Abstract: Among the first readers of Gaspard de la Nuit, few shared their opinion on the work. One of them was the poet-printer Léon Boitel (1806–1855), who offered a brief but penetrating review (April 1843) in the Revue du Lyonnais at the invitation of Sainte-Beuve and Victor Pavie. Boitel’s career and the analysis of his preferences highlight the traits that predisposed this little-known provincial poet to the intuitive intelligence of Bertrand’s poetics.
