GUTTINGUER (Ulric). Poetic Miscellany. - Lot 194

GUTTINGUER (Ulric). Poetic Miscellany. First edition. One of the rare copies printed on heavy paper, with full margins. Paris, Auguste Boulland et Cie, 1824. Large 8vo (155x232mm), 252 pp., red half-maroquin with long grain, smooth spine decorated with small metal fillets, covers lined with maroquin-imitation paper richly decorated with a roulette pattern and gilt fillets, gilt interior roulette, roulette with cutouts. (R.P. Gout Fils). A minor, insignificant tear at the upper corner of the second cover, minor scuffs from handling. The author’s first true collection, following several pamphlets and poems printed separately. A marvelous typographic composition by Ambroise Tardieu, featuring Gothic drop caps and headpieces. A Romantic poet born in Rouen, Guttinguer frequented Parisian literary circles as early as the 1820s, including Father Nodier’s Arsenal. As president of the academy in his hometown, he was one of the leading champions of Romanticism in the provinces, contributed to the *Muse Française* project (1823–1824), and was a close friend of Hugo, Dumas, Flaubert, Gautier, and above all Sainte-Beuve, with whom he began writing a collaborative novel, *Arthur*. Over time, the two friends went their separate ways; Guttinguer published the unfinished novel under his own name, while Sainte-Beuve produced *Volupté* in 1834. Retired to a cottage he built in the forest of Saint-Gatien-des-Bois, Ulric welcomed his old friends from the Phalange there before passing away in September 1866. A fine copy.