https://archive.neruda-archives.org/api/items/1856
type: Item
type: Letter
id: 1856
is public: true
owner: https://archive.neruda-archives.org/api/users/1
resource class: https://archive.neruda-archives.org/api/resource_classes/66
resource template: https://archive.neruda-archives.org/api/resource_templates/2
title: Letter from Isabelle de Montolieu to Claude Arthus-Bertrand about Le Robinson suisse, 1813-10-28
created: 2026-08-19T16:51:12+00:00
modified: 2026-08-19T16:52:01+00:00
primary media: https://archive.neruda-archives.org/api/media/1857
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item set: https://archive.neruda-archives.org/api/item_sets/1
site: https://archive.neruda-archives.org/api/sites/1
identifier: NRA-L-000589
description: Isabelle de Montolieu writes to her Paris publisher Claude Arthus-Bertrand about the preparation of Le Robinson suisse: the delivery and scheduling of its volumes, a map of the island, subjects and captions for engravings, the full title and a related collection of novellas. She also describes eye trouble, the pressure of writing, and the inadequacy of her payment of ten louis per volume, and asks for the return of an issue of the Mercure étranger containing the first chapter.
date: 1813-10-28
temporal: Busigny 28 8bre
sort date: 1813-10-28
item sequence: 000589
type: Publishing correspondence
type: Literary correspondence
language: French
language: fr
creator: Isabelle de Montolieu
recipient: Arthus Bertrand, bookseller
recipient: Claude Arthus-Bertrand, publisher and bookseller
recipient: Claude Arthus-Bertrand
place sent: Bussigny, Vaud, Switzerland
spatial: Bussigny, Vaud, Switzerland
spatial: Paris, France
subject: Publishing correspondence
subject: Book publishing
subject: Translation and adaptation
subject: Book illustration
subject: Cartography
subject: Author remuneration
subject: Women writers
subject: Eye health
subject: Le Robinson suisse
subject: Mercure étranger
incipit: Busigny 28 8bre @fr
public transcript: [[label: Letter text - Page 1]] Busigny 28 8bre je ne puis comprendre Monsieur, ce qui retarde autant les lettres de Paris — autrefois on les recevoient le cinquieme jour a present je n'ai recu que hier 27 la votre du 16 et j'y reponds aujourd'huy 28 — j'espere que dans l'intervalle mon 2d paquet vous est parvenu . il etoit parti il y a plus de 8 jours à l'adresse de Mr Javot . et j'ai recu une lettre de ce dernier qui me permet de tems en tems cette adresse . mon paquet contenoit le 2d volume du Robinson vous le partagerez egaux comme cela vous conviendra — le 3me est fort avancé mais il vaut mieux ce me semble le faire paroitre dans quelque tems — avec le 4me ou avant comme vous l'aimerez mieux — je vous enverrai en même tems une carte géographique de l'Isle qui sera interessante — mais qui ne doit paroitre qu'avec le dernier volume parce que qu'il y a des endroits nommés d'après les decouvertes et les evenemens . — je voudrois pouvoir faire ce que vous me demandez — et vous envoyer une esquisse des gravures mais en veritte je n'en ai pas le tems — et je serois moi même embarassée sur le choix — votre graveur peut ce me semble le faire aussi bien — que moi — ou peut être Mr Giraud en le lisant voudroit bien vous indiquer les @fr
public transcript: [[label: Letter text - Page 2]] situations qui se rapprocheroient le plus — pour la 1ere le depart pour l'isle sur le batteau a Cuves — seroit tres joli s'il n'etoit pas tres difficile a composer — il faudroit un dessinateur intelligent qui en faisoit la description — de l'auteur — et qui eut de l'imagination — les 4 petits garçons — leurs deux [strikethrough: ch] gros chiens — le pere la Mere les betes extraordinaires qu'ils rencontrent cette nature etrangere — cet arbre singulier tout fera de jolis tableaux — mais en veritté je ne sçai comment les indiquer — il faudroit que je relise mon brouillon d'un bout a l'autre — quant a la lettre a mettre dessus prenez simplement la phrase — qui indique la situation — Arrivée dans l'isle — etablissement sur l'arbre ... mort du Porc Epi ... voyage de decouverte x x x : ou bien le titre du chapitre . — celui de l'ouvrage sera un peu long — et le voici Le Robinson suisse, ou journal d'un pere de famille naufragé avec ses Enfans . traduit de l'Allemand de mr Wyss . par madame la Bne de Montolieu . vous aurez trouvé aussi la nouvelle dans le paquet le tems m'a manqué pour mettre au net les deux @fr
