Chronic melancholy and the theatrical work of Eugène Sue. 1829.

Eugène SUE (1804.1857)

Autograph letter signed to Auguste Pittaud de Forges.

Three octavo pages. Address and postal markings

Slnd [December 16, 1829]

« My melancholy is still the same, except that before it would come in fits and now it is intimately linked to every moment of my life. »

A beautiful letter from Sue to her friend, telling him about the progress of her theatrical creations.

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"Our letters crossed paths, and as is often the case, one waits for the other person to reply, and it's usually a very long wait, so I'll begin. What has earned you this quick response is: 1) that I see you as reasonable in blaming fate rather than myself for your absence from Lyon; 2) that you've given me hope that I will give my name to your child. Truly, this has touched me deeply; it's yet another bond, and between us, there can never be too many. As for your doubt about my civil rights, know this—and I had forgotten this one—that it's yet another of the thousand reasons that keep me here. Yes, my prohibition is being lifted, ^and when you receive this letter, it may all be over."

Thus, it is well and duly agreed that you count on me, my Gossip ^** is at your discretion since [I] am only obliged to be amiable by proxy. I have not yet seen the Sausage , that is to say, I have seen it but not tasted it; moreover, I am leaving it sleeping at Arago's until the New Year's Eve Gorgeon where it will appear with honor, on a chair in your place where it will represent you with a napkin around its neck and a paper cap on its head.

Dufeu said the very nice line about the Cuckold-Leuven , regarding duels. Your cousin de la Fare  didn't kill but wounded a Montmorency because it seems he was accused of having given the wife, who was his cousin, a "pussy." It's not very clear, but you, who are in the know, will understand; you must know if there was any selfishness in the cousin's complaint about the "pussy."

The hack writer killed by Mira ^*** was named Dauval ^**** and worked for a pink newspaper called the Trilby. This cheerful sprite had claimed that Mira was a fool and an insolent fellow —half true, but if we killed everyone… well…

A much more farcical duel was that of… you won’t guess… come on… of… eh, are you there? of Leuven … big beast… of Leuven with… with… with Riga … Leuven called him an imbecile, Riga responded with a word that ended with a great blow to the head with a cane, they clashed, Livry decided in Cré nom de Dieu that it could not end like that, our friend really wanted to Leuvenize him, but no way Pimono [?] showed tusks to make one tremble, they were on the field with sabers, pistols, slingshots, rifle canes, who knows what and then we ended up kissing and plucking ducks.

I told you roughly the reason for Arago's trip, and he told me he found you there cheerful, fat, fat, tall and as happy as could be, with variations and gestures but that's the gist of it.

My melancholy is still the same, except that before it came in fits and now it is intimately linked to every moment of my life ; it is an enemy with which I must live while waiting for you to help me chase it away; I resign myself, hurry up good brother and come and give me a hand.

Saint Hilaire is still working on The Idiot but he is taking a very long time and is redoing the entire plan; I am waiting for him to start on it.

Bayard, as I wrote to you, hasn't had the slightest wind of the Cachet , I'm pestering Arago every day to get it back and give it to Dartois , impossible – always with his index finger pointed like a foil and the… damned joker… scoundrel of a strange body, if that's what administration is!

King Bohain has himself from Vaudeville, as dictator at least, he still retains an interest in it.

Frédéric reminds you of his existence; he just brought me a copy of his Christine, along with a truly remarkable preface. You'll read it there and see if his Christine deserved the pile of rubbish it was buried under. There's a spare room in my house; he's almost tempted to take it. Ah, when you're ready to come back, will you be looking for something in my neighborhood?

I look forward to that day with great pleasure, but I fear that once here you will leave me to go and collaborate with a third and a quarter of us instead of the two of us working almost always together, we would do wonders , but then you would despise me.

We have a play as received at the Gymnase for Gontier 2 acts, S[ain]t Hilaire read the plan to Poirson who approved it and urged us to get to work on it quickly and early, I wrote a whole second act which we were not badly satisfied with.

I will deliver your errand to Livry and Leuven – how wonderful that your motherly love is such! I am so happy and glad. A thousand regards to your wife, farewell, dear brother. I send you a thousand kisses to my godson if he moves; to you with all my heart. Eugène Sue.

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^* The judicial council of Eugène Sue, appointed on February 17, 1825, would not be dissolved until February 25, 1830.

^** Like Le Saucisson , La Commère is a play project that does not appear to have come to fruition.

^*** This is the son of the famous comic actor Jean-Joseph Mira, known as Brunet. He and his father were members of the board of directors of the Théâtre des Variétés. According to Alexandre Dumas, Mira was a childhood friend of Eugène Sue.

^**** Charles Dovalle (Montreuil-Belley [Maine-et-Loire], June 23, 1807 – November 30, 1829). Arriving in Paris in 1828, Dovalle, while preparing the publication of his first collection of poems, had just made his debut as a journalist in the satirical press, notably contributing to Le Figaro and Le Trilby . Mira, having seen an insult directed at him in a few lines of theater criticism, summoned Dovalle to the theater and had the misfortune to kill him.

General correspondence of Eugène Sue. Volume IJP Galvan. Ed. H. Champion.