Ernest de BUNSEN (Rome 1819 - London 1903) - Anglo-German wr - Lot 22

Ernest de BUNSEN (Rome 1819 - London 1903) - Anglo-German writer specializing in the origins of religions. - L.a.s. "E. de Bunsen" (London) Regent's Park May 14, 1864, 2 pp. in-8, on Abbey Lodge Hotel letterhead. In the first part of his letter, he asks the historian for information on what is known about the religion of the Serpent. His research into the primitive Brahman religion led him to discover that, for its followers, Adam was the first Aryan and the serpent of Eden in the Old Testament the first Semite: "Dear Mr. Martin, I have just made a rather remarkable discovery about the aborginal (sic) religion of the Serpent. Can you give me in a few lines the results of Baron Eckstein's and others' research on this point? Point of detail. Among which nations was the Serpent the symbol of good? Bunsen's theories were not without influence on Aryan racist mythology. The second part of the letter deals with the worrying political situation in Europe: "... The war of nationalities will soon begin. No transaction is possible. If England takes the side of Russia and Austria, it will be very serious for her ... What blindness. Sweden should be everyone's friend against Russia ... and then Poland, Hungary and Italy will be free! All yours. Henri MARTIN (1810-1886). Republican and freethinker, he was editor-in-chief of Le Siècle. He was mayor of Paris's 16th arrondissement in 1870, then from 1880 to 1883. Elected to the Académie française to replace Adolphe Thiers. - Set of documents concerning his teaching appointments, including a letter signed by Minister Hippolyte CARNOT appointing him to teach a course in modern history at the Faculté des lettres in Paris, in May 1848. - L.a.s. "H. Martin" Paris January 19 (1882) 2 pp. in-12. Short letter addressed to Léon GAMBETTA: "... You alone can pull us out of this crisis out of all proportion to its causes and so dangerous ... Yours sincerely. H. Martin. Provenance: - Estate of Henri MARTIN (1810-1886). - By descent to the present day