Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev (1818-1883)
To his daughter. 1882
Autograph letter signed ('Iv. Tourguéneff') to his daughter Paulinette, Les Frènes, Bougival, 21 August 1882.

In French. One page, 170 x 105mm, on a bifolium.

A letter to his daughter. Turgenev forwards a letter (not present) from 'the excellent Mme Delessert ... She is still just as kind and as affectionate. – as your mother-in-law knows to her cost' ('Ta belle mère en sera restée pour ses frais'). He concludes 'No news here – not even the rain, which just carries on raining'.

Valentine Delessert (1806-1894) was a celebrated saloniste, mistress of Prosper Mérimée and later Maxime du Camp, and a friend and frequent correspondent of Turgenev's from 1861 onwards. She had taken a close interest in Turgenev's illegitimate daughter, Paulinette, and was responsible for introducing her to Gaston Bruère, whom she married in 1865. The marriage however was not a success, and after leaving her husband Paulinette was obliged to live in secret at Solothurn in Switzerland – hence Turgenev's forwarding the letter referred to here.

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