FLAUBERT GUSTAVE: (1821-1880) French novelist of Madame Bovary (1857). A.L.S., Gu. Flaubert, one page, 8vo, n.p. ...

FLAUBERT GUSTAVE: (1821-1880) French novelist of Madame Bovary (1857). A.L.S., Gu. Flaubert, one page, 8vo, n.p., n.d. ('Jeudi matin', annotated 11th September 1869 in another hand), to [Philippe Leparfait], in French. Flaubert announces 'You want to know more than I can tell', continuing to explain 'I asked D'Osmoy three times to come this week and to let me know the day and the exact time. All he did was tell me he would come late this week', and further writing 'Since I will not have a single piece of furniture left in my place from Monday on, I will leave and go to St. Gratien. But I will come to Paris almost every day. And my servant will pay me a visit every morning to bring me the letters and the proofs. So, write to me at Boulevard du Temple until further notice. I accept Preault's silence and thank you for it'. In a postscript Flaubert remarks 'Yesterday I gave Sombre Amour to Le Moniteur'. With some light overall age wear, otherwise VG Philippe Leparfait, adopted son of Louis Bouilhet (1821-1869) French poet and dramatist, a close friend, mentor and guide to Flaubert. Flaubert never wrote anything without his advice and a few months after Bouilhet's death in 1869 Flaubert wrote 'When I lost my poor Bouilhet, I lost my midwife, the man who saw more clearly into my mind than I did myself'. Charles d'Osmoy (1827-1894) French nobleman, librettist and politician who collaborated with Flaubert and Bouilhet on the play Le Chateau des coeurs between 1862-63, although it was not published until 1880. Antoine-Augustin Preault (1809-1879) French sculptor of the Romantic movement.