Alfred De Vigny - Poetic Letter - Autograph Signed - 1838

Autograph letter signed from Alfred de Vigny (1797-1863) to Jean-Baptiste Gindre de Mancy.

One page in 8 on a double leaf. Paris, September 8, 1838.

Size: 19.5 x 12.5 cm

Exquisite letter in which, after recalling the famous proverb (taken up by Alexandre Dumas in the 3 Musketeers in 1844) "the most beautiful girl in the world can only give what she has", Alfred de Vigny offers a dazzling poetic image of his inner turmoil: "I write to you standing in the midst of a thousand things that worry me, for I live in fire like a salamander". This fine quotation from Vigny ("Je vis dans le feu comme une salamandre") is cited by Emile Lauvrière in his 1909 biography, Alfred de Vigny; sa vie et son œuvre, Paris A. Colin, 1909. Colin, 1909.

This year of 1838 is particularly rich in emotion for Alfred de Vigny, it is the death of his mother on December 20, 1837 and the break-up with Marie Dorval a few weeks before this letter.

The play in question is the premiere of Berlioz's Bienvenuto Cellini, which took place on Monday, September 10, 1938, in the grand Opéra Le Peletier (destroyed by fire in 1873 and which accelerated the construction of the Opéra Garnier in 1875).

Splendid signature

Jean-Baptiste Gindre dit Gindre de Mancy was a man of letters in Paris, employed by the Post Office. He was a friend of Anne François Tercy and Nodier. Berryer's secretary, he contributed to several journals.

In illustration (not included) Alfred de Vigny, portrait by Pierre Daubigny, 1836.