Émile GALLÉ (1846-1904). L.A.S., Nancy February 9, 1899, to - Lot 25

Émile GALLÉ (1846-1904). L.A.S., Nancy February 9, 1899, to a "dear friend and Master"; 4 pages in-8. On theater in Nancy, and politics. He has done his best "to defend with the mayor of Nancy and our friends the otherwise excellent cause of M. Brousseau", and is delighted "like all the devotees of art here, that it has prevailed. We expect a lot from him for the return to Nancy of great works proscribed in favor of idiotic pleasures. It's a disgrace for a city like this that you have to go to Paris or across the border to hear Racine, Molière, Dumas, Shakespeare, Glück, Weber; most of the dramatic and lyrical masterpieces of the stage are unknown in Nancy". He does, however, mention the excellent Concerts populaires they enjoy thanks to Guy Ropartz... He speaks at length of the wretched state of society "without humanity and without justice [...], shameless, without intelligence and without courage"... He then turns to politics, and expresses his indignation at André Lebon's appearance for a conference at the Ligue de l'enseignement civique et républicain, whose article should remind "this character of the illegalities and atrocities he has committed", at the Méline ministry and concerning Devil's Island [an allusion to Dreyfus]... Finally, he criticizes the ruling classes and the army, the inequality of society, and goes back over his commitments, notably his adherence to the Union "with all my soul"... Etc.