Letter from Gustave Flaubert, Paris, to Edma Roger des Genettes, 1877 March 3 : autograph manuscript signed.

Flaubert complains about how stupid his life in Paris has been, taking him away from his work. The copyist has brought him the manuscript of his "Trois contes" (i.e. Un coeur simple, La legende de Saint Julien l'Hospitalier, and Herodias), which are to be published by Charpentier the following week (the actual publication date was April 24, 1877). The journal Le Moniteur will also publish Un coeur simple and Herodias, and the Bien-Public will publish Saint Julien l'Hospitalier. Although he is tired of speaking about Zola's L'Assommoir, a book which is not suited to his taste nor to his recipient's, he says that one must realize its great power. He criticizes Zola, though, for having a system, for wanting to create a literary school, adding that he is stubborn, is not a poet, and is ignorant (he finds Mme de Genettes' assessment of L'Assommoir harsh, but he is hardly kinder in his assessment of Zola). Flaubert has just finished reading two volumes of Victor Hugo, which he has found less impressive than Hugo's previous work. He did, however, like the poem "Le cimetiere d'Eylau." The preceding week, he and Maxime du Camp burned many of their letters from 1843 to 1857, most of which spoke of literature and women. He sometimes sees le Pere (Henri) Didon. He asks if Mme des Genettes has read Renan's speech on Spinoza or his "Priere a Minerve" in La Revue des deux mondes.