COCTEAU Jean (1889-1963). 2 autograph MANUSCRIPTS... - Lot 38 - Drouot Estimations

Lot 38
Go to lot
Estimation :
500 - 600 EUR
Result without fees
Result : 250EUR
COCTEAU Jean (1889-1963). 2 autograph MANUSCRIPTS... - Lot 38 - Drouot Estimations
COCTEAU Jean (1889-1963). 2 autograph MANUSCRIPTS (the 2nd signed "Jean Cocteau," [1947-1948]; 2 pages in-4 very full of small handwriting, with erasures and corrections; and 2 pages in-4 in blue ballpoint pen on the back of sheets headed Maison du Bailli Milly. Draft for the preface to Manon Lescaut by Abbé Prévost. [This preface was written for a reprint of the novel by Stock in 1947; it appeared in the Revue de Paris in October 19417. The last four paragraphs are missing in this manuscript]. "It is not a question of speaking about an illustrious book that needs no commentary, but of shedding light on some of its angles that one tries to round off or leave in the dark [] L'abbé Prévost can only be compared to Petronius. His atmosphere is that of the Satyricon, except for the admirable warmth of love that Manon gives off like a wide-open rose in a half-open bodice. But what a procession of gamblers, cheaters, drinkers, debauched people, police raids! It is this villainous perfume of powder in the marshal's shop, of wine on the tablecloth and of an unmade bed that gives Manon the strength to live through the centuries and not to be confused with other figures whose flies and smile are not enough for me. The greatness of Manon, what saves it from being, like Les Liaisons dangereuses, the masterpiece of second-class books, what makes it a masterpiece at all, is the Parisian gust that rolls this astonishing story from a seminary parlor to the grave that Des Grieux digs, in Guyana, with his own hands. It is love that does not mix with scum and covers the characters with the coating of swan feathers, a coating thanks to which the swan splashes in dirty water without getting dirty. Souvenir by Laurent Tailhade, [1948]. Beautiful homage of Cocteau to the one who launched his poetic fortune. [It was on April 4, 1908, on the stage of the Femina theater that Jean Cocteau's poetic glory was born. At 18 years old, he had not yet published anything when the famous tragedian Édouard de Max (1869-1924), seduced by the young man, decided to finance and organize a reading of his poems in the presence of the Tout-Paris. Laurent Tailhade (1854-1919) was in charge of introducing the budding poet to the public]. Cocteau recalls the 1948 session: "Laurent Tailhade had one terrible eye that penetrated souls like a screwdriver. His round face ended in a point because of a straight grey quiff. [I keep more than gratitude to this polemicist. He symbolizes for me an era when the politics of letters was as fierce as the politics. [I would like all writers to look like him and remind me of Laurent Tailhade, armed with his red pen and his cyclops eye. Two typed letters from the Académie des Poètes are attached; March 23 and May 24, 1948, inviting Cocteau to participate in the tribute issue to Laurent Tailhade, the second one informing him that his article arrived too late.
My orders
Sale information
Sales conditions
Return to catalogue