Alphonse de LAMARTINE (1790-1869). Autograph manuscript sign - Lot 122

Lot n° 122
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Résultat : 3 900EUR
Alphonse de LAMARTINE (1790-1869). Autograph manuscript sign - Lot 122
Alphonse de LAMARTINE (1790-1869). Autograph manuscript signed, Contre la Peine de mort, [1830]; 7pages in-fol. (38 x 24.5 cm, small cracks at folds), mounted on tabs and bound following the original edition, booklet in-8, long-grained black morocco, gilded and cold-framed decoration on covers, inside lace, slipcase (Semet & Plumelle). Important poem against the death penalty. This poem was composed in early November 1830, following the riots of October 17, 18 and 19, when the people demanded the death of Charles x's ministers imprisoned in Vincennes, even though an address from the Chamber had asked Louis-Philippe on September 27 to abolish the death penalty. This political ode was published around December 15, 1830 as a booklet by Gosselin, and was collected from 1832 in the poet's Œuvres. In a speech to the French Chamber of Deputies on March 17, 1838, Lamartine once again eloquently argued for the abolition of the death penalty. The poem is subtitled "Au Peuple du 19 octobre" ("To the People of October 19th"). It consists of 22 verses. The carefully edited manuscript, however, contains a few erasures and corrections, notably in the 7th stanza, and a few variants with the edited text. At the end of his manuscript, Lamartine gave a variant of the last three lines of the second stanza, stating: "Mais je préfère la strophe telle qu'elle existe" ("But I prefer the stanza as it exists"). This manuscript was probably entrusted by Lamartine to Louis-Aimé Martin to edit. Let's quote the first and last stanzas, in the manuscript version: Vains efforts! Perilous audacity! Say friends to me with threatening gesture, Does the Lion even show mercy When his tongue has licked blood? Shut up, or sing as the crowd roars! Wait to pass until the torrent flows With ardour and foaming dregs! We can brave Nero, that hyena of Rome The brutes have a heart, the tyrant is a man But a people is an element! But the day when along the rivers You'd return, eyes downcast on your paths, Followed, cursed by four widows And groups of orphans, Of your dreary triumph in vain seeking celebration Passers-by will turn their heads and say: Let's march! It's nothing new! After Victory, a people takes its revenge! The century has lied about it; man never changes Always either victim or executioner! The 16-page booklet is bound in pamphlet form, with a yellow paper cover.
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