{"id":330,"date":"2021-12-16T00:50:14","date_gmt":"2021-12-15T23:50:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.maisonlitterairedevictorhugo.net\/en\/?page_id=330"},"modified":"2022-03-16T16:24:12","modified_gmt":"2022-03-16T15:24:12","slug":"de-paris-a-tokyo","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.maisonlitterairedevictorhugo.net\/en\/comite-dhonneur\/de-paris-a-tokyo\/","title":{"rendered":"\u00ab\u00a0De Paris \u00e0 Tokyo …\u00a0\u00bb"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\u201cFrom Paris to Tokyo\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/strong>
Preface to the catalog of the Literary House of Victor Hugo<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A<\/span>ndr\u00e9 Malraux confided to me one day \u2013 it was, as I remember, during the war, under the occupation and we were both in the uniform of the Resistance \u2013 \u00ab\u00a0Civilizations always develop around maritime basins. Civilization is first of all that of the Mediterranean, of the Middle East, of Greece, of Rome \u2013 today it is that of the Atlantic, from Europe to America \u2013 tomorrow it will be that of the Pacific and Paris will connect to Tokyo.\u00a0\u00bb<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Paris to Tokyo\u2026 Today the Soka Gakkai Internationale has acquired the Ch\u00e2teau des Roches, in Bi\u00e8vres, the property which Louis-Fran\u00e7ois Bertin, the famous Director of the Journal des D\u00e9bats<\/em> (his portrait by Ingres is famous), made a center of letters and arts: she created a museum there, the Maison Litt\u00e9raire de Victor Hugo, who was its most illustrious regular guest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I<\/span>t was in 1804 that, approaching his forties, Bertin the eldest acquired this castle: four years earlier he had bought the famous Journal des D\u00e9bats<\/em> which he edited until his death in 1841, despite the interruptions imposed by Napoleon I who suspended it from 1807 to 1814. It was the most important daily newspaper of the 19th century. Bertin wanted to make his castle a center of reception for the most eminent intellectuals of his time: the first was Chateaubriand who shared Bertin’s hostility to Napoleon; the most assiduous was then Victor Hugo between 1831 and 1845; from the first year he wrote there Les Feuilles d\u2019automne<\/em>, then between 1834 and 1837 Les Chants du Cr\u00e9puscule<\/em>, which he composed on the island of the pond, then Les Voix int\u00e9rieures<\/em>, la \u00ab\u00a0Tristesse d\u2019Olympio\u00a0\u00bb, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We know his familiar route: he took the coach from the Place Royale to Sceaux, where a correspondence allowed him to reach Bi\u00e8vres; he brought his wife and children (Didine and Charlot) there and spent the \u201csweet days\u201d and the \u201csweet evenings\u201d that he mentioned; there he enjoyed the company of Bertin’s daughter, Louise, a poet-musician, who composed an opera based on a libretto written by the poet: La Esmeralda<\/em>, whose failure was notorious. On the death of her father she inherited Les Roches which she kept until his death in 1877.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

W<\/span>hat a temptation to extend Hugo’s presence there today! The Soka Gakkai couldn’t resist. Through the care of its President, Mr. Daisaku Ikeda, it acquired the property in 1989 to create a museum there in memory of Hugo; this museum will answer, in the countryside, to the city one, of the Place des Vosges. Victor Hugo’s presence there will be extended by a selection of rare first editions, manuscripts and autograph letters, and even his account book, or messages sent to him on his 83rd birthday\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What more moving testimony to Hugo’s worldwide glory than this permanent tribute paid by an organization where the spiritual life of Japan is concentrated! Mr. Ikeda was able to declare: \u00ab\u00a0This house will be the bridge between two civilizations, French and Japanese, and I would like it to become a point of reference for literature from all over the world.\u00a0\u00bb<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ren\u00e9 HUYGHE<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

of the French Academy<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cFrom Paris to Tokyo\u2026\u201dPreface to the catalog of the Literary House of Victor Hugo Andr\u00e9 Malraux confided to me one day \u2013 it was, as I remember, during the war, under the occupation and we were both in the uniform of the Resistance \u2013 \u00ab\u00a0Civilizations always develop around maritime basins. Civilization is first of all …<\/p>\n

\u00ab\u00a0De Paris \u00e0 Tokyo …\u00a0\u00bb<\/span> Lire la suite\u00a0\u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":41,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-330","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maisonlitterairedevictorhugo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/330","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maisonlitterairedevictorhugo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maisonlitterairedevictorhugo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maisonlitterairedevictorhugo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maisonlitterairedevictorhugo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=330"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.maisonlitterairedevictorhugo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/330\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4031,"href":"https:\/\/www.maisonlitterairedevictorhugo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/330\/revisions\/4031"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maisonlitterairedevictorhugo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/41"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maisonlitterairedevictorhugo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}