RUSSIA - [CATHERINE II] - Jean-François MARMONTEL(Bort-les-O - Lot 336

RUSSIA - [CATHERINE II] - Jean-François MARMONTEL(Bort-les-Orgues 1723-1799, Encyclopedist, novelist, poet and philosopher of the Académie française, close to Voltaire and enemy of Rousseau) / Draft of a letter dated December 7, 1768, well known in the History of Literature, to the Russian Empress Catherine II, about his most famous work, "Bélisaire", published in 1767/ CONTEXT: "Bélisaire" is a philosophical-political novel about a Byzantine general under the Emperor Justinian, which deals with the defense of freedom of opinion and religious tolerance - It caused a scandal by attracting the wrath of the Sorbonne theologians, who put it on the Index - this censure only heightened interest, particularly on the part of Voltaire - Marmontel, elected to the Académie française at the age of 31, had already attracted the attention of Catherine II, Empress of Russia - She had favored him with a gold medal and even offered to make him the Czarevich's tutor - Catherine, faced with the "Belisarius Affair", found the opportunity to pose as the protector of writers who had fallen victim to fanaticism, which assured her a posterity as an enlightened monarch - Marmontel had sent "Belisarius" to Catherine (as to all the sovereigns of Europe) - Catherine made him share her reading of it - Finding themselves together on a voyage down the Vodga, from Twer to Subirk, the small group of 12 readers formed by this imperial Russian river court, enchanted by "Bélisaire", decided to translate it into Russian - They divided the different chapters among themselves by lot, and each one endeavored during the navigation to express his emotions in his native language - Catherine wrote the translation of the ninth chapter - "Bélisaire" in Russian was printed, and in a solemn and official letter to Marmontel, Catherine and the other translators (including Ivan Elaguine, Grigori and Vladimir Orlov) made known the adventure of translating "Bélisaire" by sending a Russian copy - This letter caused a resounding stir at the French Court, and among philosophers, encyclopedists and other enlightened intellectuals - Naturally Marmontel replied, and it is the draft of this double letter of thanks (to Catherine and to the translators) that is presented here - 4 pages small in-4 (18 x 24 cm) - THE DRAFT: The importance of this letter necessitated several drafts - This one is the definitive one - It is written by a secretary and bears engravings and corrections in Marmontel's hand - The definitive letter is known, since it was published in 1787 (it was then dated December 17, 1768) and again in 1818 (edition by Amable Costes, which dated it December 7th) - Marmontel's erasures and corrections in our letter are in line with John Renwick's later edition (letter 166), apart from a part-sentence in the letter to the translators (which we note) - An old apostille, in the margin of the first page, states: "Il y a trois écritures dans ce brouillon: celle de Morellet et de Suard et les corrections de Marmontel" / Reminder: Abbé André MORELLET(1727-1819, Encyclopédiste et philosophe proche de Diderot de d'Alembert, membre de l'Académie française) and Jean-Baptiste SUARD(1733 - 1817, journalist and writer close to d'Alembert, member of the Académie française) - Intriguing! Here's the version we propose: In fact, the apostilist should have referred to four handwritings, since the body of the letter could only have been written by a secretary (it is in no way the handwriting of Morellet and Suard) - The erasures and corrections are indeed in Marmontel's hand (known handwriting) - Abbé Morelleta writes at the top "Brouillon d'une lettre de Marmontel décembre 1768" (we recognize his handwriting) - We know that Marmontel and Abbé Morellet were very close, since Marmontel had married his niece - It is likely that the Abbé filed his friend's archives on his death in 1799 and thus annotated this document - However, the handwriting ofSuards on this document is more improbable, as the two men were hardly friends - We can assume that the title of the first page and that of the third are in his hand: "A SM l'Impératrice de Russie" and "Lettre du même à Messieurs les traducteurs" - In which case, this letter would have been subsequently classified and annotated by Suard, having had access to Marmontel's archives as his successor as Secrétaire perpétuel de l'Académie française - THE TEXT: Concerning the text - 1°) The one to Empress Catherine II: "[...]The translation ofBelisaireen Langue Russe is without doubt a fine monument raised to the glory of the Empress.