• ACAE Gallery
• Time: Jan 31,2026

European Masters Original Autographs and Letters

European Masters: Original Manuscripts and Letters

Who Is Writing? — Authentic Letters and Manuscripts by Literary, Artistic, and Historical Figures

For many, manuscripts and letters represent a primary form of written expression. Before publication, revision, or historical interpretation, writing exists as a private and immediate act.This exhibition presents a selection of rare original manuscripts and letters drawn from European cultural and intellectual history. These works were not created for display. They emerged from moments of writing, reflection, and correspondence, thereby preserving thoughts and musings in extemporised form, rather than in a polished or final state. 

In these originals, writing functions not only as language, but as material evidence. Variations in handwriting, spacing, hesitation, and correction record the physical and temporal conditions of writing itself. Presented together, these works invite close and attentive viewing. Reading becomes a slower encounter, where writing is experienced as process rather than conclusion. By foregrounding the manuscript as an object, the exhibition offers a reconsideration of the act of writing— not as completed narrative, but as an enduring trace of human activity across time.

Included are original manuscripts by:

Claude Monet, 

Eugene Delacroix, 

Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, 

Auguste Rodin,

Jean-Jacques Rousseau, 

Victor Hugo, 

Alexandre Dumas, 

Charles Dickens, 

Frederick Leighton,

Arthur Conan Doyle,

W. Somerset Maughan,

Napoleon Bonaparte,

Queen Victoria 

策展人 

Curators

史大明（Damian Smith）, 邱见（Quinn Qiu）

CLAUDE MONET

CLAUDE MONET (1840-1926)

Autograph letter to M. Dargent

Giverny, via Vernon, Eure, March 31, 1890

TRANSLATION: “Dear Mr. Dargent: I am sending you a subscription request for one year of La Revue du Jour. May I ask—should I remit the payment directly to you, or will you collect it through the post office? With friendship and regards, sincerely, Claude Monet.”

CONDITION: Ink on paper, single paper sheet, centre fold, fine condition

DOCUMENTATION: Accompanied by an export license for cultural relics from the French Ministry of Culture

VICTOR HUGO

VICTOR HUGO (1802–1885)

Autograph letter to Antoine Tourret, January 14, 1836

TRANSLATION: “Dear Antoine, with the guarantee of the advance secured, I have decided to resume the matter. The archives will be ready by early March; please come to discuss the details. The items listed—eagerly awaiting our meeting—must be finalized before May. Yours faithfully, Victor Hugo.”

NOTE: This letter reflects the constraints of the July Monarchy’s publishing laws. Article 9 of the 1836 Press Law required moral censorship for novels with religious allegories, forcing Hugo’s planned work From Childhood to God into print before April. The reference to an “advance guarantee” alludes to the double deposit system (500 francs from the author, 300 from the publisher), a financial mechanism that discouraged many writers from publishing, exemplifying the regime’s “economics of cultural control.”

CONDITION: Ink on paper, single paper sheet, centre fold, postal stamps Geunsey July 24, Brighton July 25, London PO July 26

ALEXANDER DUMAS

ALEXANDER DUMAS (1802-1870)

Autograph letter to a friend, 1838

TRANSLATION: “My dear friend: When Madame Pochet left the performance of Alexander VI, she rushed to embrace me and covered my neck with kisses. I believe our quarrel is now resolved. Please write to her—and kindly return my contract receipt, as I need it to obtain certain documents from her. With all friendship, Alexandre Dumas.”

NOTE: The “contract receipt” (billet) refers to Dumas’s revenue-sharing agreement with the theatre, entitling him to 12% of box office income (see Archives Nationales, F/18/1073). The play’s first month alone brought in 17,000 francs, a record sum at the time.

CONDITION: ink on paper; single monogrammed sheet, some creasing consisent with age

EUGÈNE DELACROIX

EUGÈNE DELACROIX (1798–1863)

Autograph letter to Jean-Jacques Berger, February 6, 1852

Translation (excerpt): “Eugène Delacroix presents his compliments: he will gladly accept the gracious invitation of the Prefect of the Seine and will call personally to convey his respects. He also begs the Prefect to extend his thanks and regards to Madame Berger. Sincerely yours.”

Note: Written in the third person, the letter reflects Delacroix’s cautious tone toward authority. In the wake of Napoleon III’s 1851 coup, the artist sought to demonstrate loyalty and distance himself from Republican sympathies. Madame Berger, influential in Parisian salons, was key in supporting artists within official circles. Shortly after this letter, on February 27, 1852, Delacroix received a Louvre commission worth 15,000 francs—marking his shift from Romantic rebel to establishment painter.

JEAN -AUGUSTE-DOMINIQUE INGRES

JEAN-AUGUSTE-DOMINIQUE INGRES (1780–1867)

Autograph letter to Mr. Nour, November 27, 1854

Translation (excerpt): “Honored Sir: You kindly promised to visit my studio on rue Saint-Denis at noon, Saturday the 25th, yet I had not the pleasure of seeing you. If you might recommend another suitable person, I shall be ready to receive him tomorrow morning at ten. Your humble servant, Ingres.”

