LAMARTINE Valentine de LAMARTINE / Signed Autograph Letter / Memoir / Poetry

  

Signed autograph letter "Valentine de Lamartine" to Victor de Laprade Paris, May 31, 1872, 4 pp. Long and precious letter from Alphonse de Lamartine's niece, thanking her friend Victor de Laprade for dedicating a work to the poetry of her illustrious uncle. [We only transcribe a part of it here].

] I am so happy about the work that you are willing to do again for this great and dear memory that you have just glorified in such beautiful pages [The Poetry of Lamartine, Didier & Cie, 1872]. Thank you, thank you for indulging in my work, the last tribute that I can still pay to the one who has been the Happiness and glory of my life - Your name united with his will bring happiness to my book [.

] There is no need for me to tell you how much I sympathize with your suffering [.] The other day, I was thinking of you while going through the correspondence with M. de Virieu [Aymon de Virieu, Lamartine's childhood friend], so full of treasures, this thought so true and profound "There is no way to be indifferent to the body! I truly believe that the soul has more control over its own pain; it has consolations that the body does not!" and he adds further - Happy is the man who believes!

] Please, dear Sir and friend, remember me to Madame de Laprade and receive the assurance of affectionate feelings [. Born on March 17, 1821 in Saint-Amour, Valentine is one of the six children of Cécile de Cessiat, Alphonse de Lamartine's sister. After becoming a widow at a very young age in 1827, she gets closer to her brother who, deprived of children since the death of Julia, tries to fill the void in his house by welcoming his nieces. According to witnesses, Valentine is enchanting, "with big dark eyes, tall, elegant, slender, graceful in her walk, and with a charming voice as well as a smile," according to Marie-Renée Morin.

Remaining unmarried, Valentine serves as a secretary to a fallen and aging Lamartine. On August 31, 1867, Lamartine adopts her and makes arrangements for her to add her name to Cessiat's. As his universal legatee, she dedicates herself to the glory of the poet and publishes his correspondence.

She dies on May 16, 1894 at the Château de Saint-Point, where she rests near the poet. Lamartine passed away on February 28, 1869, a little over three years after the writing of this letter. His poetry is inspired by Chateaubriand and Lamartine. He publishes The Poetry of Lamartine in 1872 with Didier & Cie. This letter appears to be unpublished.