Documents, ephemera, and relics of the daily lives of avant-gardists, especially those involved in archiving, publishing and organising. (This heading of the archive does not include books owned or inscribed by avant-gardists, which appear under the appropriate heading of the book, with an underlined note regarding the book's previous owner/s.)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Charles Asselineau, Avant-garde archivist & micro-historian. Unused Bookplate. Date Unknown, c. 1845-1874.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Paul Fort, Symbolist Poet, publisher & theatre manager. Letter to unidentified correspondent. Nov. 25, 1924.
Then as now, neither quality nor respect within underground culture equate with financial security, and Fort's activity (in large part because it was so focused on creating venues for other peoples' work) left him in or near poverty throughout his life, while failing to garner a wide enough audience. among the next generation to sustain his old age. Like many avant-gardists, he spent most of his life refusing to seek plaudits or financial handouts from the establishment in the form of prizes or grants, but here he gives in to necessity:
"Paris, 34 rue Gay. Lussoc. Le 25 Nov. 1924.
[illegible in pencil, in another hand: likely the addressee's name]
Mon bien cher ami,
L'époque est dure aux bons citoyens.
Me voilà, fort dénué comme vous le savez, pasant [sic] ma candidature au Prix Lasserre.
J'ai "composé" deux sortes d'oeuvres: un grand nombre, poétiques, et un grand nombre d'enfants.
Les unes ne font pas [vuire?] les autres.
Or je ne me suis pas voué dans la vie rien qu'au soir de moi. même – dit-on... littérature français fut, quelquefois, n'être pas mécontente de mes efforts pour établir dans les esprits plusieurs génération[s] de haut[s] écrivains: le Thèatre d'Art qui devint l'Oeuvre, mes [confèrences] à l'Etranger, Vers et Prose en font foi. Tout cela – hors en de trop rares circonstances mes causeries aux pays étranges – oublia de m'enrichir, tout cela m'à laissé dignement pauvre et là ou je suis, c'est à dire bien bas.
Je vous prie affectueusement, mon cher ami, de me faire l'honneur d'y songer demain.
Croyes à ma fidèle gratitude. Croyez. moi votre admirateur le plus fervent et votre dévoué poète et amis
Paul Fort.
La faim seule fait saillir le loup du bois (et des louveteaux). Vous me comprenez . . . Car depuis 35 [ans] de lettres je n'ai sollicité aucun prix et, naturellement, n'en ni désiré ni obtenu aucun.
"Paris, 24 Gay. Lussoc Avenue. The 25 Nov. 1924.
My very dear friend,
The epoch is rough on good citizens.
Here's me, greatly deprived as you know, [passing along] my candidature for the Lassere Prize.
I've "composed" two types of works: a great many, poetic, and a great many for children.
The ones do not make the others [????].
Yet in my whole life I've not dedicated myself to them anything but the evenings. only – they say . . . french literature was, once upon a time, not discontent with my efforts to establish several generations of lofty writers in thought: the Theatre of Art which becomes the Oeuvre, my [conventions] for the Stranger, Verse and Prose [in fount of faith.] All of this – except in too rare instances my talks in foreign countries – forgot to enrich me, all of this has left me honourably poor and that's where I'm at, that is to say, very down and out.
I beg you affectionately, my dear friend, to do me the honour of reflecting on this tomorrow.
Be assured of my faithful gratitude. Be assured. me your most fervent admirer and your devoted poet and friend
Paul Fort.
Hunger alone drives the wolf forth from the forest (and wolf-cubs). You understand what I'm driving at . . . In 35 years of writing I have never sought any prize and, naturally, neither wanted nor got any.
Paul Fort, "Chevalerie; ou le Geste inutile" ("Chivalry; or the Pointless Tale"). Undated, c. 1890–1940. Handwritten Manuscript.
Request to English Surrealist David Gascoyne to review Menard Press' 1999 bilingual edition of Nerval's Chimères. Typed with handwritten annotation. Enclosed in Gascoyne's personal review copy (see "Nervaliens Collection" tab).
Joseph Bouchardy, Avant-Romanticist playwright & co-founder of Jeunes-France/Bouzingo group. Handwritten letter to Félix Duterte de Véteuil. Undated, c. 1835–1870.
Though virtually forgotten today, Joseph Bouchardy was a co-founder of the Bouzingo group, the first self-declared “avant-garde” collective, blending political radicalism, gothic-horror subculture, experimental literature and art, and the transformation of everyday life. Trained in England as an engraver, back in France he soon turned to playwriting, and produced many blockbuster melodramas full of deception, disguise, double-crossing, violence, and convoluted, labyrinthine plots often taking place in labyrinthine settings--delighted when he was able to construct plots so complex that he even lost track of them himself.
This letter to the playwright Duterte de Véteuil records his bemused sufferings as a result of having atended a magnetist seance à-la-Mesmer, a pseudoscience that attracted considerable interest in the early- and mid-19th Century among his friends in the avant-garde and occult circles. My imperfect transcription and translation are below; I welcome corrections:
French Transcription:
Vendredi 6 heures 1/2
Mon cher Bon
pour avoir eu aujourd’hui la curiosité et l’Imprudence de me faire magnetiser je suis devenu coupable de vomissements, et enfin d’un mal de bète qui m’ôte toutes facultés . . . je vais me trainer dans une Comédie quelconque pour voir si etant [opè?] je souffrirai moins que de bout, [et] s’il en [eu] [??itremiens], je prendrai le [porte] de me coucher.
Je sais que tu [ferais] [apez] [bon] pour n’attendre a la nuit, Je [t’eu] pries [fois] [urevence], et [pardonnes] la grande migraine a [toa]
Viel ami
J. Bouchardy
Addresse:
[Frepé] Monsieur
Dutertre [Flaunue de Lettres]
15 [(Bis)] Boulevard de [Martry]
Address:
[????] Mr.
Duterte* [Stroller through Letters]
15 [(second)] Boulevard
My dear man
for having today had the curiosity and foolhardiness to go get myself magnetized I’ve been rendered guilty of vomiting, and eventually a beast’s sickness which withdraws all the faculties . . . I’m going to drag myself out [in/to] some Comedy or other to see whether by [being active] I’ll suffer less than on my feet, [and] if it [??????ed], I’ll be out the door to lie back down.
I know that you’d [make/do] [harsh] [good] not to attend tonight, I beg you [time] [?????], and [forgive] this massive migraine [has/to/etc.] [???]
Old friend,
J. Bouchardy
* Note: Probably the playwright and singer Félix Duterte de Véteuil, an exact contemporary of Bouchardy.
Jules Claretie, Avant-garde historian, writer, theatre director. Handwritten order to a bookseller for books on Romanticism and Left Politics (1827-28 Annales Romantiques, Maxime du Camp's Salon de 1857, Undeciphered title by Jules Favre, & one other undeciphered book). Undated, c.1860-1913.
Though virtually forgotten today, Joseph Bouchardy was a co-founder of the Bouzingo group, the first self-declared “avant-garde” collective, blending political radicalism, gothic-horror subculture, experimental literature and art, and the transformation of everyday life. Trained in England as an engraver, back in France he soon turned to playwriting, and produced many blockbuster melodramas full of deception, disguise, double-crossing, violence, and convoluted, labyrinthine plots often taking place in labyrinthine settings--delighted when he was able to construct plots so complex that he even lost track of them himself.
