Mentioned in his correspondence by Flaubert as an explanatory chapter to Salammbô, this manuscript consists of 28 leaves, which are all numbered, except for the last one that contains notes regarding the gods. The manuscript is in a folder on which Flaubert noted the work's title as well as a date, 1857, that corresponds with the beginning of the writing of Salammbô. This chapter, however, was written after 1857: it was actually conceived after an important documentation phase indispensable to the project and after a trip to Carthage. Upon his return in 1858, the writer worked on a chapter that would be “the topographical and picturesque description of the aforementioned city, with a portrayal of the people who inhabited it, including the traditional costume, government, religion, finances and commerce, etc." (Letter to J. Duplan, dated 1 July 1858). Despite a certain number of corrections and marginal additions, this is the completed version of the text, which ultimately was removed from the novel, even though information therefrom was scattered throughout the work. This chapter reveals the way the author works. He is distinguished by his encyclopedic erudition and his attention to detail, which shed light on the original challenges in the creation of Salammbô: that of reconstructing the then-lost city of Carthage. In November 1949, Martin Bodmer purchased this manuscript at the Blaizot bookstore. (exq)

Online Since: 06/22/2017

This travel journal was kept by Hermann Wedding (1834-1908), later a professor of ferrous metallurgy, during his study tour in August and September of 1858. At this time, he was a student at the mining academy of Freiberg and Berlin. The objective of the trip was to visit the centers of the German mining industry that were emerging in the middle of the 19th century, especially in the region of the Saar and the Ruhr. Wedding's daily entries document his visits to coal mines, smelteries and metal processing companies. He describes the operating facilities and production processes of the plants he visited. The journal reveals his deep scientific interest in the geological conditions in which the plants he describes are embedded. (ham)

Online Since: 12/14/2017