Pourtalès, La vie de Franz Liszt, 1929.

Condition : good, two minor lateral tears to the boards, minor trace of moisture in the upper margin, otherwise a very nice and clean uncut copy.

Copy no. 1283 on Chiffon de Bruges.

Franz Liszt (1811 - 1886), a multiple, complex, even contradictory man: child prodigy, adored pianist, great seducer, adventurous lover, loving but absent father, gifted polyglot writer, "man of the world". But also, throughout his life, a sincere mystic who, at an old age, received minor orders and nevertheless refused the presence of a priest at the hour of death. This generosity of temperament was also generosity "tout court": the genius composer supported with clear-sightedness and devotion all the great creators of his time, in particular Wagner, who often returned the favour. Financial generosity too: always ready to give, the man who defined himself as a gypsy Franciscan died the owner of... a cassock, a few shirts and seven handkerchiefs. Pourtalès exposes to us with brilliance and great historical finesse this extraordinary being. A true novel! Guy de Pourtalès (1881-1941) lived his early years in Switzerland and Germany. He settled in France in 1905, but maintained intense friendly and family ties with Switzerland throughout his life. His intellectual life led him from an early scientific education to literature. His great passion was music, especially of the Romantic period.