This letter to the playwright Duterte de Véteuil records his bemused sufferings as a result of having atended a magnetist seance à-la-Mesmer, a pseudoscience that attracted considerable interest in the early- and mid-19th Century among his friends in the avant-garde and occult circles. My imperfect transcription and translation are below; I welcome corrections:
French Transcription:
Vendredi 6 heures 1/2
Mon cher Bon
pour avoir eu aujourd’hui la curiosité et l’Imprudence de me faire magnetiser je suis devenu coupable de vomissements, et enfin d’un mal de bète qui m’ôte toutes facultés . . . je vais me trainer dans une Comédie quelconque pour voir si etant [opè?] je souffrirai moins que de bout, [et] s’il en [eu] [??itremiens], je prendrai le [porte] de me coucher.
Je sais que tu [ferais] [apez] [bon] pour n’attendre a la nuit, Je [t’eu] pries [fois] [urevence], et [pardonnes] la grande migraine a [toa]
Viel ami
J. Bouchardy
Addresse:
[Frepé] Monsieur
Dutertre [Flaunue de Lettres]
15 [(Bis)] Boulevard de [Martry]
~~~~~~
English Translation:Address:
[????] Mr.
Duterte* [Stroller through Letters]
15 [(second)] Boulevard
My dear man
for having today had the curiosity and foolhardiness to go get myself magnetized I’ve been rendered guilty of vomiting, and eventually a beast’s sickness which withdraws all the faculties . . . I’m going to drag myself out [in/to] some Comedy or other to see whether by [being active] I’ll suffer less than on my feet, [and] if it [??????ed], I’ll be out the door to lie back down.
I know that you’d [make/do] [harsh] [good] not to attend tonight, I beg you [time] [?????], and [forgive] this massive migraine [has/to/etc.] [???]
Old friend,
J. Bouchardy
* Note: Probably the playwright and singer Félix Duterte de Véteuil, an exact contemporary of Bouchardy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Joseph Bouchardy, Romanticist Playwright. Letter to Mme. Porcher. Note on an illness, and request for an advance on his account. Oct. 8, 1850.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Though virtually forgotten today, Joseph Bouchardy was a
co-founder of the Bouzingo group, the first self-declared “avant-garde”
collective, blending political radicalism, gothic-horror subculture,
experimental literature and art, and the transformation of everyday
life. Trained in England as an engraver, back in France he soon turned
to playwriting, and produced many blockbuster melodramas full of
deception, disguise, double-crossing,
violence, and convoluted, labyrinthine plots often taking place in
labyrinthine settings--delighted when he was able to construct plots so
complex that he even lost track of them himself. (see his Paris the Bohemian under Literature)
This note, whose precise circumstances are unclear, seems to involve a
request for an advance on money promised on delivery of a play, due to
Bouchardy's extended illness. The archive also includes two other
letters written by Bouchardy.
French Transcription:
Oct, le 8th 1850
Ma chère Madame Porcher]
Je suis depuis [5?] semaines en hors d’état de quitter ma chambre, Je vous adresse ce mot par l’intermediaire d’un de mes amis, pour vous prier de valoir bien faire mon compte, et le lui remettre afin qu’il puisse me l’apportes à la première visite qu’il me fera. Si d’ici à 8 ou 10 jours, je puis faire la route, Je vous verrai pour en toucher une partie, dans le cas contraire, Le même ami se presentera à vous avec un mot de moi.
J’éspire que tout votre famille est en bonne [santé?] – rappelez moi bien de coeur a Porcher et
?ouh à vous, considerations et dévouement
J. Bouchardy
Ma chère Madame Porcher]
Je suis depuis [5?] semaines en hors d’état de quitter ma chambre, Je vous adresse ce mot par l’intermediaire d’un de mes amis, pour vous prier de valoir bien faire mon compte, et le lui remettre afin qu’il puisse me l’apportes à la première visite qu’il me fera. Si d’ici à 8 ou 10 jours, je puis faire la route, Je vous verrai pour en toucher une partie, dans le cas contraire, Le même ami se presentera à vous avec un mot de moi.
J’éspire que tout votre famille est en bonne [santé?] – rappelez moi bien de coeur a Porcher et
?ouh à vous, considerations et dévouement
J. Bouchardy
English Translation:
Oct, the 8 1850
My dear Mrs. Porcher
I’ve been for [5?] weeks in no fit state to leave my room, I address this word to you through the intermediary of a friend of mine, to ask you [to be a dear and] make good on my account, and finally return it to me whenever he can bring it at the first visit that he makes me. If within 8 or 10 days here I can make the trip, I’ll see you [reach a party], otherwise, The same friend will present himself to you with a word from me.
I hope that your entire family is in good [health] – reply [for] me easy at heart [to] Porcher and
???? to you, considerations and devotion
J. Bouchardy
My dear Mrs. Porcher
I’ve been for [5?] weeks in no fit state to leave my room, I address this word to you through the intermediary of a friend of mine, to ask you [to be a dear and] make good on my account, and finally return it to me whenever he can bring it at the first visit that he makes me. If within 8 or 10 days here I can make the trip, I’ll see you [reach a party], otherwise, The same friend will present himself to you with a word from me.
I hope that your entire family is in good [health] – reply [for] me easy at heart [to] Porcher and
???? to you, considerations and devotion
J. Bouchardy
Jules Claretie, Avant-garde historian, writer, theatre director. Handwritten order to a bookseller for books on Romanticism and Left Politics (1827-28 Annales Romantiques, Maxime du Camp's Salon de 1857, Undeciphered title by Jules Favre, & one other undeciphered book). Undated, c.1860-1913.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jules Claretie, Avant-garde historian, writer, theatre director. Calling Card w/ handwritten note to a yet-unidentified unidentified writer or critic. Date unknown, between 1885-1913.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Casimir Cordellier-Delanoue, Letter to unidentified theatre director. Undated, c. 1840s.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cordellier-Delanoue
played a central role in the self-conscious radicalization of
Romanticist youth subculture into the foundation of the avant-garde.
Heavily involved in the campaign of community organising and propaganda
that led up to the 'Battle of Hernani,' he recognised the
necessity of continuing the communal velocity created by that event,
using it as a catalyst to press the Romanticist revolution to new
extremes and continued cultural struggle.
To do so, he scraped together contributions from among the "Romanticist Army" attending every performance and launched a little magazine called Le Tribune romantique, or Romanticist Platform. In it, he and his collaborators, including Gérard de Nerval, Alexandre Dumas, Ernest Fuinet, Victor Pavie, Paul Foucher, and Félix Roselly articulated and promoted an aggressively militant Romanticism, linked to progressive politics, in the form of manifestos, critical articles on Romanticist writers and actors, Romanticist theory and historiography, literary, theatrical and musical reviews (including one of Nodier's wildly experimental novel Histoire du Roi de Bohème, held by this archive), translations of German and English Romanticism, and announcements of forthcoming publications. Although the journal was short-lived and circulated among a small, intimate readership (no full set survives, and it is not even certain how many issues were published), it catalyzed and focused the communal energy unleashed by the ongoing Battle of Hernani, and thus played a foundational role in the development of the avant-garde. It helped to establish a rich tradition of avant-garde journals and zines with tiny runs but decisive long-term effects, including Les Guêpes, Pêre Ubu's Almanac, Le Revue Blanc, Maintenant, Cabaret Voltaire, Potlatch, Fuck You: A Magazine of the Arts, Semina, SMILE, and The Lost and Found Times. He was involved in several other journals before and after, in addition to maintaining an output of plays, historical novels, literary and music criticism.
