Alphonse de LAMARTINE. Letter from the author, Florence, Dec - Lot 364

Lot n° 364
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500 - 700 EUR
Alphonse de LAMARTINE. Letter from the author, Florence, Dec - Lot 364
Alphonse de LAMARTINE. Letter from the author, Florence, December 22, 1827, to the Marquise de Montcalm; 4 pages, in-4. After offering his best wishes, he expresses concern about the political situation: “The political upheaval we have long foreseen has become more complicated and has accelerated. What hand will halt or resolve it? We are in darkness here, and I believe you are in the same situation as we are: the secret of fate lies in the ballot box! […] The moment is grave, as Bonaparte said: and I do not see how the difficulties of our political situation can be resolved by a single measure or a single session: this fateful appointment of peers complicates everything.” He mentions the death of Auguste de Staël (Madame de Staël’s eldest son), “one of the most estimable and upright men”… Then he turns to Greece: “Here we concern ourselves only with Greece and the battles of Navarino and Chios. […] Moreover, and above all, we concern ourselves with music and balls; it is a life even emptier than that of Paris”… He would leave his post after the arrival of Mr. de Vitrolles: “I don’t know what will become of me afterward; I find that things move very slowly in diplomacy, and I feel too old for my profession and for my rather minor rank. I am, all in all, in a bad mood, sad, and disillusioned, just as you sometimes are; if I were alone, I would leave it all behind and set out on a journey of several years to the East, but I have chained myself with a thousand bonds of propriety, affection, vanity, and family ties that still hold me under the yoke of a dull ambition. I no longer write poetry; my time is entirely taken up by business and the vast social circle one is forced to maintain here for eight months of the year. The country, for the rest, still pleases me; I’ve recently bought a lovely little palace there—which really means a house, at most, with fields and gardens all around it, and yet right in the city; I’m enjoying decorating and furnishing it, and I could put you up there comfortably if you ever decide to come spend a winter in the sun”…
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