GOUNOD CHARLES: (1818-1893) French Composer. An excellent and curious A.L.S, `Ch. Gounod´, addressed to French author Alexandre Dumas fils, one page, oblong 8vo, n.p., n.d., in French. Gounod congratulates Dumas as inventor, referring to a tool permitting to separate each finger and allowing more independence on each of them, and stating `J´ai été instantanément séduit par l´appareil de Mr. Dumas fils, comme on l´est par une pensée véritablement ingénieuse et par une chose vraiment trouvée. C´est un procédé très pratique et qui conduit, par une échelle très ingénieusement graduée, à la complète indépendance des doigts. J´en fais à l´inventeur mes sincères félicitations´ (Translation: `I was instantly seduced by Mr. Dumas´ artefact, in the same way you you are by a truly ingenious thought and by a truly discovered thing. It is a very practical process that leads through a very ingeniously graduated scale to the complete independence of the fingers. I give my sincere congratulations to the inventor´) To the verso, written in another hand, in pencil `From Dumas´fils autograph album´ and numered to the upper left corner as number 14. Accompanied by a vintage postcard photograph of Gounod, unsigned, the Paul Boyer image showing the French composer in a half-length pose in his later years. Very small minor creasing, otherwise G

Alexandre Dumas Fils (1824-1895) French author and playwright.