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HOWE
, Samuel Gridley
Lettre autographe signée au marquis de Lafayette
Boston, 27 janvier 1834
2 pp. in-4
REMARQUABLE LETTRE DE SAMUEL GRIDLEY HOWE, “THE
LAFAYETTE OF GREECE” : À PROPOS DE CHATEAUBRIAND,
D’UNE ÉVENTUELLE TRADUCTION DE SES OEUVRES AUX
U.S.A., ET DE L’INSTITUTION POUR LES AVEUGLES DE BOSTON
“I take the liberty to enclose a letter to Monsieur de Chateaubriand which I
beg you to forward to his address. I propose to publish here an account of
his life and some translations of his works, if he should give his consents and
it may be that he will make some inquiries of you respecting my charachter.
Will you do me the favor of saying to him all that you can to induce him to
comply with my request : for I really believe such a book may be made a
valuable addition to our national literature.
I am at present directing the Institution for the education of the blind in this
city which flourish bravely ; it is well endorsed with funds, has a splendid
building, and grounds : and contains nearly forty happy inmates ; although
it has one year since it commenced operations. Such success speaks
volumes (...) Can you favour me by forwarding the accompanying volume to
Mons. de Chateaubriand ?”
Samuel Gridley Howe (1801-1876) was tought in Boston and at Brown University where he graduated in 1821. He then attended
Harvard Medical School, taking his degree in 1824. He was fired by enthusiasm for the Greek Revolution and the example of Lord
Byron. After an unhappy love affair he sailed for Greece and joined the Greek army. He won there the title “the Lafayette of the Greek
Revolution.” He wrote an account of the revolt,
Historical Sketch of the Greek Revolution
, which was published in 1828 and this may
be the book that he sent to Chateaubriand
via
Lafayette. After leaving Greece, Howe continued his medical studies in Paris ; he took
part in the
July Revolution
. In 1831 he returned to the United States and created a school for the blind in Boston as he had learned
of a similar school founded in Paris by Valentin Haüy. He gradually developed what became the noted
Perkins Institution
. Howe
originated many improvements in teaching methods, as well as in the process of printing books in Braille.
Regarding this peculiar echo of a potential translation and publication of Chateaubriand in America, one should say that
Atala
was
first published in the U.S. in 1802 (Boston),
The Martyrs
in 1812,
Travels in Greece
in 1813,
Mémoires d’outre-tombe
in 1848-1849
(2 volumes). The
Essais sur la littérature anglaise
were immediately translated in English and titled
Sketches on english literature
(1836) ;
The Congress of Verona
was published in 1838. The first complete English translation of the
Mémoires d’outre-tombe
is
dated 1902.
RÉFÉRENCE :
Chateaubriand en Amérique. Essai de bibliographie
, cf. Toronto University, https ://archive.org/details/chateaubriandena00npuoft
800 / 1 200
€
Samuel Gridley Howe