father to his wife in tribute to their son, a young lieutenant in the 16th Light Infantry Regiment (91st Line), who fell on June 18, 1855, during the assault on the Malakoff Tower. The author, likely an officer, is a refined man of letters. In a scholarly preface, he directly cites the works of Claude Fauriel and Alphonse de Lamartine on Greek funeral songs to justify the use of the term “myriologue.” He places his poems under the spiritual patronage of the Bible (Book of Jeremiah) and the inspiration of Victor Hugo. His writing masterfully handles dramatic progression, alternating between an epic style inspired by Boileau to celebrate the glory of battle and melancholic poetry reminiscent of Millevoye to express mourning. The internal structure of the volume is rigorously organized into three distinct sections: The opening pages provide historical context, beginning with a transcript from *Le Moniteur* (Nov. 20, 1864) regarding the Russian concession and the development of the French military cemetery in Sevastopol by General de Martimprey. This is followed by a detailed account of the solemn transfer of the remains of the French general officers (Oct. 1865) to the central memorial, in the presence of high-ranking Russian officials (Admiral Kislinsky and General de Kotzebue). The First Myriologue: Crimean War (Versailles, June 18, 1865), explicitly “Dedicated to Champagne,” unfolds in three parts: the First Song: Song of Glory (1. The Malakoff Tower, 2. Glory), the Second Song: Song of the Mausoleum (1. Vision, 2. The Mausoleum), and the Third Song: Song of the Shadows (1. The Shadows, 2. Exile in Death). The work concludes with an Epilogue signed with the initials “J. de M.” This is followed by the Second Myriologue, which is fairly short: Pilgrimages (September 1867), a more intimate elegiac cycle structured around two contrasting themes (1. Dream and 2. Reality). This final section, Reality, is abruptly introduced by a complete copy of the poignant letter of condolence sent from the front (July 21, 1855) by Colonel Anatole de Salignac-Fénelon to the Mézières parents. Addressing them directly with the words “Poor father, poor mother,” the commanding officer mourns “the most chivalrous of my officers.” A touching document, bound by the family at the time.