Joris-Karl HUYSMANS. Lot n° 46

En route. Paris, Tresse & Stock, 1895. In-12: red jansenist morocco, spine ribbed, green morocco lining with gilt fillet, green moire guard, cover preserved, gilt edges on witnesses, case (Conti-Septier). First edition. One of 50 copies on hollande Van Gelder Zonen (no. 50). The novel traces the "conversion" of Huysmans, barely hidden behind his hero Durtal. Paul Valéry wrote to the author: "You precipitate the current novel to the cauldron of the fairground infernos, where it belongs - and you build something at last that makes one think of the great literary fonts - something rough and mature with an enormous current underneath, monotonous, and of which an era of small pieces, globules and stings could be judged incapable." A perfect copy with three remarkable signed autograph letters addressed to his friend Adolphe Berthet. A writer from Lyon, Adolphe Berthet alias Joseph Esquirol (1868-1920) was a close friend and disciple of Huysmans. These three letters, of 4 pages in-16 each, addressed between February 23, 1900 and August 25, 1904, are tasty: Huysmans speaks of heresy, notably of Abbé Boulan (the model for Canon Docre), of monastic life, of his works, of his miserable apartment in the rue Monsieur and of his disgust for Lourdes and its "hideous bondieuseries". The first is addressed to the monastery of Ligugé. "I hardly have time [...] to send you letters, but your discovery makes me happy. Do not stop here, follow the trail, which will surely lead you to more curious loopholes. Be sure of this: no heresy, however old, is lost. In every corner of France, there is at least one person who practices it and passes it on to another. And Lyon is a special land for this culture [...]. The information on Boulan is of doubtful accuracy. It was much more complicated than that. And the so-called brothel never, to my knowledge, existed in his house. The fornications were mostly fluidic. It was the succubus and the incubus. [...] Cultivate your heretic, and especially the environment in which he evolves. It would be astonishing if you didn't get your hands on some really comical cenacles. Good luck to you... [...]." The second is addressed from Paris, March 24, 1902: his correspondent has had a difficult time. "Alas! to think that this incomprehensible and dreadful law of sorrow and pain is inescapable!" His maid is bedridden. "I have to assist her and make me laconic meals, a warrior whom I would rather see outside. [...] This house on Rue Monsieur is hellish. I won't have lived two happy days there. Every day it's an accident. The floors are collapsing - they are being redone - the day before yesterday the ceiling bursts and it rains. This shack is falling apart and one of these days I'll go down to the yard. I've got it! - If I didn't think I was really obliged to do penance here, to atone for my old sins, I would leave without delay. [...] The Oblate walks at a very slow pace. I am disconcerted by the need to tell the truth about the Benedictines and to go out of my way to praise them. Ah! this is not the Trappe anymore. These huddles of leather in a hurry, as Le Cardonnel called them, are not easy to praise. It's bad for a book to have lived too much, as I did, in that world and still believe in it, because here I continue to Benedict in the great prizes. I haven't read the books you speak of; in fact, I don't read much of what appears. I buy a lot of information books and I am so immersed in them that I have no time for anything. Don't be afraid for Stock, unless the season is too advanced, he will make you appear quickly. (Under the name of Joseph Esquirol, Adolphe Berthet published Cherchons l'hérétique in 1903 with Stock!) The last letter is addressed before Huysmans' departure for Lourdes: "I'm not very amused because I don't have the piety of that place, but I must go there for a fortnight at least to complete my notes. You count the barrels of waste, you say, at the café in the evening. But in Lourdes, there is not even that resource! Nothing at all, apart from a hideous bondieus decor and a grotto spoiled by crowds. The evening is the worst, happy when the screams of the pilgrims do not prevent you from sleeping! Ah! the beautiful barrels which carry all the sins of the body! But it is very suggestive, it is the corporal communion, more sure than that of the souls. [...]" He gives news of some people - Hennezel, Stock, Descaves - and is sorry to have to leave a Paris that is happily empty. "Here is the news, dear friend, drink cool and drink hot, pipe firm and pray. [...]" Very nice set. <br