Lot n° 326
Estimation :
1500 - 2000
EUR
Result with fees
Result
: 3 200EUR
Prosper MENIÈRE (1799-1862) physician. Autograph... - Lot 326 - Ader
Prosper MENIÈRE (1799-1862) physician. Autograph manuscript signed, Voyage de Palerme en France, July 1833; a large volume in-8 of 594 pages, bound in half brown basane, spine decorated (worn binding; tears without missing 28 leaves; some foxing).
A fascinating diary of the doctor's journey in Sicily and Italy, from Palermo to Paris, from July 20 to September 25, 1833. It has remained unpublished.
Ménière, after having given birth to the Duchess of Berry in Blaye, accompanied her to Palermo, and embarked with her on June 8, 1833 for Palermo. This is the detailed account of his return to France.
The manuscript is carefully kept each day, on about ten pages, very full in brown ink, without margin, in a very legible handwriting. It is illustrated with some drawings or sketches. Ménière shows a great curiosity; a cultured man, he expresses himself very well, with a great spontaneity. "A great day. I come back quite tired, but delighted with my shopping. Let's start my walk again, pen in hand, it will be a new pleasure, without fatigue". In addition to the monuments that he visits, Ménière gives a lot of details on the daily life, the customs, the physiognomy of the inhabitants, the conditions of travel, etc.
Ménière embarked on July 20, 1833, in the harbor of Palermo, on the steamboat the Fernando; after having skirted the coast, he arrived at the strait of Messina, and assisted to the fishing of swordfish; arrival at Messina (sketch of the bay); excursion to Taormina (sketch of the theater), where a magistrate showed him his collection of ancient coins (drawing of a medal). Visit of the city, guided by Dr. Scudery, whose collection of shells he admires; of the hospital, of the collection of the painter Carlo Minaldi, where he notices a polyptych by Antonello (sketch), of the cathedral. Departure and crossing of the strait (July 23), arrival in Naples: Villa Reale, San Carlo theater (representation of I Capuleti by Bellini), the bay of Naples and Vesuvius, street show, the cathedral, funeral procession led by white penitents, Anna Bolena by Donizetti with the Pasta; he is welcomed by Carlo Bonucci (director of the excavations of Pompeia), visit to the Studi museum, the gallery of paintings, dinner at the Rothschilds' house; end of evening at the Meuricoffre's house, with a magnificent view on the bay. At the Duke of Casarano's, he admired a painting by Salvator Rosa; another visit to the Studi to admire the statues and the collection of ancient paintings; a walk in Pozzuoli and Pausilippe; a pantomime show at San Carlino. Lunch at the Duke of Casarano's, with "a number of artists and amateurs, scholars and people of letters. This meeting made me feel better than I had done until then, how much the Neapolitan society is enlightened, how much there are solid instructions in its men that the circumstances move away from the great affairs. The extreme activity of their spirit needs a food and it finds it in the culture of the fine arts, in the study of the history, but especially in the conversation "... Strolling in the streets: "the city of Naples helps and halls. The street of Toledo is the wonder of this place, and this wonder would be a cesspool if it fell a little rain. One has the happiness not to be croaked, but at the end of a quarter of hour all the clothes are gray. One travels through a cloud of dust"... Visit of the hospitals with Dr Grillo, then of the gallery of Michele Santangelo (superb medallions, antiques). Considerations on medicine in Naples, teaching, lotteries; the Albergo reale dei Poveri; the catacombs. Excursion to Pompeia (July 31). Visit of the public library (manuscript of Tasso); visits to various scholars. Return to Pozzuoli: the Solfatarre, the monuments; the Norma at the San Carlo, with the Pasta. Ascent to the castle of St. Elmo and to the Carthusian monastery of San Martino; excursion to Resina and ascent of Vesuvius (sketch of the volcano). Description of the fishing with lamparo. Departure from Naples (August 5) by car for Rome; customs at Terracina. Walks in Rome and the Vatican. Excursion to Tivoli. Villa Borghese; workshops of Camuccini and Bodinier, the Colosseum, St. George's Hall (admiration of Michelangelo's Moses), Borghese Gallery, St. John Lateran, Baths of Diocletian, the Pantheon, St. Mary Minerva, Temple of Vesta, St. Paul's outside the walls, etc. Feasts of the Assumption at St. Mary Major, celebrated by Gregory XVI. Doria Gallery, the Capitol, Piazza Navona, Marcellus' theater; the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's; a walk along the Corso, impressions of the Romans; the Grand Hospital of the Holy Spirit, St. Louis of the French (meditation on the tomb of Pauline de Beaumont), Barberina Library; Thorwaldsen and Horace Vernet's workshops, etc. Departure on August 21: the road to Siena and then Florence: the Loggia, the Uffizi Gallery, the Duomo, Pitti Palace, the Laurentian Library, the churches of the city of Siena and the city of Florence.
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