MUSSET (Alfred de). Posthumous Works. Paris: Charpentier, Bo - Lot 190

MUSSET (Alfred de). Posthumous Works. Paris: Charpentier, Bookseller and Publisher, 1860. In-12, elegant contemporary binding in red half-maroquin with corner caps, spine finely decorated and gilt, gilt head. A collective first edition of Alfred de Musset’s Posthumous Works, published shortly after the poet’s death in 1857. This volume brings together several texts that remained unpublished or scattered during the author’s lifetime and helps to complete the literary portrait of one of the major figures of French Romanticism. Beyond the celebrated poet and playwright, these pages offer a glimpse into a more intimate, at times freer side of Musset, revealing the qualities that give his work its unique charm: elegance of style, psychological subtlety, a pained sensitivity, and disillusioned irony. Taken together, these works shed light on the final years of his career and offer a valuable complement to his best-known poems, plays, and short stories. The publication of these texts sparked keen interest among the literary public of the Second Empire. It contributed to the establishment of the writer’s posthumous reputation and to the gradual compilation of the complete corpus of his work. Charpentier Publishers, which published numerous 19th-century authors, played an essential role in this enduring recognition. The copy presented here is bound in an elegant, period bibliophile binding of red half-maroquin with corner caps, marbled paper covers, and a ribbed spine richly decorated with gilt fillets and fleurons. This presentation harmonizes with the other volumes of Musset’s works published by Charpentier and constitutes a particularly appealing set for the lover of Romantic literature. A fine copy, in a meticulous and decorative binding. The interior is well preserved. A sought-after volume to complete the editions of Alfred de Musset’s works, a valuable testament to the posthumous reception of one of the greatest writers of French Romanticism.

Estimate:£16.84

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