Octave MAUS. Sur les Cîmes. Bruxelles, chez Mme Vve Monnom, [late March] 1887; in-12 square, white half-chagrin with corners, gilt fillets, ribbed spine stamped on tail with Octave Maus's figure, "couv. raisin de couleur crème" cons. (Strictly period binding). First edition limited to 60 copies on vellum, no. 1. Delightful account of a trip to the Carpathians with a certain I.D., to whom it is dedicated. "To my regrets was mingled the sorrow I felt at parting from you, Madame, and this sorrow I still feel, cruelly. And it's to soften it that I'm writing you this long, too long letter. I hope you don't mind my sending it to you? [...] I could have burnt it [...] but I thought, with Émile de Girardin, that the surest way of ensuring that it never reached its addressee was to have it printed in a volume. And so I confidently hand it over to the typographers, assuring you, Madame, of my deepest respect. December 1886". The famous lawyer Octave MAUS (1856-1919) worked for all the arts in Belgium through Les XX and La Libre Esthétique, of which he was secretary. Many concerts were organized there, and he was a close friend of Vincent d'Indy. All the composer's correspondence with Maus entered the KBR in 1981, with the exception of the unpublished letter attached. As early as January 1888, Maus was the initiator of Mallarmé's conference in Belgium, which did not materialize until February 1890 on Villiers [see 60]. We have described all the partly unpublished correspondence between Mallarmé and Maus in cat. L'Art et l'Idée (26/10/1992 p. 100 sq., entry in the Archives et Musée de la Littérature, Brussels), except for the letter below. Eight congratulatory letters mounted on tabs: - Stéphane Mallarmé, Paris March 30, 1887 (3 pp. on double f. in-12): "[...] I must confess that when it comes to books, all my interest goes to the study of the means of art involved. [...] As for the very quality of the verbal fabric, it is that of a rare fabric". (Marchal Corr. 790). - Vincent d'Indy, Paris, April 6, 1887 (4 pp. on double f. in-12). Warm missive. He is absorbed by the staging of Lohengrin. "As for the public, which is often made up of very intelligent individuals, I have very often seen them foolish in their judgments as a collective, and I must confess that I am rather worried than pleased when I hear one of my works being applauded, because it makes me fear that the work in question is bad [...]". He thanks him for his excellent article in L'Art moderne (which Maus edited with Picard and Verhaeren). - René Ghil, Paris, April 5, 1887 (1 p. in-12): "[...] I made a charming journey with you, and a beautiful one when we reached the Cîmes and you urged me, for wanderings of the heart or evagations of the being, to lower my gaze into the chasms beneath our feet, or to let it wander, over there, over the peaks, lakes, plains burning or flowing in all shades [...]". - Erastène Ramiro, Dimanche 3 [avril 1887] (2 pp. on double f. in-12). Thanks him for the publicity he has given him by publishing his study on Le Nu féminin. About Pornocratès by F. Rops in today's L'Art moderne. He regrets that it was not said to be a fragment of a preface, as the fall seems brutal to him. He asks for secrecy about his pseudonym. - Georges Eekhoud, Dimanche [April 1887] (4 pp. on double f. in-12). "...] The further I advance in my career, the more I become convinced that the only way in art to interest the public in what you do is to interest yourself in it first, with all your heart, with all your strength. More and more, I loathe things that are made up and improvised; picturesque for picturesque's sake. A la bonne heure avec toi, on voit du pays, on respirer l'air intrépide des monts, et cette atmosphère vibrre dans ta phrase, lui communique je ne sais quelle fierté, quel mépris des conventions et des mesquineries qui nous asphyxient à Bruxelles et, aussi, je crois, à Paris. You are very fortunate, my dear Octave, to be able to go off to primitive lands from time to time, to rejuvenate yourself and stock up on strength [...] I barely have the resource of spending a few hours from time to time in the beloved country, so close and yet so far from the offices of the Étoile and the Théâtre de la Monnaie. Finally, I resign myself. And like you, when I'm nauseated by my direct and obligatory surroundings, I evoke the good hours of holiday [...]". - Jules Destrée, [1887] (1 p. on double parchment leaf). He thanks Maus for his "elegant booklet [...] I, who have a passion for far-flung expeditions, envy you for having done this marvelous thing, and congratulate you on having told it so alertly".