[CHATEAUBRIAND]. MORELLET (Abbé André). - Lot 377

[CHATEAUBRIAND]. MORELLET (Abbé André). 1727–1819. Literary critic; contributed to the Encyclopedia; member of the Academy (1785). Autograph draft of a letter. No place, March 24 (1811). 12 pp., quarto; the last leaf is slightly torn. NOTABLE NOTES BY ABBÉ MORELLET ON CHATEAUBRIAND’S LATEST WORK, *Itinerary from Paris to Jerusalem*, PUBLISHED IN 1811. This is a scathing critique (which appears to be unpublished) directed at the author of *The Genius of Christianity*, lamenting the text’s romantic flourishes and the public’s fondness for its eloquence. Morellet had previously published a critical commentary upon the release of the novel *Atala* in 1801. “(…) A pilgrimage to Jerusalem is indeed a marvelous thing today; fortunately for the honor of philosophy, the author’s devotion is nothing to be alarmed by. He visited the Holy Sepulcher just as he attended Mass in the desert, with his mistress by his side, and the beautiful tears that flowed onto her breast, tempering the splendor of our holiest mysteries. He was able to see Athens, Jerusalem, and the Valley of Jehoshaphat, but the holy man saw neither the confessional of the good fathers nor the pilgrims’ table; he returns to these ladies, radiant (…) Blessed is the century that has been able to adapt everything to its own style—the arts, eloquence, morality, and even that Religion once so inflexible: a gentle melancholy and the charm of emotion now attract great hearts, convert souls, and bestow renown; emotion, above all, is the queen of the world (…). No author seems to me to have been more blessed with this happy gift of nature than M. de Chateaubriant; he is the Genius of Emotion (…). Every man of letters wants to please, and Mr. de Chateaubriant, though he is more successful at it than others, is no more to blame for this; but we can, with his works in hand, examine the public’s taste for such diminished eloquence. Mr. de Chateaubriant is the man of the hour and the literary theologian of the Century; religion alone seems to have the right to inspire his genius (…). For us alone, Christianity has become sensual (…)." ATTACHED: Manuscript “Critical Observations on the Novel Entitled *Atala* by Mr. de Ch***.” Undated (1801). 17 pp., in-4, stapled. Copy and critical notes by Abbé Morellet on Chateaubriand’s work. ENCLOSED: Copy of a letter from Chateaubriant to Talleyrand, mentioning his upcoming trip to the Holy Land (1 Germinal, Year XII, March 22, 1804, 1 p., large 8vo).