Gustave Flaubert (1821-1880) - photo 1

Gustave Flaubert (1821-1880)

Lot 94
15.12.2023 11:00UTC +00:00
Classic
Sold
£ 10 080
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
Buyer Premiumsee on Website%
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 1108893
Lot 94 | Gustave Flaubert (1821-1880)
Estimate value
£ 7 000 – 10 000
Gustave Flaubert (1821-1880)
Autograph manuscript, notes on the Essais and Journal de voyage of Michel de Montaigne, n.d. [?c.1838-1845]
In French. The notes on the Essais comprising 51½ pages, approx. 220 x 175mm, plus a few blanks, in a wrapper with autograph title 'Notes – Montaigne / 1er Livre'; the notes on the Journal de voyage comprising autograph title ('Journal des Voyages de Montaigne') and 18 pages, approx. 220 x 175mm. With an early typed transcript of the notes on the Essais. Provenance: Gustave Flaubert – by descent to his niece, Caroline Franklin Grout-Flaubert (1846-1931) – her sale (the 'Vente Flaubert'), Antibes, 28-30 avril 1931, lot 30; Sotheby's London, 27 November 1980, lot 345.

Flaubert's reading notes on the works of his 'père nourricier', Michel de Montaigne. The notes are a remarkable record of Flaubert's engagement with a writer with whom he felt a strong affinity, exclaiming in a letter of 1853 to Louise Colet that 'We have the same tastes, the same opinions, the same way of life, the same obsessions'; in the same letter he recalls that at the age of 18 he spent an entire year 'in which I read only him'. The dating of the present notes is very likely from that period, or the few years following.

The notes are characterised by Timothy Chesters ('Flaubert's reading notes on Montaigne'. French Studies 63 (Oct. 4, 2009): 399-415) as 'essentially a commonplace book. There are 270 quotations from the Essais, carefully transcribed and sometimes underlined for emphasis. Just occasionally Flaubert himself intervenes: to comment, paraphrase or direct the reader's gaze — that is, his own, future gaze — to a particular paragraph or page. The notes on the Journal follow a similar pattern, though Flaubert, who himself travelled through Italy in 1845, has also drawn up a complete list of the places Montaigne visited en route'. The notes on the Essais cover books I, II and III (to III.5). According to Chesters, one can identify Flaubert's reading edition of the Essais as Joseph-Victor Leclerc's 1836 two-volume octavo (the copy still held in Flaubert's surviving library at Canteleu); Flaubert's own notes identify his copy of the Journal de voyage as Meunier de Querlon's two-volume duodecimo edition of 1774.
Artist:Gustave Flaubert (1821 - 1880)
Place of origin:France
Auction house category:Letters, documents and manuscripts
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
Preview
09.12.2023 12:00 – 17:00
10.12.2023 12:00 – 17:00
11.12.2023 09:00 – 20:00
12.12.2023 09:00 – 17:00
13.12.2023 09:00 – 17:00
Phone +44 (0)20 7839 9060
Email
4FQ.AYGKAGLUQ@FO3G@
Buyer Premium see on Website
Conditions of purchaseConditions of purchase

More from Creator

FLAUBERT, Gustave (1821-1880)
FLAUBERT, Gustave (1821-1880)
€2 000
FLAUBERT, Gustave (1821-1880)
FLAUBERT, Gustave (1821-1880)
€2 000
FLAUBERT, Gustave (1821-1880)
FLAUBERT, Gustave (1821-1880)
€22 000
FLAUBERT, Gustave (1821-1880)
FLAUBERT, Gustave (1821-1880)
€5 500
Gustave Flaubert (1821-1880)
Gustave Flaubert (1821-1880)
£100
Flaubert, G.
Flaubert, G.
€45
FLAUBERT, Gustave (1821-1880)
FLAUBERT, Gustave (1821-1880)
€6 000
Gustave Flaubert (1821-1880)
Gustave Flaubert (1821-1880)
£100

Related terms

Frequently asked questions

First of all, you should register to be able to purchase at auction. After confirming your email address, enter your personal information in your user profile, such as your first name, last name, and mail address. Choose a lot from the upcoming auction and the maximum amount you want to place on it. After confirmation of your choice, we will send your application by e-mail to the appropriate auction house. If the auction house accepts a request, it will participate in the auction. You can view the current status of a bid at any time in your personal account in the "Bids" section.
Auctions are performed by auction houses and each of the auction houses describes their terms of auction. You can see the texts in the section "Auction information".
The results of the auction are published within a few days after the end of the auction. In the top menu of the site, find the tab "Auctions". Click on it and you will be on the auction catalog page, where you can easily find the category "Results". After opening it, select the desired auction from the list, enter and view the current status of the interested lot.
The information about the auction winners is confidential. The auction winner will receive a direct notification from the auction house responsible with instructions for further action: an invoice for payment and the manner in which the goods will be received.
Each of the auction houses has its own payment policy for the won lots. All auction houses accept bank transfers, most of them accept credit card payments. In the near future you will find detailed information for each case in the section "Auction information" on the page of the auction catalog and the lot.
Shipment of the won lot depends on its size. Small items can be delivered by post. Larger lots are sent by courier. Employees of the auction houses will offer you a wide range to choose from.
No. The archive serves as a reference for the study of auction prices, photographs and descriptions of works of art.
?>