Stefan ZWEIG supports the memory of Marceline Desbordes-Valmore

Stefan ZWEIG (1881.1942)

Autographed letter signed to the publisher Marcel Seheur.  

One octavo page in French. Slight residual trace of a collector's stamp.

Letterhead of the Hotel Beaujolais in Paris. 1928.

"The greatness of this suffering soul will be recognized everywhere."

After the biographical essay he had devoted to Marceline Desbordes-Valmore, Zweig rejoiced in a new publication on the French poet and the dissemination of his own work in English, thus ensuring the posterity of this suffering soul.

"Sir, you have given me an admirable gift with your superb edition of Desbordes Valmore: my little book about her is now being published in England and America , and at last the full grandeur of this suffering soul will be recognized everywhere. Your edition is one of the finest books produced in France, and I congratulate you on the artistry and taste of its composition. I have no doubt that its perfection will be rewarded with resounding success. Yours most devotedly, Stefan Zweig. "

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It was in 1902, while preparing an anthology of Verlaine's poems, that Zweig discovered the work of Desbordes-Valmore. A passionate reader of tragic destinies, and a gifted storyteller, he paid a vibrant tribute to the poet in his biography, first published in Austria in 1920.

In 1928, Marcel Seheur published a beautiful edition of Marceline Desbordes-Valmore's "Poems and Prose," adorned with a portrait of the poet as a frontispiece.