BARBEY D’AUREVILLY Jules Laocoon. A forgotten Rhyme.

Carteret, I, p.109 ; Vicaire I, p.298.

First edition.

This was the first publication of the poem, which was later included in the collection Deux rythmes oubliés, published the same year and announced on the back cover. Surprisingly, in this prose poem Barbey d’Aurevilly recounts the myth of the Laocoon. This work differs from the author’s other works. Italy is largely absent from Barbey’s compositions. Moreover, he was not a great traveller and had therefore never seen the sculpted group in the Vatican. He was, however, familiar with the myth of Virgil, which he had no doubt read, as can be seen from his correspondence with Trébutien, in which the legend is mentioned as early as 1854 (Correspondances, IV, p.86-89).

In this work, the translation, opposite Barbey’s text, is the work of Madame Harriet Mary Carey, “who with bold grace has placed her woman’s hand on this rough bronze of Laocoon” (Trébutien).

From the library of Bradley Martin (his sale, Monaco, 16-17 October 1989, lot 645) – Paul Muret.