Tomáš Masaryk (1850-1937)
Autograph manuscript draft of his essay 'Blaise Pascal, jeho život a filozofie' [Blaise Pascal, his life and philosophy], [before 15 November 1882]
In Czech. Incomplete: ending mid-way through section 10 of 15, a heavily corrected draft with many cancellations and emendations, title and 73 pages, mostly 217 x 175mm, numbered 1-8, 13-68, with some inserted leaves, printer's markings in coloured pencil; with a printed text of the lecture, as presented to the academicians of the Jungmann Association, Prague, 15 November 1882; [and] portrait photograph signed by Masaryk, 26 August 1931, the image by Langhans, framed and glazed. Provenance: the manuscript, Stargardt, 24 & 25 February 1981, lot 1070; the photograph Sotheby's, 22-24 March 1981, lot 364.

Essay on Blaise Pascal by the future Czech leader. From a humble background, Masaryk attended grammar school in Brno and Vienna, before obtaining a doctorate at the University of Vienna in 1876. He was appointed professor of philosophy at the Charles-Ferdinand University in Prague in 1882. His political career was to begin in 1891, with his election to the Austro-Hungarian Reichsrat as a representative of the Young Czech Party: his most prominent role was as the first president of Czechoslovakia, from 1918 to 1935.