DUMAS ...

DUMAS ALEXANDRE: Fils (1824-1895) French Author and Dramatist. An exceptional and lengthy A.L.S., A Dumas, four pages, 8vo, grid paper, Naples, 5th April 1861, to Victor Hugo, in French. Dumas refers to his father´s work The Count of Montecristo and to a former correspondence between Hugo and his father, stating `Croyez-vous, mon très grand et très cher Maitre, que c’est aujourd’hui seulement... que je lis, par hazard, en feuilletant une collection du Monte Cristo, votre excellente lettre à mon père du 22 décembre 1859.´, (“Can you believe my very great and very dear master that it is only today… that I read, by chance, and while flipping through a collection of Monte Cristo, your excellent letter addressed to my father last 22nd December 1859.´ Dumas wonders how could he miss such letter and explains where he was at the time of the letter, saying `Comment se fait-il qu´une lettre de vous où il est question de moi dans de pareils termes ne me tombe sous la main qu´au bout de dix-huit mois, et quel nom bizarre et mérité aves.vous du donner a mon silence? Le 22 décembre 1859, j’étais à Rome où j’essayais de me reposer des fatigues de cette pièce qui a eu le bonheur de vous plaire.´, (“How could this happen that a letter of you, where you refer to me with such terms, does not come to my hands until after eighteen months, and what a weird and deserved name may have you given to my silence?”) Hugo was referring in his letter to Dumas´ work Un Pere Prodigue, created in 1859. Dumas further refers to his father´s traditions when keeping this letter in such a way, to the fact that his father is not so much appreciated in Rome, and further again states `..si je n´avais pas eu l´idée de venir a Naples, respirer l´air chaud d´une terre nouvellement libre, où mon même père habite tranquillement un palais du Roi François II apres y avoir brûlé du sucre. C´est là, en feuilletant le Monte Cristo que je trouve votre lettre..´, (“..if I hadn't had the idea of coming to Naples, to breathe the warm air of a newly free land, where even my father quietly lives in a palace of King Francis II after having burned sugar there. It is there, leafing through Monte Cristo, that I find your letter…”) Before concluding Dumas states `Enfin! Mon cher Maitre, jetez encore de beaux vers à cette pauvre terre de France. Elle en a besoin – sa prose est triste..´, (“Finally! My dear Master, throw more beautiful verses into this poor land of France. They need it - their prose is sad..” A letter of very interesting content and excellent association. Small overall minora ge wear and creasing, otherwise G

 

The letter that Victor Hugo wrote to Alexandre Dumas father was saying in part `C’est vous, heureux et cher Dumas, c’est vous que je veux féliciter du succès, et de tous les succès de votre fils. Vous faites un couple admirable, le père mêlé au rayonnement du fils, le fils mêlé à l’auréole du père. Oui, vous êtes un père prodigue, vous lui avez tout donné, drame saisissant, passion chaude, dialogue vrai, style étincelant, et en même temps, miracle tout simple dans l’art, vous avez tout gardé. Vous l’avez fait riche en restant opulent.´, (“It is you, happy and dear Dumas, it is you that I want to congratulate on the success, and all the successes of your son. You make an admirable couple, the father mixed with the radiance of the son, the son mixed with the halo of the father. Yes, you are an unsparing father, you gave him everything, thrilling drama, ardent passion, true dialogue, gleaming style, and at the same time, a simple miracle in art, you kept it all. You made him rich while remaining opulent”)