FLAUBERT (G.). LAS to [Guy de Maupassant]. [Croisset, [9?] A - Lot 84

FLAUBERT (G.). LAS to [Guy de Maupassant]. [Croisset, [9?] August 1878]. 4 pp. in-8° on blue paper. Beautiful letter in which Flaubert asks Guy for news of his mother, Laure Le Poitevin, the sister of his late friend Alfred: "In your last epistle you did not speak of your poor mother. I'd love to hear from her. Will she be staying in Paris all summer..."; then he evokes the writing of Bouvard et Pécuchet: "Bouvard and Pécuchet are going on their merry way. Now I'm preparing the chapter on politics. I've pretty much got all my notes; for a month I've been doing nothing else, and in two weeks I hope to start writing. What a book! The letter changes tone when Flaubert challenges Maupassant: "Now let's talk about you. You complain that women's asses are 'monotonous'. There's a simple remedy, and that's not to use it. "Events are not varied." That's a realistic complaint, and besides, what do you know? It's a matter of looking at them more closely. Have you ever believed in the existence of things? Isn't everything an illusion? The only real thing is "relationships", i.e. the way we perceive objects. "Vices are petty", but everything is so petty! "There aren't enough turns of phrase!" Seek and you shall find. Finally, my dear friend, you seem to me to be quite annoyed, and your boredom distresses me, for you could make more agreeable use of your time. You must, you hear, young man, you must work harder than that. I suspect you're a bit shaky. Too much... too much canoeing! too much exercise! yes, the civilized man doesn't need so much locomotion as the doctors claim. You were born to make worms, so make some! "Everything else is vain, starting with your pleasures and your health. I know you live in a hellish world, and I pity you from the bottom of my heart. But from 5 p.m. to 10 a.m. all your time can be devoted to the muse, who is still the best bitch. My dear fellow, raise your nose! What's the point of recreating your sadness? You have to think of yourself as a strong man: that's the way to become one. A little more pride, superlotte! The "Garçon" was more cranial. What you lack are "principles". It's all very well to say that you need them; the question is, which ones? For an artist, there's only one: sacrifice everything to art! ... To sum up, my dear Guy: beware of sadness. It's a vice. We take pleasure in sorrow... Trust the experience of a scheik to whom no extravagance is foreign. I kiss you tenderly Your old man." Folds restored. The letter was folded for mounting on a tab in a copy of the original edition of Bouvard et Pécuchet. The volume was bound by Gruel, and is complete with cover boards. One spine slightly split across one box. Book dimensions: 179 x 115 mm. Flaubert, Correspondance, IV, Gallimard, pp. 415-416.