French actress (1806-1883) who abandoned her career after becoming the mistress of Victor Hugo, to whom she acted as a secretary and traveling companion. ALS in French, signed “Juliette,” four pages on two adjoining sheets, 5.25 x 8.25, February 11, no year. Handwritten letter to her lifelong lover, the illustrious French writer Victor Hugo, offering a unique glimpse into their daily life, in full (translated): “I am feeling better and better, my dear little man, but for the kidney pain. I hope it will be gone by this evening. I have chosen not to go out to prevent it from increasing. Otherwise, I would not have asked for anything but to take some fresh air on the boulevard or on the river banks. Tomorrow, if the weather is fine, I will give my legs great pleasure, unless the doctor insists otherwise. Today I have made all my little things quietly. Shortly I will copy, it will be charming. Suzanne has resigned herself to list the presents I give her in the expenses, which she could not decide to do it before. Currently, I owe her 50 Francs. This bothers me only because of you, my poor adored one, because as for Suzanne I confess that I am completely insensitive to her terrible sacrifice. My gratitude does not go further. This is all it can do for this heroin of dedication. My little Toto, I love you, I adore you, my little man I am waiting for you, my beloved I desire you, my joy, my happiness, my love, I kiss you from head to foot." In fine condition. Suzanne was Juliette Drouet’s cook since 1839.
Drouet’s letters to Victor Hugo form one of the most beautiful correspondences of French literature. While most of them are held at the French National Library, a small portion of them has remained in private hands. Although Drouet’s unique figure has traditionally been somewhat shadowed by Hugo’s, interest in her has steadily increased in later years. Her role has been reassessed and she is now recognized as a prominent feminine figure of 19th century France. On the literary side, apart from providing constant support to copy Hugo’s texts—which she mentions in the offered letter—she is known to have saved his manuscripts when the writer had to leave France after Napoleon III’s coup in December 1851.
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