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Manuscript

Author

Author André Breton
People cited Laura Betti, Filippo Crivelli, Alberto Moravia, Arthur Rimbaud, Jean Rongeul

Description

Manuscript of an article written by André Breton at the request of Laura Betti, 2 February 1962.

‘Empty Tower’ (‘Tour à vide’) is the name of the show being promoted here. It featured the Italian singer and actor Laura Betti, a friend of Moravia [and of Pasolini], who performed at the Comédie de Paris [situated at 42, rue Fontaine] in February 1962. Somewhat forgotten now, for a few years, before the pop era, Betti could have been considered Italy’s answer to Juliette Gréco. [Atelier André Breton website, 2005]

Signed handwritten manuscript, 2 February 1962.
1 in-4° page manuscript in ink, titled, dated and signed Breton with a few deletions and corrections of a text relating to a recital by Laura Betti at the Comédie de Paris.
‘If you have never seen a storm in a teacup (no longer in a figurative but in a physical sense of the phrase) why wait to go and cheer Laura Betti in what she calls, surely ironically, her empty tower.’
Published in Candide on 8 February 1962. [Auction catalogue, 2003]

Translated by Krzysztof Fijalkowski

Bibliography

« Breton séduit par un genou », in Candide, 8 février 1962

André Breton (Édition publiée sous la direction d'Étienne-Alain Hubert avec la collaboration de Philippe Bernier et Marie-Claire Dumas), « Laura aimantée », Alentours, Œuvres complètes, tome IV, Écrits sur l'art et autres textes, Bibliothèque de la Pléiade, Paris, Gallimard, 2008, page 1118, notice p. 1465.