1866 French Woman Postmistress Euphrasie Dorlhac to Aimé Giron on Literary Criticism, an Unwritten Novel, and Life in Provincial France

On offer is an engaging four-page autograph letter signed by Euphrasie Marie Dorlhac (1820–1898), postmistress of Saint-Germain-Lembron in the Puy-de-Dôme (as identified in census documents).

It was written on May 29, 1866, to the young French author and journalist Aimé Giron (1836–1907). Literary, intimate, and quietly revealing, the letter documents the intellectual friendship between Giron and a thoughtful provincial woman with affiliation to the Giron family, who served not merely as an admirer, but as a candid critic and source of creative ideas.

Dorlhac gently reproaches Giron for withdrawing into his “wild hermitage” and asks whether her criticism of his feuilleton for the newspaper L’Union had troubled him. She makes clear that her opinions are offered for serious debate rather than polite acceptance: “Lorsque je vous dis librement mon avis, c’est avec le désir que vous le discutiez, que vous le combattiez” [“When I freely give you my opinion, it is with the desire that you discuss it and challenge it”]. The passage presents a woman confidently claiming a place within Giron’s literary process, an especially appealing feature for research into women’s informal influence upon nineteenth-century publishing and authorship.

The heart of the letter is Dorlhac’s proposal for a novel or serialized story suitable for L’Union. She shares her concept in depth and invokes Jules Sandeau as a literary point of comparison and the Duc de Morny as a recognizable model of modern power. Dorlhac disclaims any wish to become an author herself, telling Giron: “Je cause et n’écris pas” [“I converse; I do not write”]. Nevertheless, what follows demonstrates considerable narrative instinct and a keen understanding of the ideological tensions from which fiction could be made.

The concluding portion shifts from literature to personal and professional matters. Dorlhac discusses the transmission of 200 francs’ worth of postage stamps, explains that Giron’s assistance may help secure her advancement as postmistress, asks after his father, and expresses concern for Giron’s sadness. She closes by telling Giron that, should Emperor Napoleon III visit Le Puy, he must be prepared to “sharpen his pen.” A later annotation identifies Euphrasie as a cousin and remembers her for her exceptional heart and intelligence.

Euphrasie Marie Dorlhac was born at Saint-Germain-Lembron in 1820, the daughter of Doctrovée Dorlhac and Marie Gabrielle Françoise Cuel. The 1866 census identifies her as the community’s postmistress and appears to record a congenital physical disability, possibly involving the absence or impairment of an arm or arms. Her employment in a responsible public-facing position is therefore particularly notable. Dorlhac never married and appears to have continued living among relatives in Saint-Germain-Lembron until her death in 1898.