Lot n° 72
Estimation :
5000 - 7000
EUR
Result without fees
Result
: 8 500EUR
Guy de MAUPASSANT (1850-1893). 23 L.A.S.,... - Lot 72 - Doutrebente
Guy de MAUPASSANT (1850-1893). 23 L.A.S., 1891 and n.d., to Doctor Gaston DESPAIGNE; about 58 pages in-8 or in-12 (most of them with his figure or address, some hotel headers) and 2 business cards, envelopes (cracks in 2 letters, one of which repaired).
Important and pathetic correspondence to his doctor. Gaston Despaigne had his office at 48 rue de Chaillot; he had published in 1888 Studies on peripheral facial paralysis). Maupassant, then living at 24 rue Boccador, called on him on May 15, 1891, asking him to come one morning (he was then being treated by Dr Joseph Grancher): "M. Grancher would like us to talk together first. Then I will tell you about myself.
He had "two more nights of absolute insomnia, with intolerable pains all over his body. [...] The pains in the jaw and left eye are such that I can't help but believe that there is still an accident on that side"... - He asks the doctor to come and give him a shot of morphine, "the chloral no longer acting, and the pain becoming intolerable" - He announces his departure...
In June-July, he is in Saint-Raphaël, at the Hotel Beau-Rivage. - June 22. Serious accidents to the intestine, "with intense pain in the groin and testicles"; consultation in Cannes with Gimbert; details of his sufferings and bowel movements. "The catarrhs of my head let flow white sticky pastes, salty like the sea"... He cannot stand the South, with alternating "icy wind" and "oven heat". Should he go to Carlsbad or Luchon for treatment? "The thought is more and more sick, hesitant and confused. The eyes are more and more affected. - He came to the end of his intestine. "I have not touched a milligram of opium. And I won't touch it. I spend my life on excursions and at sea; I row, I walk, and I sail"... - He spent six nights in a hotel in Saint-Tropez; the insomnia returned, as well as the "horrible intestinal pains" due to chloral: "Chloral is the poison of my stomach". He will use opium "only at the last extremity", and asks for thebaic extract". He gives up going to Spain, and "sails on the coasts of France"... - 2 July. He does not want milk treatment: "One cup of milk represents for me eight days of gastric troubles and migraines. [...] My brain is horribly weak". He was going to leave for Luchon, but first had to disarm his yacht. "It is impossible for me to speak for a long time or to listen without suffering in my head and stomach"... - July 5. "I have a relapse so violent that I cannot go away. I spend my nights sweating in bed and changing shirts, with terrible stomach pains". Details on his diet, and his intolerances... The cannon shots fired by the fifty ships of the squadron caused a storm. His theory due to "the Eiffel Tower that I claim to attract storms on Paris" .... -July 8. He worried about the effects of Condillac's water, and wondered about the waters of Luchon. Report on the symptoms of his illness before his departure for Luchon: "I have a cerebral illness from a disorder and cerebral catarrhs"... Details about his eyes, the disappearance of his memory, "the impossibility of imagining while walking, the subjects of tales as I always did". He recapitulates his cures and his travels; on his return to Paris, "all the functions of my body suddenly weakened: virility, insomnia, constipation, obstinate coughs, expectorations of all kinds. [...] my nights of madness and my constant preoccupation with this white discharge in my mouth"... - Marseille, July 9. Worrying before leaving for Luchon, the rolling of the train causing hallucinations, pain and dizziness... [Paris at the end of August?] Consultations with Lannelongue, Magitot and Pozzi. Paris, October 21. He could not stand the mixture of mint and anise. - 22 ? October. "Is there a counter-poison to morphine. I spent a crazy night without being able to stay in bed, going from place to place, like after my cocaine shot. My eyes look like those of a madman. My memory is gone, my gaze so vague that I write with my eyes closed, and my left hand squinting. ....
Cannes (Chalet de l'Isère) November 21. Concerns about his salivation. "I lost my eyes, all my benefits from Divonne. I am haunted by nightmares day and night, unable to work [...] My throat is bloody full of varicose veins [...] In my head it is a persevering and terrible pain"... - November 30. Detailed description of the bad effects of chloral. "As for sulfonal, it is the opium of great nightmares. It almost killed me in Florence. I took it every day to sleep. But I woke up three hours later crushed by trains, bitten by rabid dogs, pursued by assassins"... Etc. - December 2. "My salt accidents are getting worse [...] My head is in a state
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