BANVILLE (Théodore de). - Lot 32

BANVILLE (Théodore de). Born in Moulins. 1823-1891. Poet, playwright, drama critic and journalist. His collection Odes funambulesques, published by Poulet-Malassis in 1857, brought him immediate acclaim. Autograph poem signed "Théodore de Banville" to John Payne. S.l. [Paris], Thursday, April 18, 1878, 2 1/2 pages in-8 and L.A.S. "Théodore de Banville" to "Monsieur et cher poëte" [John BANVILLE (Théodore de) Payne]. Paris, April 18, 1878, 1 1/2 pages in-8. Envelope enclosed, stamp and postmarks. Beautiful apologetic ballad in honor of the poet François Villon, written to appear as an introduction to Payne's translation of Villon's works...A toi salut, Cher Payne! In English verse / Do you put Villon, whom our vine inspires? / Among fools, forefathers of Rabelais, / O good pacemakers of Shakespeare's country / You could, I think, choose a worse one. / This gentle scoffer, with assiduous pleasure, / Naimed nothing so much as forbidden fruit. / His fierce wigmaker was the breeze, / And his mood, that of a lost dog. / Take Villon, he's a good catch / This vagabond, like the feux-follets, / Against hunger and debates and conspires. / Fond of the lute less than the flageolets, / It's to charm Jeanneton that he aspires / A cabaret was his joyous empire / So good a boy that he was almost hanged...Banville, in this letter, gives his correspondent the requested information: ...There is no portrait of Villon, except an absolutely chimerical one. My friend, M. Alphonse Pagès, who is a great finder, searched in vain for one when he made his publication entitled Les Grands Poëtes Français, and this is the only poet whose portrait he was able to give. But in his issue devoted to Villon, he gives a very curious vignette depicting hanged men and some very curious facsimiles...