MéRIMéE Prosper (1803-1870)

Lot 174
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400 - 500 EUR
MéRIMéE Prosper (1803-1870)
- 60949 L.A.S. "Pr Mérimée", February 18 [1858], to J.J. de DAMAS-HINARD, secretary of the commandments of the Empress; 3 pages and a half in-8 (small hole), envelope. He reads his edition of the Cid [Poème du Cid, Spanish text accompanied by a French translation, notes, a vocabulary and an introduction] with great pleasure. "It seems to me that you demonstrate in the most indisputable way, the French influence on the Spanish civilization"... He nevertheless has some doubts about the formation of the language, and refers him to Littré's articles on French patois in the Journal des Savants: "he explains quite well how Latin has become corrupted everywhere at once and in twenty different ways. ...] each province has its own particular accent, each has corrupted Latin in its own way"... etc. He offers another interpretation of one line of the poem, before repeating all the good he thinks of his work: "you have converted me to the age of poetry. I thought it was more modern, but there's no denying it after your remarks about the absence of the coat of arms, the harshness of morals, the inferiority of the role of women&c."
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