Xavier de MONTÉPIN (1823-1902). 76 L.A.S. and 2 receipts, Pa - Lot 122

Xavier de MONTÉPIN (1823-1902). 76 L.A.S. and 2 receipts, Paris and Cabourg, 1861-1891, to various people; 90 pages in-8 or in-12. Important correspondence reflecting Montépin's various activities, and in which he discusses many of his works. He addresses printers such as Charles and Alexis Lahure, concerning proof corrections for Le Marquis de Loc Ronan, and a receipt for L'homme aux figures de cire; publishers such as Huillery, authorizing the publication of various works, and Louis Lacour (receipt for 50 copies of Bas de Cuir, April 1866); to theater directors, requesting seats or involvement in the choice of actors and rehearsals for a play; to actors, such as Adolphe Laferrière, concerning the drama La Tour St Jacques, in collaboration with Alexandre Dumas, and offering him roles in his plays; to newspaper editors, sending them manuscripts and requesting articles on his works... In 1856, he was put in charge of the theatrical serial for Alexandre Dumas's Le Mousquetaire... He mentions his collaborator Jules Dornay, who in 1876 took over the direction of the Théâtre du Château d'eau, and was to perform his play Le Béarnais. On January 20, 1889, he warmly recommended La Porteuse de Pain, which had been "the greatest success of the Petit Journal", and hoped that the drama based on it would have the same success. In September 1891, L'Ambigu presented Le Médecin des Folles, based on the novel of the same title published by the newspaper La France; in January 1894, it was L'Eléphant blanc, "a new crime in 10 tableaux perpetrated with my usual accomplice J. Dornay", and a novel in progress, Le Mendiant de Saint-Eustache. We also find short letters giving appointments for readings or meals, a letter to his aunt, one to his doctor (1898) recommending that he see Fualdès at the Ambigu and La Joueuse d'Orgue, and even an order for wine.