CHATEAUBRIAND (François-René de). Speech by Mr de Chateaubriand at the Académie française. Early 19th century manuscript of [18] pp. and 5 bl. ff. small in-4 on laid paper (watermark: coat of arms and numeral VdL), paperback with string. A very rare manuscript copy from the period of this famous acceptance speech, rejected by the committee of the Académie française, a unique event in its history. We know how much trouble Chateaubriand put into this speech: "I did it and did it again twenty times, never being satisfied with myself. Sometimes, wanting to make it readable, I found it too strong; sometimes, with anger returning, I found it too weak", he confides in Book V of Mémoires d'outre-tombe. Elected under pressure from Napoleon, on 20 February 1811, to Chénier's chair, Chateaubriand was never officially received into the Académie française, his acceptance speech having displeased the Emperor, who is said to have "here and there crossed out" the manuscript, "marked ab irato with brackets and pencil marks", wrote Chateaubriand in the Mémoires d'outre-tombe, adding mischievously: "the lion's nail was embedded everywhere, and I had a kind of pleasure of irritation to believe I felt it in my side. " Chateaubriand did not take his seat in the French Parliament until after the fall of the Emperor, and his speech was never printed; only a few rare handwritten copies circulated at the time.