public transcript: [[label: Letter text - Page 3]] que je vous avois promis pour les remplacer a tout [illegible crossed out] servez vous en seulement pour le recueil elle sera jointe a un des volumes — comme Sophie d'Altena je ne sçai que vous dire du titre si vous mettiez encore quelques nouvelles — composées imitées ou traduites — par mdme de Montolieu . si vous preferez en designer une seule il faudroit prendre le chalet des Alpes qui est de moi et comme ce n'est pas la plus longue . — on le trouveroit peut etre singulier — aimez vous mieux . — suite du recueil — des nouvelles — de mdme de Montolieu — ou bien nouvelles nouvelles . — — pensez y et choisissez — il me semble bien en effet que vous avez bien peu de tems d'ici au Nouvel an . mes maux de yeux m'ont entierement retardée et j'en souffre encore assez ne pouvant ecrire longtems de suitte . — mon mari dit avec assez de raison que je me tue a peu pres pour rien — il est sur que je ne tire pas de mes ouvrages ce que je devrois en tirer ce Robinson me donne trop de peine pour n'en tirer que 10 louis le volume et je vaguerois plus a toute autre occupation — mais cela m'amuse — et je ne pretends pas revenir sur un prix que j'ai fait — — faites comme vous pourrez [[notes]] Editorial notes: The heavily cancelled words at the start of the second line remain illegible and are not reconstructed. @fr
public transcript: [[label: Address panel]] A Monsieur Arthus Bertrand Libraire no 23 . rue haute feuille — a Paris @fr
public translation: [[label: Letter text - Page 1]] Busigny, 28 October I cannot understand, sir, what delays the letters from Paris so much. Formerly they arrived on the fifth day; now it was only yesterday, the 27th, that I received your letter of the 16th, and I am replying today, the 28th. I hope that in the meantime my second parcel has reached you. It left more than eight days ago, addressed to Mr Javot, and I have received a letter from him permitting me to use his address from time to time. My parcel contained the second volume of Robinson; you will divide it equally, or as best suits you. The third is well advanced, but it seems better to me to publish it after some time, either with the fourth or before it, whichever you prefer. At the same time I shall send you a geographical map of the island, which will be of interest, but which must appear only with the final volume because it contains places named after the discoveries and events. I wish I could do what you ask and send you sketches for the engravings, but in truth I have no time, and I myself would be at a loss over the choice. Your engraver, it seems to me, can do this as well as I can; or perhaps Mr Giraud, on reading it, would kindly indicate the
public translation: [[label: Letter text - Page 2]] situations that come closest to it. For the first engraving, the departure for the island in the tub-boat would be very pretty, were it not so difficult to compose. It would require an intelligent artist who could work from the author's description and who possessed imagination. The four little boys, their two big dogs, the father and mother, the extraordinary animals they encounter, this unfamiliar nature, this singular tree—all will make attractive pictures. But in truth I do not know how to specify them. I would have to reread my draft from beginning to end. As for the caption to place beneath each one, simply take the phrase that identifies the situation: "Arrival on the island", "Establishment in the tree", "Death of the porcupine", "Voyage of discovery", and so on—or else use the chapter title. The title of the work will be rather long; here it is: The Swiss Robinson, or Journal of a Father Shipwrecked with His Children. Translated from the German of Mr Wyss by Madame the Baroness de Montolieu. You will also have found the novella in the parcel. I lacked the time to make a fair copy of the two
public translation: [[label: Letter text - Page 3]] that I had promised you to replace them. In any event, use it only for the collection; it will be joined to one of the volumes, like Sophie d'Altena. I do not know what to tell you about the title. If you add several more novellas—composed, imitated or translated by Madame de Montolieu—and if you prefer to name only one, you would have to choose Le Chalet des Alpes, which is my own. Since it is not the longest, however, that might perhaps seem odd. Would you prefer "Continuation of the collection of novellas by Madame de Montolieu", or "New Novellas"? Think about it and choose. It does indeed seem to me that you have very little time between now and New Year. My eye troubles have delayed me completely, and I still suffer from them considerably, being unable to write for long at a stretch. My husband says, with some justification, that I am nearly killing myself for nothing. It is certain that I do not receive from my works what I ought to receive. This Robinson gives me too much trouble for me to earn only ten louis per volume, and I would profit more by attending to any other occupation. But it amuses me, and I do not intend to go back on a price I agreed. Do what you can, [[notes]] Editorial notes: The heavily cancelled words at the start of the second line remain illegible and are not reconstructed.
