André THEURIET (1833-1907). Autograph manuscript signed, [Chansons populaires du Poitou]; 3pages in-fol. (traces of mounting). Theuriet, strolling along the quayside booksellers, finds Léon Pineau's book, Le Folklore du Poitou. He quotes a pastourelle that reminds him of his early youth in Poitou, where folk traditions were preserved intact. Reading the book, he transcribed several local songs. Young poets should seek their inspiration in these texts, to acquire "the spontaneity, the naturalness, the simplicity, the absence of declamation and rhetoric [...] we are beginning to tire of Scandinavian mists, Symbolist incoherence and decadent decay"... The manuscript, on water-green paper, has been cut for printing, and recollated into three large pages; the first leaf has been slightly trimmed, making the title disappear.