{"product_id":"12164","title":"1870 Female Poet Malvina Blanchecotte Letter to Aimé Giron on Publishing, the Académie Française as a “Commercial Label” and Her Forthcoming Rêves et Réalités","description":"\u003cp dir=\"auto\"\u003eOn offer is a revealing autograph letter signed by French poet and writer Augustine-Malvina Blanchecotte (1830–1897), written from 11 rue Cujas, Paris, on May 22, 1870, to fellow poet and author Aimé Giron (1836–1907).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"auto\"\u003eWritten shortly before the Franco-Prussian War and the upheavals of the Paris Commune, the letter offers a candid view of literary publishing, professional survival and intellectual ambition in the life of a nineteenth-century French woman writer of working-class origins.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"auto\"\u003eBlanchecotte reports that the publishing house Didier is preparing a new edition of her first and best-known poetry collection:\u003cem\u003e “Les Didier rééditent mon tout premier volume...\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cem\u003eRêves et Réalités\u003c\/em\u003e” [“\u003cem\u003eThe Didiers are reissuing my very first volume...Dreams and Realities”\u003c\/em\u003e].\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"auto\"\u003eShe asks Giron to lend his “poet’s eye” to the proofs, characterizing her early pages with affectionate self-criticism as naïve and inexperienced.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"auto\"\u003eParticularly striking is Blanchecotte’s wry understanding of how literary honours could be converted into commercial advantage. Although she possessed enough new material for one or even two additional volumes, she recognized that her first collection carried a marketable distinction: \u003cem\u003e“Ce livre porte la mention la plus fossile de mon étiquette : couronné par l’Académie française ; étiquette importante pour le commerce”\u003c\/em\u003e [\u003cem\u003e“This book bears the most fossilized wording of my label: crowned by the French Academy; an important label for commerce”\u003c\/em\u003e]. It is an unusually frank comment on literary prestige as advertising, written by a woman whose social background made institutional recognition especially consequential.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"auto\"\u003eThe letter also illuminates the considerable labour underlying Blanchecotte’s literary career. Alongside writing, she continued to support herself through lessons and bookkeeping while overseeing the education of her son, who was enrolled at the École Polytechnique. She also discusses her contributions to the \u003cem\u003eJournal officiel\u003c\/em\u003e, including biographical studies of the English authors, a new venture into biographical writing.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"auto\"\u003eRich in publishing history, women’s literary history and the economics of authorship, the letter would be exciting to collectors and researchers interested in 19th century French poetry, working-class writers, women in journalism, the Académie française, Anglo-French literary reception and the professional networks through which women writers sought publication and critical recognition.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"auto\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBIOGRAPHICAL NOTES:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"auto\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAugustine-Adolphine-Malvina Blanchecotte, née Souville (1830–1897),\u003c\/strong\u003e was a French poet, essayist and journalist born into a Parisian working-class family. Employed first as a seamstress and later as a teacher and bookkeeper, she developed her literary career while supporting and educating her son. Encouraged by Alphonse de Lamartine and associated with writers including Pierre-Jean de Béranger and Louise Colet, she achieved recognition with \u003cem\u003eRêves et Réalités\u003c\/em\u003e, first published in 1855 and awarded the Académie française’s Prix Maillé-Latour-Landry. Sainte-Beuve discussed her work appreciatively, and her later publications included \u003cem\u003eNouvelles poésies\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eImpressions d’une femme\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eTablettes d’une femme pendant la Commune\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eLes Militantes\u003c\/em\u003e. Her combination of working-class origins, female authorship and institutional recognition makes her an important figure in the study of nineteenth-century French women’s writing and social mobility.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"auto\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eJean-Antoine Aimé Giron (1836–1907)\u003c\/strong\u003e was a French lawyer, poet, novelist, journalist and author of literature for both adults and younger readers. Born at Le Puy-en-Velay, he participated extensively in French literary and journalistic circles and maintained correspondence with numerous writers. Blanchecotte’s request that he examine her proofs demonstrates the degree of professional trust between them and Giron’s place within the informal networks that supported publication and literary promotion.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Katz Fine Manuscripts","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51824701178162,"sku":"12164","price":325.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0617\/8612\/8618\/files\/Untitleddesign_3.jpg?v=1789577792","url":"https:\/\/katzfinemanuscripts.com\/products\/12164","provider":"Katz Fine Manuscripts","version":"1.0","type":"link"}