59 - FLAUBERT, Gustave (1821–1880).

FLAUBERT, Gustave (1821–1880). Autograph letter signed “Gve Flaubert,” [Croisset], Wednesday, [January 22, 1879, to Guy de MAUPASSANT]; 2 pages, in-8. A fine letter from Flaubert to Maupassant, discussing his financial and personal situation, and ZOLA. Note: Flaubert begins by expressing his delight for Maupassant that the Dufaure ministry has been maintained: “Long live our ministry! No one is happier than I am about its consolidation. Since bad luck has been dogging me for so long, I was actually expecting it to fall. – So you can rest assured about your fate! So much the better. If only I could say the same about my own. – My life is no laughing matter, my dear friend—and this winter is particularly harsh (temperature aside). The reason I’m not going to Paris is that I don’t have the money. That’s the whole mystery—and I don’t have a place to stay either, since I’m letting my niece Caro use mine until her husband’s affairs are finally settled. —And so we’ll know what will become of us—and what he’ll do. Lovely! Nice! Nice!”… He goes on to discuss the stage adaptation of Zola’s *L’Assommoir* (by William Busnach and Octave Gastineau at the Ambigu-Comique, January 18, 1879): “I’m glad Zola had financial success. But that doesn’t solidify Naturalism (whose definition we’re still waiting for). – & it doesn’t establish our friend as a playwright. Now it’s up to him to write a play, within his own system. – I saw that Daudet had read one at the Odéon based on *Jack*. – What a bunch of business tycoons all these fellows are! – If only I were one myself! But I lack the heart”…. He encourages Maupassant to go see “poor TOURGUENEFF,” who is “bedridden with gout. […] In 25 days, he’s leaving for Russia, where his brother has just died”… He asks him to give his mother a kiss and mentions “the Charpentier House”… Correspondence (Pléiade), vol. V, p. 507. Sale: Very Good condition, Nov. 24, 1999