Giraudoux Jean (1882-1944)

Lot 81
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Estimation :
15000 - 20000 EUR
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Result : 19 500EUR
Giraudoux Jean (1882-1944)
Bella, signed autograph manuscript. January 21, 1925, 205 leaves in ink folio, bound in red morocco, coat of arms on the plates, inner frame in morocco and gilt filets, case (René Aussourd). Complete signed autograph manuscript, the only existing one, of Jean Giraudoux's romantic masterpiece. This manuscript of Bella by Jean Giraudoux, hitherto unknown (Brett Dawson, publisher of Bella in the OEuvres romanesques complètes de la Bibliothèque de la Pléiade, deplored its disappearance), reveals a very different primitive version of the printed text. It captures the complex genesis of this novel, probably Giraudoux's finest and richest, which, alongside a disturbing portrait of a woman, depicts the struggle between two political figures, Rebendart and Dubardeau, behind whom the confrontation between Raymond Poincaré and Philippe Berthelot is recognized. The manuscript is dated at the end "21 January 1925". Upon its completion, Giraudoux will profoundly rework its text before prepublication in La Nouvelle Revue française from October 1, 1925 to January 1, 1926. In particular, important passages will be deleted and will form chapters of La France sentimentale; another chapter will be found in Églantine. The original edition was published by Bernard Grasset in the "Cahiers verts" collection. The Bibliothèque nationale preserves sketches and drafts prior to our manuscript, and various fragments of successive editions, as well as other fragments related to the reworking of the novel. This manuscript is the only complete one. It is written on the front of large folios, with a small margin on the left, and would appear to be a neatness, if there were not a number of small erasures, corrections or additions. In addition to the revisions in the structure of the novel, the manuscript presents a number of textual variants, often considerable. Giraudoux will hesitate about the first name of his heroine: Julienne, Simone (later corrected to Bella on f. 78).
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