Author André BretonPeople cited Denis Diderot, Emile Duclaux, Paul Fort, Henry James, Friedrich von Hardenberg, dit Novalis, Pierre-Camille Revel, Hélène Smith, Léonard de Vinci
This ‘document’ is a handwritten text by André Breton, composed of quotations and addressed to Matta.
Intended for the Prolegomena to a Third Manifesto of Surrealism or Not (1942), these notes were in fact reused at the end of the text; the quotations from Novalis, Duclaux and William James (an American reference, not until then often cited by Breton) are reused as they are. The whole work was apparently put together for Matta, who was part of the Third Manifesto project; the manuscript is reproduced on p. 1138 of volume III of the Œuvres complètes. [Atelier André Breton website, 2005]
Handwritten manuscript, sd [1942].
Living in closets, 1 page in-4° handwritten by Breton in green ink, titled in black pencil.
Draft of the text ‘The Great Invisibles’ which begins with three quotations from William James, Émile Duclaux, former director of the Pasteur Institute (1840-1904), and Novalis (‘Les Grands Transparents,’ Œuvres complètes, volume III, pages 14 and 15):
‘We are the parasites of an animal inside of which we really live. This animal’s constitution determines what ours is, and vice versa.’
Breton continues:
‘Either the beings in question would be outside of our perceptions, existing on a level to which we are unable to gain access either by sight, hearing or touch, and so on, or else they might be conceived as superior mimetic animals (consult the ‘Theory of Form’, according to which if dissymmetrical characters were separated by symmetrical intervals, these intervals would concentrate attention, which would assume a solid value).’
This ‘Document’ is reproduced in full in the notice on the Prolegomenas to a Third Manifesto pages 1138-39 in the Pléiade, volume III (Marked in one corner). [sale catalogue, 2003]
André Breton (Édition de Marguerite Bonnet avec la collaboration de Philippe Bernier, Marie-Claire Dumas, Étienne-Alain Hubert et José Pierre), « Document », Prolégomènes à un troisième manifeste, Œuvres complètes, tome III, Bibliothèque de la Pléiade, Paris, Gallimard, 1999, p. 14-15, notice p. 1188-1189.
| Creation date | sd [1942] |
| Bibliographical material | 1 handwritten octavo page - Ms - green ink |
| Languages | French |
| Library | |
| Size | 21,00 x 27,00 cm |
| Number of pages | 1 p. |
| Reference | 471000 |
| Breton Auction, 2003 | Lot 2236 |
| Keywords | Divination, Magic, Manifesto, Philosophy |
| Categories | Andre Breton's Manuscripts |
| Set | [AB's Manuscripts] Manifestes du Surréalisme, [AB's Manuscripts] Miscellaneous Manuscripts |
| Permanent link | https://www.andrebreton.fr/en/work/56600100520120 |
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Handwritten manuscript by André Breton in green ink on yellowed paper, with erasures and corrections, signed and dated 28 April 1942. Published in the first issue of the journal VVV in New York in June 1942.
Four images, a descriptive note, a bibliography, a library.
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Numéro 1, publié en juin 1942, de cette revue surréaliste fondée par David Hare en 1942 à New York.
Aucune image, une notice descriptive, un lien.
