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[Can you say ... from necessity?]

L'Amour fou [Mad Love], fragment

Manuscript

Author

Author André Breton
Person cited Paul Éluard

Description

Autograph manuscript by André Breton dated June 1933, which composes the opening of the second part of L'Amour fou [Mad Love].

This is the opening of the second section of L'Amour fou, with so many deletions that one can almost suffer, physically, the ordeal that writing can sometimes be for Breton, and the demands that he places upon it. Compare this with the impression of perfect fluidity that one gets from an uninformed reading of the final version of the text... The date of June 1933 emphasises the lengthy time-span of the book’s composition, given it would not be published until 1937. [Atelier André Breton website, 2005]

- "Can you say...", 1 half-page in-4° in green ink on blue paper with numerous erasures and corrections in Breton's hand, and dated by him in pencil June 1933.

"Can you say ... from necessity?

"It was in these terms that in 1933 Paul Éluard and I opened an inquiry, the results of which were published in the journal Minotaure. [...]

"My most enduring ambition will undoubtedly have been to draw forth this unknown quality from some of the humblest and most significant facts of my life."

Creation datejuin-1933
Bibliographical material

1 demi-page in-4°

Date of publication 1933
LanguagesFrench
Physical descriptionMs - encre verte sur papier bleu
Breton Auction, 2003Lot 2179
Keywords,
CategoriesManuscripts, Andre Breton's Manuscripts
Set[AB's Manuscripts] L'Amour fou, Arcane 17, Les Vases communicants,
Permanent linkhttps://www.andrebreton.fr/en/work/56600100144940