3 autograph letters signed. With a signed note by Alfred Nettement.
8vo. Together 3 pp. on bifolia. The note by Alfred Nettement: 1 p.
€ 280.00
The most curious item in the collection is a letter from 12 July 1851 to the author and journalist Alfred Nettement, who forwarded it to a friend with a signed note of his own. Lemoine politely criticizes a dramatic proverb that Nettement had sent him on behalf of a friend, arguing that it was well written but "would lack effect" on stage. He encourages the author to pusue different subjects for plays and to seek success in the theatre, as he possesses rare qualities: "Je crois cependant qu l'auteur de ce petit ouvrage doit chercher le succès de théâtre. Il a plusieurs qualités qu'on ne rencontre pas toujours, même chez ceux qui réussissent. Il devra réussir, le jour où il sera plus heureux dans le choix du sujet, ainsi que plus sévère et plus complex dans l'étude et la disposition de son plan [...]". Nettement sent the letter to the unidentified author with a similarly encouraging note: "Voici la lettre que je reçois de Lemoine et je la trouve fondée. Je sais que vous deviez travailler pour le théâtre. S'il le dit, c'est qu'il le pense, vous deviez faire très sérieusement une pièce [...]".
On 24 July, Lemoine wrote to a fellow playwright, addressed as "Mon Cher Chef", asking him whether they could change the title of a comedy that was to be performed at the Gymnase two days later from "Chiffons de Madame" to "Toilette de chat".
In a letter dated "Samedi 22" (no year), Lemoine seeks to change tickets for a new play by Émile Augier that had been promised to him by the playwright from one day to another: "Augier me fait dire, en son nom et au votre, que deux fauteuils de Galerie sont à ma disposition pour ce soir, outre son place d'orchestre. Si vous pouvez sans vous gêner, en garderant les deux Galerie pour votre service d'aujourdhui, me donner pour lundi une petite loge, Mme Montigny remettra à la seconde représentation le plaisir d'applaudir le nouvel ouvrage de notre ami Augier [...]". The recipient who is addressed as "mon confrère" was probably the director of the theatre.
Lemoine-Montigny is best known today as a theatre director, having directed the Théâtre de la Gaîté from 1838 to 1844 and the Gymnase from 1844 to his death.
All letters on stationery with embossed or lithographed letterhead of the Théâtre du Gymnase. Traces of folds. Some foxing and browning overall. Occasional minor tears.