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Gounod, Charles

Currency:USD Category:Memorabilia / Autographs - Original Start Price:200.00 USD Estimated At:400.00 - 600.00 USD
Gounod, Charles
<Our item number 98531><B>Gounod, Charles.</B> &#40;1818-93&#41; French composer; winner of Grand Prix de Rome &#40;1839&#41;; best known for his opera &#34;Faust.&#34; Autograph Letter Signed &#40;&#34;<I>Ch. Gounod</I>&#34;&#41;, 3 pp, 7x4½&#34; &#40;Paris&#41;, 19 Mar &#40;18&#41;91. Fine. Written in French, replying to a Mr. Kaminsky&#39;s inquiry as to Gounod&#39;s opinion on the study by Count Leo Tolstoy of the effects of tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs on the intellectual and moral faculties; a copy of Tolstoy&#39;s study, entitled &#34;Why Do People Stupefy Themselves?&#34; is included. Gounod agrees that &#34;<I>the use of tobacco produces torpidity of the faculties in question…and that it could lead to atrophy</I> [of the intellect] <I>through its abuse</I>&#34;; he does not agree, however, that tobacco &#34;<I>could ultimately cause the obliteration of the Conscience</I>,&#34; and elucidates the difference between Conscience and Will. He concludes with, &#34;<I>I&#39;ve smoked a great de al; I&#39;ve never noticed that it has ever affected the judgment of my Conscience on the morality of my acts</I>.&#34; With transmittal envelope and translation. <BR>Estimated Value &#36;400-600. <BR><BR>Our item number 98531<BR><IMAGES><P ALIGN=CENTER"><IMG SRC="http://www.goldbergcoins.net/liveauction/38jpegs/098531.jpg"> </P></IMAGES> "