MÉRIMÉE Prosper. Une Correspondance inédite. Paris, Calmann-Lévy, 1897; in-12, vi-[2]-332 pp, contemporary brown morocco binding, boards decorated with 10 intersecting straight and curved gilt fillets, ribbed spine with the same type of decoration, lemon morocco lining framed with 6 gilt fillets, brown moire endpapers, marbled glossy paper double endpapers, cover and spine, gilt edges (M. Lortic). First edition with a preface by Ferdinand Brunetière, decorated with a frontispiece portrait engraved by J. Nargeot. The mysterious correspondent of the collection is Mme de La Rochejaquelein. She had contacted Mérimée in October 1854 to warn him that the Chinon town council had decided to demolish the ruins of the château, which were in danger of collapsing. This increasingly personal correspondence continued until February 1863. One of 25 numbered copies on large Hollande paper. This exceptional copy is enriched with several items: - an autograph letter signed by Mérimée addressed to M. Lacroix living in rue Saint-Lazare, dated 19 March 1836 (2 pages in-4), concerning the protection of the Gothic gates of Moret. - an unsigned ink drawing by Mérimée at the head of the volume depicting a cat perched on a roof. - 1 pencil drawing signed with Mérimée's monogram depicting a stylised insect, executed on the reverse of a business card of M. Amédée Berger, Conseiller-Maitre à la Cour des Comptes, with explanatory notes stating that this drawing was given to him in Cannes in 1866. A very fine copy from the library of the Marquis du Bourg du Bozas Chaix d'Est Ange (Cat., II, 1991, n° 109).