In this curt, undated note, the clearly agitated Cordellier Delanoue complains to a theatre director about the delay in staging a reading of one of his plays, the final step in the process of deciding whether to mount a production. The cavalier treatment of writers by the management of the theatre industry (in many ways parallel to today's Hollywood studios) is attested to in many 19th Century memoirs, including those of Arsène Houssaye, Théophile Gautier, and Alexandre Dumas.
His insistence paid off; at the bottom, in another hand (presumably that of the recipient) the incomplete date is scrawled: "reading monday 11 8". Neither the play in question nor the date has been determined. Cordellier-Delanoue had nine plays produced at various Parisian theatres between 1831 and 1855; he is known to have lived at this address at least between 1841 and 1847, but it is unknown how long before and after.
The following transcription & translation are tentative; I am attempting to decipher nearly 200-year old cursive in a language I am still learning, so I appreciate all corrections and better transcriptions!
French:
Je n’ai pas renoncée à la Lecture pour laquelle je suis inscrit depuis si longtemps, et que plusieurs fois, sur mon sollicitations, vous avez bien voulu me promettre comme très prochaine. Soyez, je vous prie, assez bon, Monsieur, pour designer enfin le jour de cette Lecture, dont le tour, (déja fixé [sous] M. [Vé??l?],) tarde bien à venir; - et veuillez [??r??er] l’assurance de ma considération ta plus distinguée.
Cordellier Delanoue
[N’s’agis j’me p??n?]
en 3 actes.
31 rue de chabral.
Un Septembre
lecture lundi 11 8me {in another hand}
English:
To do so, he scraped together contributions from among the "Romanticist Army" attending every performance and launched a little magazine called Le Tribune romantique, or Romanticist Platform. In it, he and his collaborators, including Gérard de Nerval, Alexandre Dumas, Ernest Fuinet, Victor Pavie, Paul Foucher, and Félix Roselly articulated and promoted an aggressively militant Romanticism, linked to progressive politics, in the form of manifestos, critical articles on Romanticist writers and actors, Romanticist theory and historiography, literary, theatrical and musical reviews (including one of Nodier's wildly experimental novel Histoire du Roi de Bohème, held by this archive), translations of German and English Romanticism, and announcements of forthcoming publications. Although the journal was short-lived and circulated among a small, intimate readership (no full set survives, and it is not even certain how many issues were published), it catalyzed and focused the communal energy unleashed by the ongoing Battle of Hernani, and thus played a foundational role in the development of the avant-garde. It helped to establish a rich tradition of avant-garde journals and zines with tiny runs but decisive long-term effects, including Les Guêpes, Pêre Ubu's Almanac, Le Revue Blanc, Maintenant, Cabaret Voltaire, Potlatch, Fuck You: A Magazine of the Arts, Semina, SMILE, and The Lost and Found Times. He was involved in several other journals before and after, in addition to maintaining an output of plays, historical novels, literary and music criticism.
In this curt, undated note, the clearly agitated Cordellier Delanoue complains to a theatre director about the delay in staging a reading of one of his plays, the final step in the process of deciding whether to mount a production. The cavalier treatment of writers by the management of the theatre industry (in many ways parallel to today's Hollywood studios) is attested to in many 19th Century memoirs, including those of Arsène Houssaye, Théophile Gautier, and Alexandre Dumas.
His insistence paid off; at the bottom, in another hand (presumably that of the recipient) the incomplete date is scrawled: "reading monday 11 8". Neither the play in question nor the date has been determined. Cordellier-Delanoue had nine plays produced at various Parisian theatres between 1831 and 1855; he is known to have lived at this address at least between 1841 and 1847, but it is unknown how long before and after.
The following transcription & translation are tentative; I am attempting to decipher nearly 200-year old cursive in a language I am still learning, so I appreciate all corrections and better transcriptions!
French:
Je n’ai pas renoncée à la Lecture pour laquelle je suis inscrit depuis si longtemps, et que plusieurs fois, sur mon sollicitations, vous avez bien voulu me promettre comme très prochaine. Soyez, je vous prie, assez bon, Monsieur, pour designer enfin le jour de cette Lecture, dont le tour, (déja fixé [sous] M. [Vé??l?],) tarde bien à venir; - et veuillez [??r??er] l’assurance de ma considération ta plus distinguée.
Cordellier Delanoue
[N’s’agis j’me p??n?]
en 3 actes.
31 rue de chabral.
Un Septembre
lecture lundi 11 8me {in another hand}
English:
Sir,
I have not given up on the Reading for which I signed up so long ago, and which several times, upon my request, you were willing to promise me [as] very soon. Be, I beg you, good enough, Sir, to designate at long last the date of this Reading, of which the labyrinthine journey, (already fixed [under] Mr. [Vé????],) cannot very well be slow to come;- and please [????] the assurance of my most distinguished esteem for you.
Cordellier Delanoue
[N’is a matter of ?? p?in?]
in 3 acts.
31 rue de chabral.
One September
reading monday 11 8th {in another hand}
I have not given up on the Reading for which I signed up so long ago, and which several times, upon my request, you were willing to promise me [as] very soon. Be, I beg you, good enough, Sir, to designate at long last the date of this Reading, of which the labyrinthine journey, (already fixed [under] Mr. [Vé????],) cannot very well be slow to come;- and please [????] the assurance of my most distinguished esteem for you.
Cordellier Delanoue
[N’is a matter of ?? p?in?]
in 3 acts.
31 rue de chabral.
One September
reading monday 11 8th {in another hand}
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Henri Delaage, Occultist. Death Announcement sent to friends of the family. July 15, 1883.
The leftist occultist Henri Delaage was one of the most prominent participants in what his colleague Éliphas Lévi dubbed the Fantasist school of magic due to its crossover with avant-garde Romanticism. Delaage specialised in magnetism and hypnotism, with forays into many other areas of hermeticism including cartomancy, the kabbalah, chiromancy, lucid dreaming, oracular prophesy, and the history of mystery religions and occult societies, with an emphasis on their relationships to revolutionary and proletarian political movements. He was loosely related to the socialist-occultist Evadamist group, and was a close friend of the bouzingo poet-hermeticist Gérard de Nerval, with whom he co-author-edited the anthology of leftist occult texts The Red Devil: Kabbalistic Almanac for 1849, and at whose funeral Delaage had served as a pall-bearer.