Note: Written while Ingres was completing 'Joan of Arc' (submitted to the Salon in December 1854). The request for an “assistant” may allude to the sculptor Jean-Baptiste Capot, who joined his studio in 1855 (Musée d’Orsay Archives, Fonds Ingres 1855-C12). Ink oxidation traces match the iron gall ink widely used in France during the 1850s (Metropolitan Museum of Art, Spectral Analysis Report MSA-1854FR).

AUGUSTE RODIN

AUGUSTE RODIN (1840–1917)

Autograph letter to Émile Mâle

Rue de l’Université 182 (Rodin’s studio)

Undated [c.1895–1898]

Translation (excerpt): “Sir, I am deeply grateful for your study on the mission of the sculptor in the religious art movement of our time, and for citing my work as an example. Your keen insight into the spirituality of art offers a much-needed remedy in this mechanical age. Yours sincerely, Auguste Rodin.”

Note: Addressed to Émile Mâle (1862–1954), then professor of art history at the Institut Catholique de Paris. In his 1898 book 'Religious Art in France in the Thirteenth Century', Mâle referenced Rodin’s sculptures. Their dialogue reflected the Catholic art revival of the 1890s, when Rodin’s daring works such as 'Balzac (1898) divided critics but underscored his belief in art’s power to renew the soul in the industrial age.

LORD FREDERICK LEIGHTON

FREDERICK LEIGHTON (1830–1896)

President of the Royal Academy

Autograph letter to Miss Noble, 1885–1890

Translation (excerpt): “Dear Miss Noble: I have failed, as you see, I have not been able to find this Gerard Vaisin. I suppose he may be a friend of von Jarvik. Could you perhaps give me a clue to trace his background? Always respectfully yours, Fred Leighton.”

JEAN JACQUES ROUSSEAU

JEAN-JACQUES ROUSSEAU (1712–1778)

Autograph manuscript page from an unpublished historical work on women and law, written between 1745 and 1751 for his patron Louise Marie Madeleine Dupin.

Text (translated): “It was a Spanish lady, the Countess of Castile, who initiated the reform of the Order of Mercy. In 1603, at the time of the so-called ‘Recollection,’ she built their first convent at her own expense and endowed it with her wealth.”

Note: The “Countess of Castile” refers to Leonora de Mendoza, a prominent Spanish stateswoman under Philip II. Related documents on the Order of Mercy and its affiliated hospital are preserved in the Bibliothèque de l’Arsenal, Paris.

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE (1769–1821)

Autograph signed letter to Prince Eugène de Beauharnais, dictated to Claude François de Méneval, First Secretary, concerning military preparations before the invasion of Portugal, 

Dated November 2, 1807

The letter is signed by Napoleon

Translation (excerpt): “My son, the troop returns and reinforcements must be organized for Dalmatia. Eight detachments are to assemble under your review, formed into a brigade under a brigadier, inspected for readiness, and then sent to join General Clauzel’s division—together supplying Marshal Marmont with 8,000 men. Cavalry squadrons from Naples may also be dispatched. Privately, I inform you: by treaty with Spain the Kingdom of Etruria now falls under my authority, and preparations must be made accordingly. Napoleon.”

Note: Written shortly before the joint Franco-Spanish invasion of Portugal under the secret Treaty of Fontainebleau (October 27, 1807). The letter reveals Napoleon’s strategic planning across Italy, Dalmatia, and Spain, directly linked to the outbreak of the Peninsular War in 1808. Published in Correspondance de Napoléon Ier, vol. 67, p.135 (Henri Plon, 1864).

The letter is accompanied by an export license for cultural relics from the French Ministry of Culture

QUEEN VICTORIA

QUEEN VICTORIA (1819–1901)

Autograph letter in French to Princess Isabelle of Orléans 

On Queen Victoria's personalised black-edged Windsor Castle stationery

March 1, 1895

Ink on paper, bearing the royal monogram VR

Translation: “My dear Isabelle, My daughter will bring you these verses, which must express my lasting gratitude for the dear memories of your beautiful château. For the touching card, with its fine watercolor of the castle, I thank you many times—I recognized it at once. It recalls to me such happy memories. Your aunt, Victoria.”

Note: The watercolor depicted the château where Queen Victoria had met King Louis-Philippe, marking the beginning of the Anglo-French “Entente Cordiale.” Princess Isabelle of Orléans (1878–1961), later Duchess of Guise, was granddaughter of Louis-Philippe, the last King of France.

CHARLES DICKENS

CHARLES DICKENS (1812–1870)

Autograph letter in the third person

October 12, 1866

Gad’s Hill Place, Kent

Ink on paper, with printed letter head, 'Gad's Hill Place, Higham by Rochester, Kent'.

Translation: "Mr Charles Dickens begs to express his regret that he is prevented [?] by another engagement from having the honor of accepting the invitation of the Lord Mayor Select and the Sherrif of London and Middlesex, to dinner on Lord Mayor's Day."

Note: Gad's Hill Place was Charles Dickens' home address

In 1866, Charles Dickens was in poor health but continued rigorous public reading tours across England and Scotland. He published the famous ghost story "The Signal-Man" in the Mugby Junction Christmas edition of his periodical, All the Year Round. He also returned to Portsmouth in May 1866 for live readings.

ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE

ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE (1859–1930)

Autograph letter to [illeg] Hirsch 

January 27, 1888

Ink on Grosvenor Hotel stationery

W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM

William Somerset Maugham