Lot n° 153
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25000 - 30000
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QUENEAU Raymond - Lot 153
QUENEAU Raymond
AUTOGRAPHIC MANUSCRIPT and corrected typescript, Les Temps mêlés, [1939-1941]; 188 pages mostly in-4 or small in-4, and 133 pages in-4.
Set of preparatory notes and manuscripts and corrected typescript of this seventh novel by Queneau, a sequel to Gueule de pierre.
As early as August 1938, Queneau was thinking of writing a sequel to his novel Gueule de pierre (1934), initially in the form of a poem in 24 songs, which he worked on until October 1938 in Coye-la-Forêt (Oise). He went back to work in June-July 1939, but the war interrupted him; he resumed writing the book in January 1941, and finished it on July 3. Les Temps mêlés will be published by Gallimard in November 1941, with the subtitle (Gueule de pierre, II). The two novels will be integrated with a sequel in Saint
Glinglin in 1948, Les Temps mêlés being heavily reworked.
Pierre Kougard has become mayor of the Ville Natale; in front of the town hall stands the petrified body of his father. During the St. Glin celebrations, tourists arrive, including the film star Cécile Haye, with whom
Paul (Pierre's brother) will fall in love. Pierre wants to introduce reforms, and he stops inventor Timothy Worwass's cloud clearing device, which kept the city's skies clear. The torrential rain causes the statue to dissolve and collapse. The disgruntled population drives Peter out, and his brother Paul succeeds him. The novel is divided into three parts: the first is a series of poems evoking various inhabitants of the City; the second, a monologue by Paul; the third, a play in five acts or tableaux.
The manuscript consists of:
A. First part (in verse): detached leaves (lined or large-ruled paper) in 2 school notebooks (22 x 17 cm) of the French Comptoirs; the 1st with green cover, marked "GDP II (not net)" (28 pages); the 2nd with pink cover, marked "GDP II (net)" (23 pages) in black ink, plus 5 in-4 leaves and one typed.
B. Parts Two and Three (prose and drama). 14 in-4 typed and corrected pages, followed by 62 autograph pages in black ink.
C. A set of 36 in-4 pages in black ink, early version of the third part written in novelistic style.
D. "Dialogue de Jean et d'Hélène", 9 pages in-4 on green paper accompanied by 15 typewritten sheets.
E. A set of notes, plans, various drafts: 9 pages in-4 in black ink and pencil on grey paper, and 16 pages of various sizes (in-8 or in-12).
F. 6 typewritten leaves paginated 1-6 (text on "medians").
G. Complete typescript (133 ff. in-4), used for the composition of the edition. It seems to have been written directly on the typewriter by Queneau himself, from various handwritten drafts. It shows erasures and numerous corrections, with some passages crossed out. It is dated at the end (the indication has been crossed out for typography): "Neuilly, July 3, 1941; 12:25 p.m. (on my watch, go forward a little).
H. Typescript of the poems La Vieille and Le Fantôme (4 ff. in-4), and proof sheet of the journal Mesures (unpublished, the journal having disappeared after April 1940).
The file of notes and plans is very interesting. It includes a chronology, a table of characters, topographical indications, etc. The preparatory notes also show the novelist's hesitations during the development of his book. Thus: "Paul convinced of incest. Will he resign or leave? Hesitations"; and
Queneau adds, not without irony: "Cornelian. Racinian. Eschylian (at least). These pages also contain games about language, such as this variation on the word insect: "In-Secte. Insectuality. In-sexuality.
Intellectuality. In-Secte: one who does not belong to any sect. In-Sexuality: no sexuality. In-Texuality: neither written text (intellectuality). One such is that you have lite".
Of the twelve poems in the first part, eleven are present in the notebooks, and in versions offering numerous and important variants. The first poem, Le Veilleur, of which we have a graphic plan in the notes, appears here in a primitive version entitled Les Douze
Quilles de la nuit (The Twelve Skittles of the Night), which is very different: "The tans has overturned the twelve skittles of the night
No longer a mintenan; let the zero remain
In the oreres of the railways
Until the correspondence with the number pi"...
The second part is entitled The North Star. Queneau began typing his text directly (on the first 14 sheets); what will become a monologue is then a "Letter from Paul Kougard to the beautiful lady". The 14 typewritten pages are corrected in ink; then Queneau continues by hand from page 15 onwards.
The third part is in the form of five acts or tableaux (part of the 4th and the
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