MUGNIER Abbé Arthur, 1853-1944 - Lot 69

Lot n° 69
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800 - 1000 EUR
MUGNIER Abbé Arthur, 1853-1944 - Lot 69
MUGNIER Abbé Arthur, 1853-1944 About 90 signed letters or cards (including 15 autographs), 1930-1943, to Lucien DESCAVES; various sizes. Important literary and friendly correspondence, inhabited by the memory of their common friend HUYSMANS. (some drafts of answer of L. Descaves are attached). Father Mugnier, then very old, dictated most of his letters to his secretary, Mrs Gimonet. The priest gives news of his health, evokes his various stays at the castle of Combourg (with the Countess of Durfort), at the villa Calaoutça in Biarritz (with the Castries), at Nohant (with Aurore Sand). Both of them communed in the cult of Chateaubriand and Balzac: "Let us remain faithful to Chateaubriand, to Lamennais, to Balzac" (August 24, 1932). He evokes his years of study in Nogent-le-Rotrou, the seminary of Saint-Sulpice where he was raised, his parishes, his installation on rue Méchain, and various personalities: Louise Michel, l' bbé Bremond, the princess Bibesco, Francis Jammes, etc. He gives a lot of information on Huysmans and his entourage (Landry, Girard, Boucher), on the Trappe d' gny, Huysmans' stays at Ligugé, l' bbé Féret, the Benedictine "Petit Oiseau" (of which he attaches a copy of two letters). He attaches copies of excerpts from his diary concerning Huysmans. He speaks about the Huysmans Society. Attached : 2 books by Lucien Descaves : Les dernières années de J.-K. Huysmans (Albin Michel, 1941, one of the 10 first copies on vellum of Rives, n° II, paperback with large margins); and Deux Amis J.-K. Huysmans et l' bbé Mugnier. Documents inédits (Plon, 1946, bound in half red morocco); press clippings and autograph notes by Descaves on Huysmans, Rouault, and Mme Leclaire à Ligugé were inserted in the first volume. A photograph of Abbé Mugnier on a walk with L. Descaves. A folder of postcards of Ligugé (1931). 10 letters from various to L. Descaves: Antonine Meunier (daughter of nna Meunier), Countess of Durfort, A. Marois, Henri Girard, R. Gimonet, Countess of Castries, Maurice Garçon. Expert : Thierry BODIN
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