This document is a privately-printed announcement of Delaage's death, sent by his family to their acquaintances. Not surprisaingly, Henri appears to have been something of a black sheep in the family, who had been awarded a title of nobility shortly before the French Revolution in recognition of his grandfather, a prominant chemust who had gone on to acquire political and commercial power under the Napoleonic regime; the bulk of the announcement is filled with the names, titles, and government appointments of Henri's extended family, with no mention of a funeral service, of his own cultural contributions or indeed any thing but the bare mention of his death and the injunction to "pray for him."
Jean DuSeigneur [a.k.a. Jehan Du Seigneur], Romanticist Sculptor& organiser. Letter about "my wonderful friend" Bibliophile Jacob to unidentified correspondent. April 21, 1838.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alphonse Esquiros, Romantticist/Evadamist Poet, magus, & activist. Letter to Pierre-Jules Hetzel, Romanticist/Evadamist Publisher, requesting a complimentary copy of his 1859 book England and English Life for "the poet Richard". Undated, c. 1859-60.
Mon Cher hetzel,
Soyez assez bons pour
remettre
au poète Richard
un exemplaire de
l’Angleterre
et de la Vie anglaise. ???
nous [arrangions]; car je
vous serrai prochainement.
a vous de coeur
Alphonse Esquiros
Translation:
My dear hetzel,
Be so kind as to
give the poet Richard
a copy of England
and English Life. ???
we had arranged; for I'll
grasp you [i.e., shake your hand] soon.
My heart to you
Alphonse Esquiros
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alphonse Esquiros, Romanticist/Evadamist Poet, magus, & activist. Handwritten Letter to unidentified fellow activist "Duché", from exile in the UK. July 25, Year unidentified [between 1852-1869].
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Paul Fort, Symbolist Poet, publisher & theatre manager. Letter to unidentified correspondent. Nov. 25, 1924.
The dandyist writer Paul Fort was a key figure in the
French avant-garde for over fifty years, and served as an important link
between the Symbolist generation and that of the young Cubist and
proto-Dada writers. For instance, he regularly played billiards with
Apollinaire and Jarry, and in fact the commotion of a bar fight started
by Jarry and involving a pistol with a blank cartridge had precipitated
Fort's wife into early labour. At only 17 years old, Fort had founded
the first independent Symbolist theatre company, known as the Théâtre d'Art. He left the group two years later, when it became the Théâtre de l'Oeuvre and went on to produce Jarry's Ubu Roi. He later edited the Symbolist journal Vers et Prose, and
published many volumes of verse. He would become among the first of his
generation to encourage and mentor the younger poets of the Paris Dada
group, later the founders of Surrealism. His daughter married to the
Futurist painter Gino Severini.
Then as now, neither quality nor respect within underground culture equate with financial security, and Fort's activity (in large part because it was so focused on creating venues for other peoples' work) left him in or near poverty throughout his life, while failing to garner a wide enough audience. among the next generation to sustain his old age. Like many avant-gardists, he spent most of his life refusing to seek plaudits or financial handouts from the establishment in the form of prizes or grants, but here he gives in to necessity:
"Paris, 34 rue Gay. Lussoc. Le 25 Nov. 1924.
[illegible in pencil, in another hand: likely the addressee's name]
Mon bien cher ami,
L'époque est dure aux bons citoyens.
Me voilà, fort dénué comme vous le savez, pasant [sic] ma candidature au Prix Lasserre.
J'ai "composé" deux sortes d'oeuvres: un grand nombre, poétiques, et un grand nombre d'enfants.
Les unes ne font pas [vuire?] les autres.
Or je ne me suis pas voué dans la vie rien qu'au soir de moi. même – dit-on... littérature français fut, quelquefois, n'être pas mécontente de mes efforts pour établir dans les esprits plusieurs génération[s] de haut[s] écrivains: le Thèatre d'Art qui devint l'Oeuvre, mes [confèrences] à l'Etranger, Vers et Prose en font foi. Tout cela – hors en de trop rares circonstances mes causeries aux pays étranges – oublia de m'enrichir, tout cela m'à laissé dignement pauvre et là ou je suis, c'est à dire bien bas.
Je vous prie affectueusement, mon cher ami, de me faire l'honneur d'y songer demain.
Croyes à ma fidèle gratitude. Croyez. moi votre admirateur le plus fervent et votre dévoué poète et amis
Paul Fort.
La faim seule fait saillir le loup du bois (et des louveteaux). Vous me comprenez . . . Car depuis 35 [ans] de lettres je n'ai sollicité aucun prix et, naturellement, n'en ni désiré ni obtenu aucun.
In Translation:
"Paris, 24 Gay. Lussoc Avenue. The 25 Nov. 1924.
My very dear friend,
The epoch is rough on good citizens.
Here's me, greatly deprived as you know, [passing along] my candidature for the Lassere Prize.
I've "composed" two types of works: a great many, poetic, and a great many for children.
The ones do not make the others [????].
Yet in my whole life I've not dedicated myself to them anything but the evenings. only – they say . . . french literature was, once upon a time, not discontent with my efforts to establish several generations of lofty writers in thought: the Theatre of Art which becomes the Oeuvre, my [conventions] for the Stranger, Verse and Prose [in fount of faith.] All of this – except in too rare instances my talks in foreign countries – forgot to enrich me, all of this has left me honourably poor and that's where I'm at, that is to say, very down and out.
I beg you affectionately, my dear friend, to do me the honour of reflecting on this tomorrow.
Be assured of my faithful gratitude. Be assured. me your most fervent admirer and your devoted poet and friend
Paul Fort.
Hunger alone drives the wolf forth from the forest (and wolf-cubs). You understand what I'm driving at . . . In 35 years of writing I have never sought any prize and, naturally, neither wanted nor got any.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Paul Fort, "Chevalerie; ou le Geste inutile" ("Chivalry; or the Pointless Tale"). Undated, c. 1890–1940. Handwritten Manuscript.
Paul
Fort was one of the most important links between the Symbolist and
Cubist/Dada generation; himself mentored by Mallarmé, during World War I
he was among the first writers of his generation to support the
activities of the young poets who would soon become the Paris Dada
group. To my knowledge, this poem was not published during Fort's
lifetime. The raw, literal translation is as follows:
I have slain Death – by the light of my sword
Death's going to return and play dolls.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Request to English Surrealist David Gascoyne to review Menard Press' 1999 bilingual edition of Nerval's Chimères. Typed with handwritten annotation. Enclosed in Gascoyne's personal review copy (see "Nervaliens Collection" tab).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sophie Gay, Romanticist Poet, Organiser, & musician, Letter to the Princess Constance de Salm, Feminist Poet and Essayist. 1828.
Constance de Salm (technically a princess through her marriage to a German aristocrat) was one of the most respected female intellectuals of her day, and an inspiration for many romanticist women. That role, and the personal relationships that bound many women struggling for respect in the male-dominated cultural world, are evoked in this handwritten note to her from Sophie Gay, herself becoming by this point a prominent writer and, through her salon, one of the most influential organisers of Liberal culture in Paris; in turn her daughter Delphine Gay (later Girardin) was one of radical Romanticism's most ardent supporters, and would play a big role in the "Battle of Hernani" a couple years after this note.
