Signé; Casimir Delavigne - L'Ecole des Vieillards [avec L.A.S.] - 1823

Original edition of this five-act comedy performed by Casimir Delavigne: enriched with a beautiful handwritten letter, signed by the author, dated 1838.

Sir, come, you will be received as the son of a colleague I love, who also heard the first tragedy I presented at the theater. May yours enjoy the same success without encountering the same obstacles, without fearing them in advance [...] So come; I will be happy, very happy, if I can be of any help to you. Please accept, Sir, the assurance of my very distinguished consideration. Casimir Delavigne

Bound in a binding signed by L. Lemardeley, executed in the Bradel method with a brown cardboard cover, featuring a round spine decorated with gold fillets and a piece of title in brown leather with gilded initials.
Browned cardboard binding, rubbed spine, knocked corners. Well-made, sturdy work. Small tear on the title page. Sporadic foxing. Covers preserved (without the spine). Good copy, somewhat rare.

Provenance: Bel ex-libris engraved and pasted on the front endpaper (unidentified) and manuscript ex-libris of Eugène Saillet (?).

In 1825, Casimir Delavigne (1793-1843) wrote The School for the Old, inspired by Alberto Nota's play, First Steps Toward Evil. This piece reveals the author's progress, and a critic in 1825 might have written in the Mercure de Londres: "From a moral standpoint, it offers a useful lesson to the elderly, without exposing them to public ridicule, nor seeking applause at the expense of an age that must be respected too much." A literary review in 1834 found it less original than works by Béranger or Lamartine but acknowledged "a talent so pure and so extensive that it can be successfully applied to literary innovation." A reconciliation occurred with the officials of the Théâtre-Français, where The School for the Old attracted a loyal audience. After this play, Casimir Delavigne was a famous man whom young poets were proud to consult.

Signed; Casimir Delavigne
The School for Old Men, a comedy in 5 acts
Paris, Ladvocat and J.N. Barba, 1823
in-8 (22.5 x 14 cm); 164 pages