Lot #487

Gustave Flaubert Autograph Letter Signed

Description

The Madame Bovary author battles writer's block before beginning his masterpiece: "It has been more than two years since I wrote a line of French"

ALS in French, signed “G. F.,” one page both sides, 5.5 x 8.25, [August 8, 1851]. Handwritten letter to his lover, Louise Colet, in part (translated): "I will be a little late at the meeting I gave you, dear friend. Circumstances beyond my control, which I will relate to you, mean that I will not be able to see you until the end of this coming week; in any case, I will let you know the day before. I will bring you back your manuscript and the drama of Madeleine. You would also please me if you would take back your medal. I hope to make you see reason on this.

You ask me to bring you something of myself. I have nothing to show you. It has been more than two years since I wrote a line of French and what I had written long before my departure is illegible and not copied. Besides, in my state of disgust with myself, now is not the time." In fine condition.

Famed for his sometimes-debilitating perfectionist style, Flaubert struggled with writer's block in the months prior to beginning his debut novel, Madame Bovary, in September 1851. He would spend six years toiling on the piece, always searching for 'le mot juste'—the right word—in his pursuit of precise prose. This letter perfectly conveys his disposition as a writer, working in sullen solitude, sometimes occupying a week in the completion of one page, and never satisfied with what he had composed—"in my state of disgust with myself, now is not the time." A brilliant autograph letter by the influential realist author.

Auction Info

• Auction Title: Fine Autograph and Artifacts
• Dates: #639 - Ended July 13, 2022

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