ROUMANILLE (Joseph). - Lot 280

ROUMANILLE (Joseph). Born in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. 1818–1891. Provençal poet. Autograph letter signed “J. Roumanille” to an editor-in-chief. Avignon, June 2, 1871. 1 p., 3/4 in-8. A BEAUTIFUL LETTER FROM ROUMANILLE, WHO HAD BEEN ESTABLISHED AS A BOOKSELLER AND PUBLISHER IN AVIGNON SINCE 1855. He informs the editor that he has entrusted Laporte with the article requested in a previous letter: …“Un Cœur”—here it is, Dieudonné! How well-suited that brow is to bear a crown (…) it radiates loyalty and honor. This, sir, is indeed the photograph of Constantinople—the most recent and the most successful one—the one the King prefers to give to his friends; I know this……I have a stock of the remarkable work titled *Etude politique*. I’m expecting the new edition—which has just been published—from Geneva any moment now. (…) I’ve turned myself into a photographer-merchant (…). To achieve a cost price that would allow me to move forward, I had to sell a large number of them at a discount (perhaps too many! (…) Fortunately, my friends in the Catholic and Legitimist press came to my aid. For the past 10 days, my friend Mr. Laurentie has been running a nice advertisement in his newspaper. I would be delighted and very grateful if you would do me the favor of publishing it in the news briefs section of your paper. Needless to say, by doing so, you would be carrying out an excellent act of propaganda… He concludes with an allusion to the “Bloody Week” that had set Paris ablaze (in May 1871) in the form of a prayer: …May our France, like an ark tossed upon waves of blood and oil, soon be worthy to see the dove bring it the olive branch!...