{"title":"François-René de Chateaubriand","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"genie-du-christianisme-ou-beautes-de-la-religion-chretienne","title":"Génie du Christianisme ou Beautés de la Religion chrétienne","description":"\u003ch3\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCHATEAUBRIAND (de), François René. Génie du Christianisme ou Beautés de la Religion chrétienne.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003eParis: Migneret, An X–1802.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOctavo (198 × 133 mm). Five volumes. Vol. I: x, 396 pp. (pagination errors as issued); Vol. II: (2) ff., 342 pp.; Vol. III: (2) ff., 304 pp.; Vol. IV: (2) ff., 344 pp.; Vol. V: (2) ff., 85 pp., 14 pp., (1) f., 14 pp., 75 pp., (1) f.\u003cbr data-start=\"586\" data-end=\"589\"\u003eContemporary marbled calf, smooth spines gilt with central tools, red morocco lettering-pieces and green morocco volume labels, gilt roll to board edges, red edges.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"755\" data-end=\"876\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"755\" data-end=\"812\"\u003eRare first edition in its strict contemporary binding\u003c\/strong\u003e, the print run estimated at c. \u003cstrong data-start=\"844\" data-end=\"860\"\u003e4,000 copies\u003c\/strong\u003e (Sainte-Beuve).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"878\" data-end=\"1137\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"878\" data-end=\"900\"\u003eA first-issue copy\u003c\/strong\u003e, with the characteristic pagination errors: in Vol. I a leap from p. 274 to p. 279 and a final page numbered 396 instead of 296 (an error \u003cem data-start=\"1039\" data-end=\"1044\"\u003enot\u003c\/em\u003e recorded by bibliographers); in Vol. IV the two table leaves incorrectly numbered [341]–344.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 data-start=\"1139\" data-end=\"1250\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"1143\" data-end=\"1247\"\u003eAn exceptional copy, extra-illustrated with a superb 3-page autograph letter signed by Chateaubriand\u003c\/strong\u003e,Paris, Friday 15 October 1802, addressed to Monsieur Saint-Martin fils at Viré (Calvados).\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1343\" data-end=\"1799\"\u003eThis intimate and striking letter illuminates the author’s life at the precise moment when \u003cem data-start=\"1434\" data-end=\"1458\"\u003eGénie du Christianisme\u003c\/em\u003e was achieving tremendous success. Chateaubriand mentions an imminent journey to Avignon to suppress a pirated edition of the \u003cem data-start=\"1584\" data-end=\"1591\"\u003eGénie\u003c\/em\u003e, a planned return via Brittany, and — most importantly — his preparations for a diplomatic appointment in Italy, a role he indeed assumed shortly afterwards as attaché to the French legation to the Holy See.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1801\" data-end=\"2011\"\u003eHe urges his friend to join him in Paris, in prose suffused with autumnal imagery and the melancholy of early Romanticism:\u003cbr data-start=\"1923\" data-end=\"1926\"\u003e\u003cem data-start=\"1926\" data-end=\"2011\"\u003e“You see the leaves fall, you hear the autumn wind in the woods — I envy your lot…”\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 data-start=\"2013\" data-end=\"2064\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"2017\" data-end=\"2062\"\u003eA foundational work of early Romanticism.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"2065\" data-end=\"2409\"\u003eThe \u003cem data-start=\"2069\" data-end=\"2076\"\u003eGénie\u003c\/em\u003e exerted a decisive influence on the century to come: on Lamartine, Vigny, and Hugo in shaping meditative philosophical and religious poetry; and on French historical writing more broadly by turning attention to the Middle Ages, helping spark the Gothic revival and restoring to religion an appeal largely lost before the Revolution.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"2411\" data-end=\"2697\"\u003eChateaubriand himself wrote:\u003cbr data-start=\"2439\" data-end=\"2442\"\u003e\u003cem data-start=\"2442\" data-end=\"2669\"\u003e“The shock given by the Génie du Christianisme forced the eighteenth century out of its rut… The Génie will remain my great work, because it caused or precipitated a revolution, and began the new era of the literary century.”\u003c\/em\u003e (\u003cem data-start=\"2671\" data-end=\"2695\"\u003eMémoires d’outre-tombe\u003c\/em\u003e).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"2699\" data-end=\"3154\"\u003eThe work appeared with perfect timing on \u003cstrong data-start=\"2740\" data-end=\"2757\"\u003e14 April 1802\u003c\/strong\u003e, six days after the ratification of the \u003cstrong data-start=\"2798\" data-end=\"2811\"\u003eConcordat\u003c\/strong\u003e — a date deliberately chosen by Chateaubriand to align his great Christian apologia with the political and religious reconciliation of Rome and Bonaparte. As the Bibliothèque nationale notes (\u003cem data-start=\"3004\" data-end=\"3031\"\u003eEn français dans le texte\u003c\/em\u003e, no. 206): \u003cem data-start=\"3043\" data-end=\"3154\"\u003e“The Génie arrived at precisely the right moment for a society weary of revolutionary disorder and violence.”\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"3156\" data-end=\"3286\"\u003eCopies published in 1802 were usually modestly bound, making \u003cstrong data-start=\"3217\" data-end=\"3274\"\u003ewell-preserved contemporary bindings highly desirable\u003c\/strong\u003e (Carteret).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"3288\" data-end=\"3445\"\u003eSome light surface wear and occasional browning; otherwise \u003cstrong data-start=\"3347\" data-end=\"3386\"\u003ea pleasing and highly important set\u003c\/strong\u003e, accompanied by a letter of remarkable literary intensity.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"3447\" data-end=\"3594\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"3447\" data-end=\"3462\"\u003eReferences:\u003c\/strong\u003e Vicaire II, 281; Talvart III, 5; Clouzot 62; Carteret I, 162 (“à rechercher en reliure du temps”); \u003cem data-start=\"3562\" data-end=\"3589\"\u003eEn français dans le texte\u003c\/em\u003e 206.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Librairie Alexis Noqué","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54954387013957,"sku":"0365","price":6500.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0793\/8611\/6421\/files\/IMG_1007_jpg.png?v=1761816192"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.librairie-alexisnoque.fr\/en\/collections\/auteur-francois-rene-de-chateaubriand.oembed","provider":"Librairie Alexis Noqué","version":"1.0","type":"link"}