Lot n° 256
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150 - 200
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Autograph Letters - Lot 256
Autograph Letters
WEY (Francis)
Set of 5 volumes by the author:
- *Les enfants du marquis de Ganges ou les expiations*. Paris, Bourmancé, 1838.
Contemporary brown half-chagrin binding, red author’s and title labels on a spine with faux raised bands, gilt fillets, gilt coat of arms on the upper cover, albumin-printed photograph of the author on the flyleaf.
- *Scilla e carriddi*. Paris, Arthus Bertrand, 1843.
2 volumes. ½ plum-colored calfskin binding of the period, smooth spines with faded ornamentation, rocaille metalwork, gilded coat of arms on the upper cover, albumen photograph of the author on the flyleaf. Autograph dedication in pencil by the author to Charles de Mandre.
Autograph signed letter from the author to Madame Désirée Nodier, wife of the French writer, novelist, and member of the Académie Française Charles Nodier.
- *Le diamant noir*. *Romans et nouvelles II*. Paris, Dolin, 1843.
Contemporary ½ plum-colored calfskin binding, smooth spine with faded decoration, rocaille metal fittings, gilded coat of arms on the upper cover.
Albumen photograph of the author on the flyleaf. Autograph letter signed by the author.
- *La balle de plomb*. Novels and Short Stories I. Paris, Dolin, 1843.
Contemporary half-plum calf, smooth spine with faded decoration, rocaille metal fittings, gilded coat of arms on the upper cover.
Albumen photograph of the author on the flyleaf. Autograph letter from the author (1852).
5 volumes, in-8. Each volume bears the gilded coat of arms of Charles de Mandre, along with his printed bookplate.
* Francis Wey (1812–1882), French archivist, paleographer, writer, and historian. He was appointed inspector of the Departmental Archives in 1853. He was a member of the Heliographic Society.
He discovered Charles Nodier’s *Arsenal* and met Victor Hugo, Gérard de Nerval, and Théophile Gautier.
Wey was one of the first critics of photography, writing a scathing piece against the intrusive proliferation of details in daguerreotype portraits. In his “Theory of the Portrait,” published in *La Lumière*, the first periodical devoted to photography (1851), Wey presents a scenario featuring bodies cut into pieces, or else too many things to see—too many objects, too many wrinkles, too many features—that distract and seem to erase the unity of the body.
He was photographed by Nadar, lithographed by Benjamin Roubaud, and painted by Gustave Courbet, with whom he was close.
Provenance: Works from the library of Charles de Mandre, bearing his gilded coat of arms and printed bookplate.
Charles de Mandre (1805–1875), a close associate of the emperor, was personally ennobled in 1867 and was authorized to remove the particle “de” from his surname following the act of ennoblement. He served as chairman of the board of directors of the Ronchamp Coal Mines, mayor of Aillevillers, general councilor for Haute-Saône, lieutenant of the wolf hunt, Knight of the Legion of Honor, and Knight of Malta.
Charles de Mandre had amassed a vast library, the sale of which spanned nine sessions from January 31 to February 9, 1887.
The books, most of which were filled with autograph letters from the authors, were what made this library unique.
De Mandre sought out letters during his stays in Paris, but also asked his friends to sift through their personal correspondence to help him complete his collection.
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