Description

RARE FIRST EDITION 100 copies of this collection of poems. The Philosophical poems were published again by Alphonse Lemerre in 1874, accompanied by the First poems.

When the young Louise Ackermann, née Choquet, began to write verse, her mother became concerned. Attached to traditional and worldly conventions, Madame Choquet contacted a cousin who suggested that she encourage her daughter's talents. When she entered boarding school, Louise Choquet was noticed by her literature teacher, who had her verses read to Victor Hugo.
During a stay in Germany, she met the linguist Paul Ackermann, whom she married in 1843. However, she kept her "poetic explorations". She died of phthisis after two years of marriage; Louise Ackermann, in mourning, retired near Nice and devoted herself for a time to farming. In her retirement, she gradually took up writing again. In 1855 she published her TalesThese are adaptations of oriental stories in which Ackermann blends a few autobiographical elements.

The Tales go unnoticed, but its Poesies Philosophiques, published for the first time in 1871, caused a scandal: the poetess was criticised for having introduced herself into a male milieu, her appearance and age were criticised, and her atheism was questioned. But this publication did not only attract detractors: Barbey d'Aurevilly, in particular, praised the beauty of these poems".impious, atheistic, - resolutely atheistic, distressing and superb", "the most beautiful literary horrors to have been written since Baudelaire's Fleurs du mal. And it's even more beautiful, because in evil - absolute evil - it's purer. "Tolstoy would even have been one of his admirers.

SIGNED AUTOGRAPH CONSIGNMENT for

To Mr Petit d'Ormoy
Testimonial of friendship
L. Ackermann

This is probably Alexandre Petit d'Ormoy (Metz: 1811 - Nice: 1881), a former student at the Ecole Polytechnique whose research focused in particular on magnetism. As vice-president of the Société de Mesmérisme (Mesmerism Society), he tried to develop a technique known as "magnetism".chirognomonicsto "recognise a person's faculties, character, inclinations and aptitudes by inspecting their hands." (Congrès Scientifique de France, 32nd session, meeting of 9 August 1865). On his death, Petit d'Ormoy bequeathed his fortune to the Académie des Sciences, which was instructed to use it to award a "Petit d'Ormoy" prize in mathematics, physics, astronomy and the natural sciences.