PRUDHOMME SULLY: (1839-1907) French Poet and Essayist, winner of the first Nobel Prize for Literature, 1901. A good ...

PRUDHOMME SULLY: (1839-1907) French Poet and Essayist, winner of the first Nobel Prize for Literature, 1901. A good A.L.S., Sully Prudhomme, four pages, 8vo, Paris, 6th October 1891, to a friend and colleague, in French. Prudhomme announces that he was beginning to become troubled by his friend's extended absence from Paris, but is pleased and envious that he is happy in La Malle, further adding that two months earlier he had been weakened by a congestion of the lungs, but is healthy again now. The poet continues 'How kind you are to have thought about the autographs. On reflection I thought that my request had been very indiscreet……but, well, you have put me completely at ease…..If you unearth a couple of lines by Musset, or just his signature, I will let you off with the rest…..After Musset…..a few verses by Laprade (I have some handwritten prose of his), an autograph of Dumas pere, would be the icing on the cake. In general a few verses signed by their authors are always sought after…..I haven't given up hope of receiving from Madame Jacques a little rhyme autographed by Autran' and further refers to his correspondent's work, 'Ah! Yes! I miss your little rhyming stories and I'm very annoyed to see that the best literary reviews can't defend themselves much longer against the total invasion of prose. The Minister of Public Education appreciates the excellent French in your poems; I have asked Hecq to arrange an audience with him……The trouble is that without the parliamentary regime, all the really effective influence belongs to those who choose the Ministers, that is to say the deputies. I am never sure of anything, what welcome people will give me; it's very hard. In any case I'm not lacking in perseverance'. A charming letter, not least for its references to autograph collecting and Prudhomme's desire for examples by various other French writers including Alfred de Musset and Victor de Laprade. VG