MÉRIMÉE (Prosper). Carmen. Paris, Michel Lévy, 1846. Large in-8, blue morocco, quadruple gilt fillet, spine decorated with large gilt fleurons, orange morocco lining decorated with a rich frame of gilt fillets interlaced with foliage and large scrolls at the corners mosaicked in blue, green and garnet morocco, blue-grey tabis endpapers, double comb endpapers, gilt edges on witnesses, cover (Marius-Michel). Extremely rare first edition. Published after Mérimée was admitted to the Académie française, Carmen is based on an anecdote told to the author fifteen years earlier by the Countess of Montijo, whom he had met on a trip to Spain. The work did not immediately meet with the same success as Colomba, and it was not until Georges Bizet's opera, premiered in 1875, that Carmen, a femme fatale carried away by her passion and ferocity, became a veritable myth. A copy with full margins in a luxurious lined and mosaic binding by Marius Michel. The cover is dated 1847, as always. Paper very slightly yellowed. From the Claude Jolly-Bavoillot library (1896, no. 702), with bookplate. The volume is enriched by an important autograph letter signed by Mérimée to Cavé, head of the Beaux-arts division, dated Tours 26 December [1834], 3 pp. in-8. A small plan is sketched in pencil under the address, p. 4. Small tear with lack without affecting the text, due to the unsealing. In this letter, Mérimée, who became Inspector General of Historic Monuments in 1834, mentions the Coronation of the Virgin and the Pietà de Villeneuve-lès-Avignon, two essential works of French primitive art, now attributed to Enguerrand Quarton (c. 1411-c. 1466) and now in the Musée Pierre-de-Luxembourg and the Louvre respectively. He had discovered them in the Collegiate Church of N.-D. de Villeneuve and wanted his ministry to buy them, or exchange them for modern works, which he was unable to do. His Notes d'un voyage dans le midi de la France contains a description of the Coronation of the Virgin, which he attributes to Dürer and describes as a Last Judgement. "Dear friend, your tomb of Richard the Lionheart is a veritable pit that was not worth a poor devil catching a cold in. [...] I'm coming back with regret because there's a lot to see in the Saumur district. But it's bitterly cold and foggy, the colour and consistency of mustard. In the note I gave to your office, I forgot to tell you about something important. It's about the painting attributed to King René which is in the Villeneuve lez-Avignon hospital. You should write to Mr de Montalivet that he could buy it for a small sum or even exchange it for a modern crust. This painting is magnificent. It may be by Albert Durer, and it has the curious feature that in heaven there is a uniform of saints for all the friends of King René and his friends in hell. In the same hospital is a portrait of the famous Marquise de Ganges by Mignard. I am sure that for 200 fr. the Paris Museum could acquire it. [Related note: Item in the church of Villeneuve d'Avignon is a magnificent Descent from the Cross by Bellini (I think). Also to be bought or exchanged for nothing]. Farewell dear friend, keep your stomach free and your feet warm, which is impossible for me because it is warmer in the lantern of the Pantheon than in an inn room. Don't forget my postage! All yours, Pr M. Tours 26 Xbre."