DAUDET ALPHONSE: (1840-1897) French novelist. A very interesting A.L.S., `Alph Daudet´ ...

DAUDET ALPHONSE: (1840-1897) French novelist. A very interesting A.L.S., `Alph Daudet´, signed three times, also to the heading with his intials and to the envelope, four pages, to a small 8vo bifolium, n.p., n.d., to Philippe Gille, in French. An unusually lengthy letter by Daudet, relating to his character Numa Roumestan, from his work with same title Numa Roumestan (1880). Daudet, in his usual small writing, states in part, `Numa Roumestan, c’est l’homme du midi. On a nommé Nuam Roumestan : Gambetta, Cazot, ni ça, ni ça. J’ai essayé de résumer dans un type, vingt ans d’observation sur les natures méridionales, mobiles, tout en surface, en voix et en gestes, natures de ténors et d’avocats. ‘Quand je ne parle pas, je ne pense pas’ dit naïvement mon personnage. Des élans courts, des convictions fragiles, un égoïsme inconscient qui fait que Roumestan ne dit jamais en parlant d’un ami ‘Je l’aime !’, mais `Il m’adore, il se jetterait au feu pour moi’. Avec cela, le désir de plaire, de séduire, la folie du prmettre, un mépris presque oriental de la femme, et une aptitude au mensonge qui vient d´une imagination débordante, d´une incontinence de parole bien plus que d´une âme fausse… Pour mettre le type plus en relief, j´en ai fait un puissant, d´abord député, puis ministre; je l´ai marié à une femme du nord... Le livre est le débat de ces deux natures, mari léger, femme sérieuse...´ (Translation: "Numa Roumestan is the man of the south. Nuam Roumestan was named: Gambetta, Cazot, neither this nor that. I tried to summarize in a kind of man, twenty years of observation on southern natures, mobile, all on the surface, in voices and gestures, natures of tenors and lawyers. ‘When I don’t speak, I don’t think’ says my character naively. Short bursts, fragile convictions, an unconscious egoism that makes Roumestan never say when speaking of a friend `I love him!’, but instead "He adores me, he would throw himself into the fire for me". With that, the desire to please, to seduce, the madness of promising, an almost oriental disregard for women, and an aptitude for lying that comes from an overflowing imagination, an incontinence of speech much more than from a false soul… To highlight the personage even more, I made him a powerful one, first a deputy, then a minister; I married him to a woman from the north… The book is the debate of these two natures, a frivolous husband, a serious wife...") Further, Daudet continues referring to Numa Roumestan and describes in detail the other characters of his novel, making a real summary of his novel, with very interesting comments about it, and before concluding states `Pour résumer votre article vous pouvez citer ces mots de Roumestan, dans l´ivresse du triomphe quand il est nommé ministre : "Ah! Le midi monte, le midi monte... Paris est à nous. Nous tenons tout. Il faut en prendre votre parti, messieurs. Pour la seconde fois les latins ont conquis la Gaule" Et au diable si ce n´est pas vrai´ (Translation: "To sum up your article you can quote these words from Roumestan, in the intoxication of triumph when he was appointed minister: "Ah! The South is rising, the South is rising... Paris is ours. We hold everything. You must accept it, gentlemen. For the second time the Latins have conquered Gaul." And to hell with it if it is not true.") A letter of very interesting content. Accompanied by the original 12mo envelope addressed in Daudet´s hand. VG

Philippe Gille (1830-1901) French Journalist.