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Gustave FLAUBERT

Salammbô

Michel Lévy, Paris 1863, 15x23cm, relié.

Salammbô

First edition on ordinary paper.
Half-forest green shagreen contemporary binding, spine with five raised bands, marbled paper board and endpapers, bookplate pasted on one guard.
Some slight, minor foxing.
Rare signed and inscribed copy by Gustave Flaubert to (Louis) de Carné, journalist and historian, several of whose works were listed in the inventory of Flaubert's personal library.
Flaubert's interest in de Carné's work was not always benevolent, however. Critical notes on his articles can be found in the Bouvard and Pécuchet files.
Moreover, the publication of Salammbô coincided with the controversial election of Louis de Carné to the Académie Française, which some critics deemed a clerical coup d'état. His election resulted from a campaign orchestrated by Bishop Dupanloup against the opposing candidate, Émile Littré, whose materialist definition of man had provoked the ire of religious and Orléanist factions. Flaubert refers to the scandal of this election in a letter to the Goncourt brothers dated 6 May 1863: "Have you sufficiently railed against Sainte-Beuve and cursed the Académie over Carné's appointment?"
While this inscription likely predates the election, it remains a curious tribute from an author once accused of “offense against public morality and religion” to a future representative of religious power within the prestigious Académie.
A precious copy, featuring a rare autograph inscription, handsomely bound in a contemporary binding.
 
 
 

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