I am awful at making sense out of french cursive, as the incomprehensible transcription below demonstrates, and welcome help.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
French Transcription:
[De] beaux vers, chere princesse, et l'éspérance de passer ma journée charmante auprès de vous. que de bienfaits pour prix de ma mauvaise prose et de la jeune poésie de votre protagés! mais les [bons] [marchés] sont rares, et nous les acceptons avec [empressement] [????] vous pouvez compter que nous ne manquerons pas à profiter de votre aimable invitation [jeudi], [mais] ne [pouvez] [???] pas [?a?sser] [convoquer] tous les [e??ts] de [?hin], sans [????] [ravis] notre [muse] de la [sourie]! ou [serez] sous nulle part [près] aimée qu'ici, [et mieux] admirée!
à bientot recevez l'expression de notre amitie Devouée.
Sophie Gay
English Transliteration:
[Of] beautiful verse, dear princess, and the hope of passing my charming day beside you. so many benefits as prize for my shoddy prose and the youthful poetry of your protege! but the good [prices/markets] are rare, and we accept them with [haste] [????] you can count on it that we won't fail to take advantage of your friendly invitation [Tuesday], [but] [you can't...???] to [?????] to summon all the [????] of [????], without [????] pleases our [muse to smile at it/her]! or [will be] nowhere [nearly] adored as here, [and better] admired!
til next time accept the expression of our Devoted friendship.
Sophie Gay
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Léon Halévy, Saint-Simonist Activist, Publisher & Playwright. Letter to Désirée Eymery. May 23, 1838. Handwritten on folded blue octavo stationary w/ Letterhead of Le Figaro.
This
addition to the archive ties together, in the person of Léon Halévy,
several important threads in the historical fabric of the early
avant-garde. Halévy was the personal secretary of the proto-socialist
Claude-Henry Saint-Simon, and was with him on his deathbed; afterward,
he became involved with Romanticist subculture, writing many plays
including adaptations of novels by Georges Sand, Jules Janin, and
others. As such, he provided a social link between his close
collaborator and fellow Saint-Simonist Olinde Rodrigues, who coined the
term "avant-garde" in 1826 (see his anthology of self-taught proletarian
poets in the "Anthologies" tab), and his good friend Petrus Borel,
co-founder of the avant-garde Bouzingo group.
These two
threads are neatly tied up with a third in this note, for it was
written very shortly after the start of Halévy's short-lived tenure as
editor of Figaro, the satirical journal that had generated both
the name "Jeune-France" and "Bousingot" (détourned by the group to
become "Jeunes-France" and "Bouzingo"). The journal had been as an
opposition newspaper until 1832, when they were taken over as a
government mouthpiece, then sold to a series of editors both Left and
Right, until finally re-established as a conservative newspaper later in
the century, which still exists. (See the Revenant Archive's collection of Bouzingo-related issues of Figaro).
In this note, Halévy suggests changing the title of a survey of literary history he has written for the Bibliothèque d'Education series issued by the female publisher Désirée Eymery, and offers her the use of the Figaro's
pages to promote her books. Little is known of this intriguing woman,
though she inherited the press from her father (still alive but retired
when the note was written), who had published several of Nodier's books
decades earlier. Halévy's mode of address shows that she was apparently
still single at this time, suggesting either that either she was
remarkably young to be running her own bookshop and press, or that she
was purposely remaining single in order to maintain her economic
autonomy. It is not surprising, given the central role of Feminism in
Saint-Simon's
thought, that Halévy would be in collaboration with a strong,
enterprising single woman working in a traditionally gender-determined
public role. This, plus her educational activism (as seen in the titles
in her bibliography) goad the question of whether she had roots or
connections with the Saint-Simonist community, in which the
ultra-Feminist wing had played a leading role in the establishment of a
number of Free Schools set up in working-class areas in Paris. She might
also possibly be the future mother of the gender-bending
Decadent author Rachilde, born Marguerite Eymery, whose mother was, it
seems, heavily involved with Spiritualism.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Georges d'Heylli, Literary Historian, Archivist & Publisher. Letter to unidentified correspondent. July 3, 1874.
Georges d'Heylli was an important bibliophile, publisher and historian of the avant-garde, notably as editor of the small press Librairie des Bibliophiles and his historiographic journal Gazette Anecdotique, littéraire, artistique et bibliographique,
of which the Revenant Archive holds a substantial collection (see the
tab in the menu bar). In this note, Heylli seems to be requesting to an
unidentified fellow publisher or critic that a notice of one of his
forthcoming publications be placed in a publication with which they are
involved.
A conjectural transcription:
A conjectural transcription:
"Mon Cher Confrère
Voulez vous–si vous le pouvez–être assez aimable pour [insérer] le petit extrait [ci-joint] dans un de [vos] [courrier] de [théatre?].–Je vous [enverrai?] le Volume dès qu'il aura paru, [+] je [vous] prie de recevoir, mon Cher Confrère, l'[Assurance?] de mes Sentiments bien devoué au même temps que tous mes remerciements
Georges d'HeylliOr in rough, conjectural English:
3 Juillet–74"
"My Dear Colleague
Would you like--if you can--to be so kind as to [insert] the attached little extract in one of your [mailings] to [the theatre?].–I [shall send?] you the Volume as soon as it shall have appeared, [+] I beg you to accept, my Dear Colleague, the [assurance?] of my very devoted Sentiments at the same time as all my many thanks.
Georges d'Heylli
July 3, [18]74"
July 3, [18]74"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gustave Karr,
Hand-written letter to unknown correspondent regarding conditions &
troop movements in the Franco-Prussian War. Undated, c. Spring, 1871.
Two pages of single folded folio sheet. Found enclosed in archive copy
of Karr's 1853 Nouvelles Guêpes boxed set (see "Les Guêpes Collection" tab).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bibliophile Jacob (Paul Lacroix), Avant-garde archivist, historian & writer. Unused Bookplate. Date Unknown, between c. 1830-1884.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Charles Malo, Romanticist publisher, writer & theorist. Letter to Mme. Gimes [?] & Jean-Pierre Lesguillon w/ envelope. 16 March, 1841.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Paul & Victor Margueritte, Célibitaires (Bachelors). Undated, c.1895–1918. Corrected handwritten Manuscript, processed and marked by publisher and printer.
The history of the avant-garde is rife with pairs and sets of siblings: the Jancos, the Duchamps, the Hendricks, the Hugos, the Goncourts, the Mussets, the Argüelles, the Devérias, the Borels, the Deschamps, and many more. While in many cases siblings collaborated in collective movements, they tended to do so mainly through distinct bodies of work. In the avant-garde community of the late 19th Century however, some siblings began to develop intensely collaborative writing process that explored and built upon the filial bond and their instinctive shared understandings, operating as a single intellectual unit and crafting corpi in which their individual influences were indistinguishable; these processes were later taken up by practitioners within and without the avant-garde such as the Brothers Quay, the Cohen Brothers, and Gilbert & George. The most influential of these literary brothers were the Goncourts and the Marguerittes.
Though no bibliographic record of it has been located, this document itself provides proof that the story was published. The manuscript offers detailed insight into the entire process of literary production: from composition, through collaborative revision, to the publisher, to the printer, to the typesetters.
