VIGNY (Alfred de).

VIGNY (Alfred de).
Les destinées. Philosophical poems. Paris, Michel Lévy frères, 1864. In-8, [2] f., 191 p., [2] f., dark brown morocco, 5-rib spine with gilt fillet, gilt author, title and date, gilt double fillet on boards and panels, gilt double fillet on edges, guilloché headpieces, gilt double fillet on morocco lining, red moiré satin endpapers, gilt edges on witnesses, covers and spines preserved, case [A. &| R.
Maylander].
First edition of this collection. Only two pieces, La Maison du berger and La Bouteille à la mer, had previously appeared in the
Revue des Deux Mondes. It is illustrated with a portrait of the author, based on a photograph by Adam Salomon, on Chine appliqué.
A very fine copy printed on strong vellum paper, in an attractive original binding by Maylander. An autograph letter signed by Vigny (3 pp. in-8, stains), dated May 3, 1862, and addressed to a dear friend, has been mounted at the head. After informing her of his illness, which keeps him isolated, "these nervous affections of the stomach do not allow one to speak without pain... "he tells her about his photographic portrait by Salomon.

PROVENANCE: André Schück (bookplate| first sale, 1986, no. 365).