1910 Alfred De Musset - CONFESSIONS OF A CHILD OF THE CENTURY

Description: This is is a 1910 1ST edition thus antique copy of French dramatist, novelist and poet Alfred De Musset’s (11 December 1810 – 2 May 1857) famous autobiography “Confessions of a Child of the Century.” Published in New York City by Current Literature Publishing Company in original tan boards with black writing and black and red decoration. 311 pages. Condition: VERY GOOD+ - NEAR FINE Book is solidly bound with tight hinges and joints. Slightly rubbed crown and heel of spine, sharp corners. Boards are unfaded and colorful and show only light soiling and a mildly sun darkened spine. A light pencil mark on front paste down and a smudge mark on a blank rear page else clean, unmarked and free of damage or wear with no ex libris marks or stamps. Lightly age-toned edges. A beautifully collectible copy! ABOUT ALFRED DE MUSSET Musset was born in Paris. His family was upper-class but poor; his father worked in various key government positions, but never gave his son any money. Musset's mother came from similar circumstances, and her role as a society hostess – for example her drawing-room parties, luncheons and dinners held in the Musset residence – left a lasting impression on young Alfred. An early indication of his boyhood talents was his fondness for acting impromptu mini-plays based upon episodes from old romance stories he had read. Years later, elder brother Paul de Musset would preserve these and many other details, for posterity, in a biography of his famous younger brother. Alfred de Musset entered the lycée Henri-IV at the age of nine, where in 1827 he won the Latin essay prize in the Concours général at age 17. With the help of Paul Foucher, Victor Hugo's brother-in-law, he began to attend, at the age of 17, the Cénacle, the literary salon of Charles Nodier at the Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal. After attempts at careers in medicine (which he gave up owing to a distaste for dissections), law, drawing, English and piano, he became one of the first Romantic writers, with his first collection of poems, Contes d'Espagne et d'Italie (1829, Tales of Spain and Italy). By the time he reached the age of 20, his rising literary fame was already accompanied by a sulphurous reputation fed by his dandy side. He was the librarian of the French Ministry of the Interior under the July Monarchy. His politics were of a liberal stamp, and he was on good terms with the family of King Louis Philippe. During this time he also involved himself in polemics during the Rhine crisis of 1840, caused by the French prime minister Adolphe Thiers, who as Minister of the Interior had been Musset's superior. Thiers had demanded that France should own the left bank of the Rhine (described as France's "natural boundary"), as it had under Napoleon, despite the territory's German population. These demands were rejected by German songs and poems, including Nikolaus Becker's Rheinlied, which contained the verse: "Sie sollen ihn nicht haben, den freien, deutschen Rhein ..." (They shall not have it, the free, German Rhine). Musset answered to this with a poem of his own: "Nous l'avons eu, votre Rhin allemand" (We've had it, your German Rhine). The tale of his celebrated love affair with George Sand in 1833–1835 is told from his point of view in his autobiographical novel La Confession d'un Enfant du Siècle (The Confession of a Child of the Century) (1836), which was made into a 1999 film, Children of the Century, and a 2012 film, Confession of a Child of the Century, and is told from her point of view in her Elle et lui (1859). Musset's Nuits (Nights) (1835–1837) traces the emotional upheaval of his love for Sand from early despair to final resignation. He is also believed to be the anonymous author of Gamiani, or Two Nights of Excess (1833), a lesbian erotic novel also believed to be modeled on Sand. Outside of his relationship with Sand he was a well-known figure in brothels, and is widely accepted to be the anonymous author-client who beat and humiliated the author and courtesan Céleste de Chabrillan, also known as La Mogador. Musset was dismissed from his post as librarian by the new minister Ledru-Rollin after the revolution of 1848. He was, however, appointed librarian of the Ministry of Public Instruction in 1853. On 24 April 1845, Musset received the Légion d'honneur at the same time as Balzac, and was elected to the Académie Française in 1852 after two failed attempts in 1848 and 1850. Alfred de Musset died in his sleep in Paris in 1857. The cause was heart failure, the combination of alcoholism and a longstanding aortic insufficiency. One symptom that had been noticed by his brother was a bobbing of the head as a result of the amplification of the pulse; this was later called de Musset's sign. He was buried in Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris. As a fellow book collector, I know how frustrating it can be when items aren’t accurately described or poorly packaged for shipping. That is why I (1) take a lot of pictures and try to describe condition issues as accurately as possible and (2) pack your book purchases with the utmost care before shipping. I have been selling and buying on eBay for over 10 years and have a 100% satisfaction rating, and offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee 14-day return policy. Happy to combine shipping on multiple orders to save you money. Please follow me as I have thousands of highly collectible books to list in the coming weeks and months!

Price: 39.96 USD

Location: Litchfield Park, Arizona

End Time: 2023-12-15T23:23:33.000Z

Shipping Cost: 6.12 USD