199 - [MANUSCRIPT] GENLIS, Countess of. *The Memoirs of Félicité L*. *Darmance and Herminie*. Circa 1804.

[MANUSCRIPT] GENLIS, Countess of. *The Memoirs of Félicité L*. *Darmance and Herminie*. Circa 1804. Complete manuscript of this short story depicting the love story of a deaf-mute man and a blind woman who communicate using one of the very first braille typewriters. Square 8vo (200 x 180 mm), marbled tan sheepskin, smooth spine with title running lengthwise, gilt inner edge and gilt edge on the cuts. Later binding. 13 handwritten pages in black ink on blue or white leaves mounted on tabs. Side margins slightly browned. Complete manuscript of the short story “Darmance and Herminie,” published by Maradan in 1804 in the collection *Les Souvenirs de Félicité L*.* The handwriting is regular and contains a few erasures and corrections. Darmance, a wealthy young man who has been deaf and mute since birth and was educated by the Abbé de l’Épée, falls in love with Herminie, a young blind woman. To communicate, he uses an invention by Valentin Haüy, described by the author as an “ingenious machine with which one can write in relief and read by touch,” allowing the two lovers to confess their love to one another. On the day Herminie undergoes cataract surgery, Darmance disguises himself as the surgeon’s assistant to test her devotion; as soon as she regains her sight, she recognizes him instantly. Rejecting the vanities of the world to allay her suitor’s doubts, she marries him, and they go off to live happily in Normandy. Stéphanie-Félicité de Genlis (1746–1830), a leading figure in literary salons, remains famous for having been the governess of the future King Louis-Philippe. A highly prolific woman of letters with over 140 volumes to her credit, she wrote stories that always used romantic elements to convey a moral or educational lesson. Her writing is distinguished by a certain modernity. She advocated for the intellectual education of women and took a keen interest in the avant-garde movements of her time, as illustrated by this manuscript. An interesting manuscript in a good later binding.