IVAN TURGENEV, PROSPER MÉRIMÉE, VALENTINA DELESSERT (i) IVAN TURGENEV (1818-1883) Handwritten letter addressed to Valentina Delessert Baden, March 8, 1865 (ii) PROSPER MÉRIMÉ (1803–1870) Handwritten letter addressed to I. Turgenev. Cannes, January 18 [1861] (iii) Photograph of I.S. Turgenev. St. Petersburg, workshop 'Wizenberg & Co', [1860s].

i) IVAN TURGENEV (1818-1883) Handwritten letter addressed to Valentina Delessert, Baden, March 8, 1865. In French. 3 pages of a double folio. 20.5x13 cm. Paper with initials 'J.T.' blind embossing. Folding marks. The letter was written just over ten days after the wedding of his daughter Pelageya (Polina) Ivanovna to Gaston Brière, a relative of Madame Delessert. Charlotte Marie Valentine Josephine Delessert (nee de Labord; 1806-1894) was a French socialite and owner of a Paris salon; also known as the mistress of French writer Prosper Mérimée. ii) Photograph of I.S. Turgenev. St. Petersburg, workshop 'Wizenberg & Co', [1860s]. 10.5x6.3 cm. Albumen print. On a branded mount. ii) PROSPER MÉRIMÉ (1803–1870) Handwritten letter addressed to I. Turgenev. Cannes, January 18 [1861]. In French with some phrases in Russian. Signed at the bottom of page 4. 4 pages of a folded sheet. 20.7x13.5 cm. Paper with initials 'B.D.' blind embossing. Stain on pages 1 and 4. In the letter, he compares the poetry of Pushkin and Byron. Letters published: Parturier M. Une amitié littéraire: Prosper Mérimée et Ivan Tourgueniev Paris: Hachette, 1952.