We have here a first or interim draft, over-written in the revising process and then sent to the publisher as the official fair-copy. The revisions seem to be in the same hand as the draft, suggesting that the brothers composed together in the same room, as one of them transcribed, and that the revision process took place likewise. Instructions to the typesetters, such as the squiggled underscore to signify italics, were added. The fact that this corrected copy was sent to the publisher, rather than a fair-copy, might indicate that it was written for the periodical press, where deadlines were much shorter and less flexible, a hypothesis supported by the absence of the story from any known bibliography of the brothers' work.
Anaïs Ségalas, Romanticist poet, Socialist & Feminist Activist, Social Worker. Letter to Ludavic Halévy, Playwright & Librettist. 29 Jan., 1890.
French:
Monsieur,
Voulez vous me permettre de me faire [sollicitage], et de venir vous demander votre [appui] au conseil d’état sans avoir cependant l’avantage d’être [connut] de vous [?] La famille de la [Villejonan] et Mssr. [Béthune], qui deja a bien voulu l’année [passée] vous écrire un sujet de notre affaire, m’ont souvent parlée de [nous], Monsieur, le public et la journaux plus souvent encore; avant de m’adresser au conseiller d’état, laissez-moi exprimer à l’auteur célèbre toute mon admiration pour son dramatique ouvrages.
Je viens aujourd’hui pourtant, tout simplement en qualité de propriétaire, vous parler d’une chose bien prosaïque, du prolonguement de la rue de [Crunol] sur le boulevard du temple, et d’une maison que nous voudrions voir tomber comme le murs de jéricho. Précisément aujourd’hui une affaire plus importante mais à laquelle la notre se trouve liée jusqu’à un certain point, est à l’ordre du jour au Conseil d’état: il s’agit du projet de construction des contre-allées du boulevard Baumarchais; une décision favorable serait un heureux antécédent pour nous; ne serait-ce pas trop nous [?lutter] que d’espérer votre bienveillant concours? n’aller-vous pas me trouves bien indiscrète?
Permettez-moi de saisir cette occasion pour vous offrir un recueil de poésies, un volume d’Enfantines, qui se croirait quelque chose s’il avait votre suffrage.
Veuillez agréer, Monsieur, l’assurance de ma considération la plus distinguée.
Anaïs Ségalas
” , rue de Crussol.
Mercredi 29 janvier.
Francis Vielé-Griffin, Franco-American Symbolist writer & publisher. Letter / Micro-Essay, probably to collaborator Paul Adam. Handwritten on folded quarto paper, headed with "16, Quai de Passy," Vielé-Griffin's address as of 1904.
The history of the avant-garde is rife with pairs and sets of siblings: the Jancos, the Duchamps, the Hendricks, the Hugos, the Goncourts, the Mussets, the Argüelles, the Devérias, the Borels, the Deschamps, and many more. While in many cases siblings collaborated in collective movements, they tended to do so mainly through distinct bodies of work. In the avant-garde community of the late 19th Century however, some siblings began to develop intensely collaborative writing process that explored and built upon the filial bond and their instinctive shared understandings, operating as a single intellectual unit and crafting corpi in which their individual influences were indistinguishable; these processes were later taken up by practitioners within and without the avant-garde such as the Brothers Quay, the Cohen Brothers, and Gilbert & George. The most influential of these literary brothers were the Goncourts and the Marguerittes.
The Marguerite brothers were born in Algeria in 1860 (Paul) and 1866 (Victor),
the sons of a French military colonial official; each started
publishing at the age of 23. Initially joining the Naturalist movement,
Paul broke with Zola in 1887. The brothers began collaborating regularly
around 1895, making their name with a series of Naturalist military
novels about the Franco-Prussian war (in which their father, who served
with distinction and died in combat, appears as a main character) and
going on to produce plays and childrens' books in collaboration. They
were involved with less mainstream political ideas including Feminism
and moderate Socialism. Both wrote prose poetry and drama in the
Parnassian and Symbolist traditions, focusing on experimental engagement
with the Pierrot cycle, pantomime, and charades (one prose-poem by Paul
Margueritte is translated in Merrill's Pastels in Prose anthology in this archive).
As
of this cataloguing, I have only begun the process of transcribing
and translating the story; this description will be updated when it is
complete. The story seems to deal with the laws and culture surrounding
marriage, divorce, and the "New Woman," a topic on which the brothers
(especially Victor) often wrote both fiction and polemic essays. It is
dedicated to Edme Piot, a leftist legislator involved with these issues,
though detailed information on him is sketchy. (Page LIII of the
introduction to THIS
1921 book attacking the 'Police des moers" (loosely translated "the
Morality Police") mentions both Piot and Margueritte in this
connection–Piot quoted near the top on the law of patrimonial
succession, Margueritte cited at the bottom for his work as an
'historian of manners' dealing with the institution of divorce.
Transcribing and translating the story will be a gradual process and awaits several current translation projects' completion; but here are tentative transcriptions and translations of the first page and final paragraph of the story, to be expanded as the opportunity arises:
Transcribing and translating the story will be a gradual process and awaits several current translation projects' completion; but here are tentative transcriptions and translations of the first page and final paragraph of the story, to be expanded as the opportunity arises:
Célibataires
À M. le sénateur [Piol].
Eugénie [Pérusse], dans un flot d’employées, descendait un des étroits escaliers qui chaque soir, cinq heures sonnant à la grande horlage des [Ch???n] [d???r] [Réunis], degorgeaient une [c?ut????] de femmes, [empressais] de fuir leurs bureaux, de gagner la Rue. A mesure qu’elles descendaient, les mornes visages s’éclairaient, semblaient secouer le poids des habitudes, la fatigue de la journée. quelques unes [gardaient] à leurs traits tirés une pâleur jaune, un indélébite ennui.
– Allons bon! il pleut! s’exclama une jolie [voix] grave, et pourtant gaie, où de la jeunesse résonnait encore.
Eugénie [Pérusse] regarde son amie germaine; et sur ses joues [mates] où depuis longtemps la fleur du [sang] s’était fanée, [un] doux sourire admiratif [paria]:
– on dirait que ça te fait plaisir! Rien ne t’en [nuie], toi!
[ . . . ]
End:
Alors, tout le poids de sa détresse lui retomba sur le coeur, et tandis que le wagon roulait dans les ténébres, au cinglement dela pluie qui s’écrasait aux vitres, elle se renfonça dans son coin, pleurant à chaudes larmes, éperdàment.
in English:
Singles/Bachelors
To Monseur the Senator Piol
Eugénie [Pérusse], among a flood of employees, descended one of the narrow stairways which each day, five hours on the dot to the huge timekeeper of [Ch???n] [?????] [Gathered], disgorged a ??????? of women, [was rushing] to flee their offices, to make it to the street. As they descended, the dismal faces lit up, seemed to shake off the burden of habit, the exhaustion of the journey. A few kept in their drawn features a yellow pallor, an indelible ennui.
– Oh great! it’s raining! cried out a pretty voice, serious yet gleeful, in which youth still resounded.
