Frédéric MISTRAL (1830-1914). L.A.S., [Maillane] June 20, 18 - Lot 235

Frédéric MISTRAL (1830-1914). L.A.S., [Maillane] June 20, 1894, to Mme Adrien Dumas in Villary, a suburb of Nîmes; 4 pages in-8, envelope. Lovely letter evoking an excursion to Aigues-Mortes; then he "won the Ste Maries by this immensity of the Sauvage (sung by my young accents)". He strolled "in the silent streets and on the fine sands of this holy land", and "returned across the Camargue by the little railway that civilizes it, to our peninsulas at Maillane. A quiet two-day elopement". He enjoyed these fugues, especially "at the Pont du Gard, when you're all alone, dreaming, gaping at your ease, in front of this water-carrying colossus that takes you right back to the height of Roman times! with its fierce brown Gardon, its romantic landscape and the little inn where you can have a cool lunch and write down your impressions alone". As for Lamartine: "What surprises me, in this adventure [...] with Madame de Cessia, is that she had to be beautiful. But she was so good!