Victor Hugo: Fine signed autograph letter, 1844

  

Paris, April 21, 1844, to Adèle Caldelar; large in-8 on a double sheet with autograph address. Size: 19.4 cm x 27.2 cm unfolded. Single sheet: 19.4 x 13.6 cm.

With elegant magnetic plexiglass frame (included): 22.5 x 33 cm. Very warm encouragement from Victor Hugo to the schoolteacher, poet, and fabulist from Vendée, Adèle Caldelar, following the sending of her collection (1844), praised by Lamartine, Chateaubriand, and Alfred de Vigny. Included is a recent biography of Adèle Calderar by Christophe Merel. Adèle Caldelar, Life and Works of a Muse from Vendée. The year 1844 was a period of profound transition for Victor Hugo, struck hard a few months earlier by the tragic death of his eldest daughter, Léopoldine, who drowned with her husband in Villequier on September 4, 1843.

In this month of April, the trauma is still fresh. Broken by grief, Hugo had almost completely stopped writing for the public and publishing. His play Les Burgraves having failed just before the tragedy, he turned away from the theater for good.

It was around the time of this letter that he began gathering notes and scattered poems that would later form the collection Les Contemplations. What a beautiful book, Madam, and what a charming book! Beneath this silk and gold, what grace and wit and refinement! I thank you for having had the idea of dedicating this precious collection to me. I thank you for saying so in beautiful verse.

I place at your feet, Madam, my thanks and my respect. [On the autograph address page, in Victor Hugo’s hand, it reads:] Madame Veuve Caldelar Followed by the address. In another hand: Victor Hugo, April 21, 1844. Below, Victor Hugo by Étienne Carjat, 1876. Life and Work of a Muse from Vendée.