public translation: [[label: Address panel]] To Mr Arthus Bertrand, bookseller No. 23, rue Haute-Feuille Paris
source: Original item in Neruda Archives.
provenance: Private collection, Neruda Archives.
rights: Publicly available images, transcriptions, translations, metadata and descriptions may be copied, shared, reproduced and republished, in whole or in part, for non-commercial purposes, provided that Neruda Archives is clearly credited and the relevant item identifier and stable URL are preserved. This permission includes non-commercial scholarly, educational, editorial, exhibition, website and social-media use. Automated machine use, including crawling, indexing, text and data mining, retrieval, embeddings and AI training by commercial and non-commercial systems, is permitted, provided provenance is retained where technically feasible and the item identifier and stable URL are preserved in source records or associated documentation. Commercial publication, commercial reproduction, resale, advertising use, paid access to a database or dataset and bulk redistribution of images require prior written permission. For the avoidance of doubt, permission is not required merely because an AI system or its operator is commercial. The images displayed and downloadable on this page are public access copies, and the permissions above apply to those files. Access to non-public source scans (preservation masters) or files specially prepared for print, where available, requires prior written agreement. Attribution may not be removed or replaced by false or misleading attribution.
access rights: Open public access. The images displayed and downloadable on each item page are public access copies. Non-commercial reuse of those images and of public transcriptions, translations, metadata and descriptions is permitted with clear credit to Neruda Archives and preservation of the relevant item identifier and stable URL. Automated use and AI training are permitted for commercial and non-commercial systems with provenance retained where technically feasible. Commercial republication, resale, advertising, paid database or dataset access and bulk image redistribution require prior written permission. Access to non-public source scans (preservation masters) or files specially prepared for print, where available, requires prior written agreement.
rights category: Open metadata and AI use; non-commercial public reuse
rights holder: Neruda Archives
bibliographic citation: Neruda Archives, NRA-L-000589.
research status: All four captures, including the letter ending on the address side, address panel, postal evidence, docketed year, names, publishing context, transcription and translation were checked against the authoritative images. The normalized year and place are explicitly identified as inferred from documentary evidence. Date evidence: The original dateline gives Busigny and 28 October; the address-side docket supplies the year 1813, while the Lausanne postmark confirms 28 October. Origin evidence: The dateline reads Busigny, the contemporary spelling used in the letter for Bussigny; the Lausanne departure mark and independent biographical evidence are consistent with Montolieu's residence at Bussigny. Recipient layers: postal addressee — Arthus Bertrand, bookseller; textual addressee — Claude Arthus-Bertrand, publisher and bookseller.
transcription status: Image-checked raw transcription
translation status: Image-checked English translation
catalogue period: 1800–1824
date certainty: Inferred
extent: 4 documentary sides: Letter text - Page 1; Letter text - Page 2; Letter text - Page 3; Letter ending, address panel and postal evidence; 4 digital images.
signature: I de Montolieu

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