Eugénie [Pérusse] watched her best friend; and on her cheek [?????] where for a long time the bloom of [blood] had wilted, a soft admiring smile [spoke]:
– you’d think this made you happy! Nothing [????] there, you![ . . . ]
End:
Then, the entire burden of her distress descended over her heart, and as the carriage tolled into the gloom, the rain’s whipping which crashed at the windowpanes, she shoved herself into her corner, weeping her eyes out, in desperation.
Though no bibliographic record of it has been located, this document itself provides proof that the story was published. The manuscript offers detailed insight into the entire process of literary production: from composition, through collaborative revision, to the publisher, to the printer, to the typesetters.
We have here a first or interim draft, over-written in the revising process and then sent to the publisher as the official fair-copy. The revisions seem to be in the same hand as the draft, suggesting that the brothers composed together in the same room, as one of them transcribed, and that the revision process took place likewise. Instructions to the typesetters, such as the squiggled underscore to signify italics, were added. The fact that this corrected copy was sent to the publisher, rather than a fair-copy, might indicate that it was written for the periodical press, where deadlines were much shorter and less flexible, a hypothesis supported by the absence of the story from any known bibliography of the brothers' work.
The
manuscript was then sent to the publisher, where (among other
things) it was processed to determine how much type & page space
would be required; this affected editing decisions, graphic design,
typesetting instructions, budget, and payment of the authors. This story
was to be printed in sextodecimo (each large sheet of paper folded and
cut to produce sixteen finished pages). Blue pencil was used to
designate approximately where each block of text would fall in order to
produce sixteen pages, using the bibliographic shorthand for
"sextodecimo", "16 mo." (Also used in the bibliographic entries for this
archive) and each # "mo" building up to it. This was presumably used to
determine page counts for editing, page design, and payment to the
authors (usually determined in contract for books but often by the
column or the word in periodicals).
Next,
the marked-up manuscript was sent to the printing house, who trimmed
off all of the margins, cut it apart, and carefully re-pasted it
together, presumably to fit the stand at typesetting station. (see rear
view below.) The newly-assembled pages were then re-numbered and
transported to the work-floor, where the typesetter (likely a child, who
often served as typesetters due to their smaller fingers) used it to
manually lay out the type, probably in conjunction with a separate
document specifying the layout and design of the printed page (typeface,
point-size, margins, leading, etc.). After printing, the manuscript was
returned to the publisher, after which it was archived–whether in the
publisher's files, the editor's personal archive, or perhaps by the
Marguerittes themselves; we lose the path of the manuscript between that
time and its appearance on the market.
This
manuscript thus bears the marks of the entire process of literary
production–beginning with the personalised, imaginative act of literary
composition aiming to critique and oppose mechanistic industrialized
culture, and ending with the document's integration into that self-same
industrialized system in order to be distributed. In this light, it is
ironic to note the personalised flourish of the signature at the foot of
the last page–representative of the individuality and subjectivity of
the authors–jutted up against the scrawled mark of the printer, destined
for mechanical reproduction, oblivious to the text's content, context,
or intentions.
Transcribing
and translating will be a gradual process due to my limited time,
plethora of simultaneous projects, and slowness with French. I welcome
help, and would publish a translation as a chapbook; if you would like
higher-resolution scans, contact me at olindsann@gmail.com.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Philippe [Napoléon] Musard, Avant-Romanticist composer, orchestra leader, & organiser. Handwritten note firing a member of his orchestra. 1 March, 1839.
Text: [Recipient's/Earlier archivist's note: Musard (le grand) père.]
paris ce 1e mars 1839
Monsieur
J'ai l'honneur de Vous
prévenir qu'a partir
du [15] Mars vous ne
ferez plus partie de
l'orchestre des concerts
Votre [???????]
P. Musard
English Translation:
[Recipient's/Earlier archivist's note: Musard (the great) the elder.]
paris this 1st march 1839
SirI have the honor of
informing you that as of
the [15] March you will no
longer be part of
the concert band
Your [???????]
P. Musard
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Anaïs Ségalas, Romanticist poet, Socialist & Feminist Activist, Social Worker. Letter to Ludavic Halévy, Playwright & Librettist. 29 Jan., 1890.
The
Romanticist poet Anaïs Ségalas was an extremely active feminist,
anti-Monarchist and anti-poverty activist, and social worker, and her
name comes up in several histories of the activist organisations in the
lead-up to the 1848 revolution. This is reflected in her work, much of
which deals with poverty and class. She was also part creole, which
might imply that she was a person of colour, though the usage of the
term was ambiguous. This letter was written by her to the playwright and
librettist Ludavic Halévy, who kept it in his author's copy of the 1889
Livre des Cent eet une anthology to which they had both
contributed (also housed in the Revenant Archive, see "Anthologies"). Ségalas notes here that she does not yet know him
personally, but she very likely had known his father Léon Halévy,
who was also active in Romanticist, Feminist, and Saint-Simonian
socialist circles at the same time as her. Here she is appealing to him
in his capacity as public official on a city planning issue, but cannot
help speaking as a fellow writer for half of it, gifting him with a copy
of one of her books – albeit with a wry reminder of her purpose.
The
English translation appears first below, followed by a transcription of
the original French. Uncertain interpretations are in brackets; I
welcome corrections/suggestions:
English:
Sir,
Would you care to let me ask you a favour, and come ask for your support in the Council of State without however having the advantage of knowing to you[?] The [Villeyonan] family and Mr. [Béthune], who already wanted very much [this past] year to write you a subject of our problem, has often spoken about us, sir, the public and the journals even more so; before I address the [Councillor] of State, allow me to express to the celebrated author all my admiration for his dramatic works.[1]
I come today however, quite simply in the capacity of homeowner, to talk to you about something perfectly prosaic, the extension of the Rue de Crussol on the Boulevard du Temple, and a house which we’re dying to watch tumble to the ground like the walls of Jericho. Today in particular a more important issue but one to which ours finds itself bound to some extent, is the Council of State’s agenda: it’s the question of the project to construct service roads for the Boulevard [Beaumarchais]; a “yes” vote would be a good sign for us; would it not be too much to [???] us [than/but] to hope for your charitable cooperation? you won’t find me terribly indiscreet?
Allow me to take this chance to give you a collection of poems, a volume of Child’s Play,[2] which would think something of itself if it had your vote.
Hope to accept, Sir, the assurance of my most venerable consideration.
Anaïs Ségalas
” , rue de Crussol.
Wednesday 29 January [1890?].[3]
Notes
[1] Halévy held a number of government positions throughout his life, and this suggests that he sat on the Council of State at this time, though I have been unable to confirm this. The Council assisted in an advisory role in preparing legislation, and adjudicated certain suits and claims against the government.
[2] Ségalas’s third book, Enfantines (1844)
[3] This date in 1890, within months after the publication of the book in which the letter was stored, fell on a Wednesday; there is also a chance the letter could date from 1863, 1870, 1876, or 1883.
