GUEUVIN, Charles. Rêves et échos. Maurice, Port-Louis, Imprimerie de The Central Printing Establishment, 1897.
Large 8vo [232 x 156 mm] of (3) ll., iv pp., 249, (5). A few ll. very slightly foxed. Preserved in its original wrappers as published.
Extremely rare first edition of this collection of bucolic poems by the Mauritian writer Charles Gueuvin, a major figure of the Francophone poetry of the Indian Ocean.
“Charles Gueuvin, born in the Pamplemousses district in 1834, dead on April 1st 1905, is the poet of tenderness, sincerity and love.” (La Littérature de langue française à l’Ile Maurice, p. 128)
Charles Gueuvin, one of the first to sing of the beauties of the Savanne district (in the island of Mauritius), died on April 1st 1905 leaving to his country three major works entitled Les Savanaises, Mes derniers chants and Rêves et échos.
The present collection gathers poems with bucolic notes with many references to Mauritian landscapes: Souillac, Promenade au bassin blanc, Le Vieux canon de l’ilot de Jacotet, Soirée au bord de la mer, Pamplemousses et Savane,…
The utmost rarity of this first edition is explained by the fact that this kind of works was published by local Mauritian editors in a very small number.
“The literary production of the countries of the Indian Ocean has been very important since the 18th century in Reunion and the Mauritius Island. In the 18th and 19th century, many of these works have been published by presses and by local editors and knew a restricted and located broadcast. Some copies are only found today in rare libraries, in private collections or in family archives of the countries of origin.”
A precious and very pure copy of this Mauritian printing, preserved in its original wrappers, as published.
No copies have been located among French public Institutions; 4 have been located among international libraries (National Library of Australia, University of California – Santa Barbara, Cambridge University and British Library).
