General (1837-1891). Visitenkarte mit eigenh. Zusatz und U. Beiliegend ein Kuvert. [Poststempel: Paris. 1 S. (4 Zeilen). Gr. Visitkartenformat. Mit adr. Kuvert. Karte und Kuvert auf Papierträger montiert.
$ 104 / 90 €
(941756/BN941756)
An einen Alfred Greuser: "à une autrichien ami de la france Géneral Boulanger Commandant le 13.e Corps d'Armée. [dies lithogr.] un soldat francais [...]" (Übers.: "Einem österreichischen Freund Frankreichs [...] ein französischer Soldat"). - Das Kuvert mit Ausschnitt der Briefmarke.
French general and politician (1847-1891). 2 autograph letters signed with other correspondence. Paris / Brussels / Geneva. Various formats. 1) 8vo (207 x 133 mm), 2 pp. on bifolium, Chambre des Députés letterhead. 2) 130 x 103 mm, 2 pp. on bifolium, Chambre des Députés letterhead. - 3) 2 cards (105 x 70 mm and 62 x 105 mm). 4) 8vo (130 x 210 mm), 4 pp. Numbered 1, 7 (incorrec.
$ 4,040 / 3.500 €
(91329/BN60361)
Correspondence by and concerning the charismatic populist leader who threatened the Third Republic with a major crisis, when many feared he would establish himself as dictator. Dating from the height of Boulanger's popularity in 1888 to his subsquent exile in Brussels, where he died in 1891, these documents offer an insight into the firebrand general's dealings with the press, the exiled house of Bonaparte, and his family. Many of the items seem to be from the archives of Le Figaro, in particular those of Gaston Calmette (editor 1894-1914).
- 1) Autograph letter signed by Boulanger to an unknown recipient, dated 11 June 1888, declining to enter into a proposed financial arrangement on the grounds it could damage his credibility: "Je suis tout disposé à vous prêter mon appui moral, mais je ne puis en aucune façon entrer dans la combinaison financière que vous me proposez [...] si honorable qu'elle soit et je tiens plus que jamais à ce que mon nom ne se trouve mêlé à aucune opération financière. Vous devez comprendre la réserve qui m'est imposée par ma situation; mes ennemis ne manqueraient pas de redoubler leurs attaques, en disant que je spécule sur l'ouvrier". - 2) Autograph letter signed (dated only "mardi matin", but by the letterhead within his tenure as a member of the Chambre des Députés) to a Monsieur Maquard, seemingly a journalist at Le Figaro, expressing his displeasure at a hostile piece the paper had published the previous Friday: "Il est vrai que c'est un allemand gallophobe qui prononce en paroles mensongères, mais j'éstime que l'article n'aurait pas perdu à leur suppression". - 3) Calling card of the general dated Paris, unsigned, dated 27 June 1888, agreeing to meet an unknown person at the times requested ("les mardi jeudi et samedi de 9 heures at 11 heures"), accompanied by a photo card showing the general in full uniform. - 4) Fragmentary transcript of an interview with the Boulanger in Brussels published on 9 May 1891 in Le Figaro by Gaston Calmette, accompanied by an envelope bearing the emblem of Le Figaro (a capital F crossed with a quill) giving the date of its publication and noting the corrections in pencil are in the General's hand. In the text, Boulanger expresses his indignation at the failure of the French state to improve the lot of the workers: "La chambre, ajoute-t-il, a déclaré lundi qu'elle allait étudier bientôt l'amélioration du sort des ouvriers! Il en serait temps si elle n'était pas impuissante!" and furthermore comments on his exile: "Si j'étais resté à Paris en avril 1889, on m'aurait arrêté, emprisonné et expedié en Nouvelle-Calédonie". - 5) A telegram to Calmette by the General's daugher, Jeanne Boulanger, asking him if she can write to her father and expressing her pain at not having seen him in so long. The stamp on the outside reads 17 Nov 94 but this probably dates to shortly after the interview above, as it speaks of Boulanger as alive and he died on 30 September 1891. - 6) An anonymous letter, clearly to a newspaper (probably Le Figaro) dated Geneva, 16 September (year unstated, but probably 1888) about a supposed meeting between Boulanger and Prince Napoléon-Jérôme Bonaparte (1822-91) at the latter's residence in exile in Prangins, Switzerland: "En reproduisant ma lettre relative à la présence du Général Boulanger à Prangins, vous relevez l'improbabilité de cette nouvelle en faisant remarquer que le prince était parti pour Turin depuis dix jours. Vous aurez vu vous-même que mon renseignement était parfaitement d'accord avec les possibilités". - At the height of his power, Boulanger's popularity threatened to overthrow the Third Republic: drawing his support from urban workers as well as rural conservatives, he rode on the wave of bitter resentment at the fall of the Second Empire following its defeat in the Franco-Prussian War (1870-71). His politics, seen by many as a forerunner of right-wing authoritarian movements in the twentieth century, incorporated a virulent hatred of Germany and calls for "revanche", which crystallised into a movement known as "Boulangisme". At a secret meeting with Napoléon-Jérôme Bonaparte in Switzerland in January 1888, the Bonapartistes offered him their support, and later in the year he was elected to the Chambre des Députés on the strength of his wild popularity, in spite of not even being an official candidate on the ballot. In the following year, his ambitions for personal power led to his flight to Belgium to avoid charges of conspiracy and treason. This correspondence from the height of his power and subsequent exile offers insights into a figure who shook France to its core..