Would you care to let me ask you a favour, and come ask for your support in the Council of State without however having the advantage of knowing to you[?] The [Villeyonan] family and Mr. [Béthune], who already wanted very much [this past] year to write you a subject of our problem, has often spoken about us, sir, the public and the journals even more so; before I address the [Councillor] of State, allow me to express to the celebrated author all my admiration for his dramatic works.[1]
I come today however, quite simply in the capacity of homeowner, to talk to you about something perfectly prosaic, the extension of the Rue de Crussol on the Boulevard du Temple, and a house which we’re dying to watch tumble to the ground like the walls of Jericho. Today in particular a more important issue but one to which ours finds itself bound to some extent, is the Council of State’s agenda: it’s the question of the project to construct service roads for the Boulevard [Beaumarchais]; a “yes” vote would be a good sign for us; would it not be too much to [???] us [than/but] to hope for your charitable cooperation? you won’t find me terribly indiscreet?
Allow me to take this chance to give you a collection of poems, a volume of Child’s Play,[2] which would think something of itself if it had your vote.
Hope to accept, Sir, the assurance of my most venerable consideration.
Anaïs Ségalas
” , rue de Crussol.
Wednesday 29 January [1890?].[3]
Notes
[1] Halévy held a number of government positions throughout his life, and this suggests that he sat on the Council of State at this time, though I have been unable to confirm this. The Council assisted in an advisory role in preparing legislation, and adjudicated certain suits and claims against the government.
[2] Ségalas’s third book, Enfantines (1844)
[3] This date in 1890, within months after the publication of the book in which the letter was stored, fell on a Wednesday; there is also a chance the letter could date from 1863, 1870, 1876, or 1883.
Monsieur,
Voulez vous me permettre de me faire [sollicitage], et de venir vous demander votre [appui] au conseil d’état sans avoir cependant l’avantage d’être [connut] de vous [?] La famille de la [Villejonan] et Mssr. [Béthune], qui deja a bien voulu l’année [passée] vous écrire un sujet de notre affaire, m’ont souvent parlée de [nous], Monsieur, le public et la journaux plus souvent encore; avant de m’adresser au conseiller d’état, laissez-moi exprimer à l’auteur célèbre toute mon admiration pour son dramatique ouvrages.
Je viens aujourd’hui pourtant, tout simplement en qualité de propriétaire, vous parler d’une chose bien prosaïque, du prolonguement de la rue de [Crunol] sur le boulevard du temple, et d’une maison que nous voudrions voir tomber comme le murs de jéricho. Précisément aujourd’hui une affaire plus importante mais à laquelle la notre se trouve liée jusqu’à un certain point, est à l’ordre du jour au Conseil d’état: il s’agit du projet de construction des contre-allées du boulevard Baumarchais; une décision favorable serait un heureux antécédent pour nous; ne serait-ce pas trop nous [?lutter] que d’espérer votre bienveillant concours? n’aller-vous pas me trouves bien indiscrète?
Permettez-moi de saisir cette occasion pour vous offrir un recueil de poésies, un volume d’Enfantines, qui se croirait quelque chose s’il avait votre suffrage.
Veuillez agréer, Monsieur, l’assurance de ma considération la plus distinguée.
Anaïs Ségalas
” , rue de Crussol.
Mercredi 29 janvier.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Francis Vielé-Griffin, Franco-American Symbolist writer & publisher. Letter / Micro-Essay, probably to collaborator Paul Adam. Handwritten on folded quarto paper, headed with "16, Quai de Passy," Vielé-Griffin's address as of 1904.
Francis
Vielé-Griffin was born in Virginia, the son of a politician who had
served as a Federal general in the American Civil War, and though he
spent his early childhood in the U.S., he lived for most of his life in
France and never wrote in English. One of the most formally experimental
poets of his generation, he was a leading member of the Symbolist
community in Paris, one of Mallarmé's closest disciples and a close
friend of Alfred Jarry. Intensely interested in the relationships
between consciousness, rhythm, phonetics and radical politics, he
experimented with synthetic languages in the 1880s and '90s, laying the
groundwork for the transrational experiments of Zoum, and wrote in the
1890s of the potential of recording technology–then in its infancy–to
revolutionize voiced poetry. With Paul Adam, he co-edited the
influential Symbolist-Socialist journal Entretiens, which gave
equal space to avant-garde culture (including Vièle-Griffin's own
Volapük poems mentioned above, and a great many of his theoretical
essays) and to Socialist news articles, essays and polemics, with heavy
anarchist leanings.
The precise date and context for his intriguing handwritten note (essentially a micro-essay of a few sentences) to his collaborator Adam are not known. It seems to be part of an ongoing discourse about mass psychological manipulation by the ruling class. If the tenuous reading of the first word as "parce que" ("because") is correct, the implication may be that it was an answer to a note from Adam, part of an ongoing discussion carried on intermittently throughout the day, in a kind of precursor to 21st century facebook discussion threads. Parisian intellectual life for most of the 19th Century was supported by a vast network of postal couriers continually criss-crossing the city bearing letters, most of them only a few sentences, and it was not uncommon for writers, editors, politicians, scholars, and others to write and send off and receive more than a hundred such notes a day, providing a real-time, simultaneous web of communication not entirely dissimilar to that facilitated today by email and social media. This may have been part of their planning process for an article dealing with current events referred to (cryptically) in it, or may simply have been a side conversation carried out between them in the midst of their other work. Depending on the date, Vielé-Griffin may or may not still have been editing the journal, which he stepped away from after several years to free up more time to write.
The note is not yet entirely deciphered; a tenuous reconstruction follows (I welcome advice):
The precise date and context for his intriguing handwritten note (essentially a micro-essay of a few sentences) to his collaborator Adam are not known. It seems to be part of an ongoing discourse about mass psychological manipulation by the ruling class. If the tenuous reading of the first word as "parce que" ("because") is correct, the implication may be that it was an answer to a note from Adam, part of an ongoing discussion carried on intermittently throughout the day, in a kind of precursor to 21st century facebook discussion threads. Parisian intellectual life for most of the 19th Century was supported by a vast network of postal couriers continually criss-crossing the city bearing letters, most of them only a few sentences, and it was not uncommon for writers, editors, politicians, scholars, and others to write and send off and receive more than a hundred such notes a day, providing a real-time, simultaneous web of communication not entirely dissimilar to that facilitated today by email and social media. This may have been part of their planning process for an article dealing with current events referred to (cryptically) in it, or may simply have been a side conversation carried out between them in the midst of their other work. Depending on the date, Vielé-Griffin may or may not still have been editing the journal, which he stepped away from after several years to free up more time to write.
The note is not yet entirely deciphered; a tenuous reconstruction follows (I welcome advice):
Mon [lure] preferé
Le Trust
[parceque] [si] je ne m abuse,
c est ce premier [line/lure] d'inter-
psychologie [où] on [puisse]
[voir] quatre populations yankée
Cubaine, egyptienne et française
travserées [par] une [mei??] idee,
modifiée par elle, et la
modifiant- a leur [tou??], selon
les [caractères] de leur elites et de
leurs foules [en] pleine [ire].
Lequel a eu le plus de succès
Le Trust
or, in English:
My favourite [lure]
Trust
[Because] [if] I do not deceive myself,
it is this first [line/lure] of inter-
psychology [in which] one [could]
[see] four populations yankee
Cuban, egyptian and french
spanned by one [????] idea,
altered by it, and
altering it- [???ed] them, depending
the [integrity] of their elites and of
their masses [in] full [anger].
The one who has most success
Trust
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment