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two pages of old papers with writing on them on a white surface
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383 - Henry de MONTHERLANT (1895–1972).
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Estimate €2,000 - €2,500
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Description
Henry de MONTHERLANT (1895–1972). 3 autograph manuscripts and a corrected typescript for *Un voyageur solitaire est un diable* [1929–1961]; 25, 6 and 29 pages in-4 in loose sheets, and one in-4 volume of [3]-132 pages bound in half-maroquin with havana-coloured corners, smooth spine (tear repaired on the last folio, which has been relined). A fine collection centred on *Un voyageur solitaire est un diable*, in which Montherlant has brought together travel stories and impressions, which also constitute ‘the diary of a crisis’. In his preface to the definitive edition, dated ‘Paris, May 1961’, Montherlant writes: ‘The essays in *Un voyageur solitaire* were all written (with the exception of one) between 1925 and 1929. They form the third and final volume of the *Voyageurs traqués* series, which already includes *Aux Fontaines du Désir* (1927) and *La Petite Infante de Castille* (1929). It was at the end of 1939 that I brought them together and composed the preface and notes. The book had been printed and was ready for publication when the events of the summer of 1940 occurred. I therefore judged that these events made its publication inopportune. The first edition of this work did not appear until 1945, in a print run of five hundred copies, with lithographs by Mariano Andreu, published by the art publisher Henri Lefebvre.” Autograph manuscripts for *Three Days at Montserrat*, [1929]–1 January 1930; 25 pages on the reverse of proofs, typescripts and letters addressed to him. Heavily crossed-out and corrected drafts for his account of a walk at Montserrat, in Spain, collected in 1945 in *Un voyageur solitaire est un diable*. Montherlant discusses the Benedictine monastery of Montserrat, its history, its attractions for pilgrims, its 12th-century Black Madonna, and so on. He quotes Saint-Simon and offers reflections on faith: ‘A Christian who does not live with the sole thought of his salvation, and in a state of constant spiritual elevation, is more monstrous than one who does not seek to form an opinion on the afterlife, and more contemptible. […] As for last-minute acts of penance, wrung out by exhaustion, terror, and a priest who tortures you, they fill me with horror’… Other pages contain notes on Montalembert’s style, the value of travel according to Pierre Benoit, the life of the soul, and so on. Signed autograph manuscript, [On El Greco]; 6 pages on the reverse of letters addressed to Louis Fabulet (1930–1932), relating to his translations of Kipling. A very fine text on El Greco, in its original version, heavily crossed out and corrected, differing from the text collected in 1945 in *Un voyageur solitaire est un diable*. Autograph manuscript, *Carnaval sacré*; 29 pages on the reverse of typescripts (for *La déception de Grenade* and *La Rose de sable*) or letters from publishers (1945). Working manuscript, heavily crossed out and corrected, of this text on the Nice Carnival, collected in 1945 in *A Lonely Traveller is a Devil*, of which it forms the conclusion. “ The sacred day of the Carnival in Nice, Easter Sunday of Holy Week: the final day, when the crowd sets fire to their King Carnival, whom they have just been celebrating for a week. This supreme act of the Drama—I would not miss it for anything in the world’"... Full of enthusiasm, Montherlant takes part in the festivities: “For the first time in my life, I am part of a procession [...] with passionate fervour, I who would loathe and be ashamed to take part in any political procession or religious procession, I who would not follow the funeral of even the most beloved person’... For him, Carnival is a festival of fun and mockery. He describes the parade and the mad day he spends there… But above all, the burning of the figure of Carnival illustrates one of ‘the ideas that govern my life’: the ‘mystery’ of this execution shows that the people’s love for Carnival is as strong as their hatred of him: this is the principle of Equivalence and Alternation… But he stops there, without developing this idea: the original manuscript of the text, written the day after Carnival, was entirely erased in an accident, and Montherlant did not have the courage, in this manuscript drafted (as he says) a few weeks later, to complete this reflection. He adds, however, that this Carnival is akin to ‘what the Greeks sought in their Mysteries: a state of intoxication, a frenzy, a liberation of the disordered parts of the soul [...] Just like the bull run, the Nice Carnival has become for me one of those sacred dramas that grip us both in our guts and in our minds’... This text is dated late 1929 (1939 in the published edition, though actually written in 1945). The following 15 pages form an Appendix containing the notes he intended to use to develop the conclusion of his reflections on this mystery. Complete typescript for the 1961 Gallimard edition, reprinted in 1963 in the volume of Montherlant’s Essays in the Bibliothèque de la Pléiade. The typescript was used for the composition of the volume, as evidenced by the numerous typographical instructions. A handwritten addition was made at the end of the 1961 preface. A handwritten page, in red pen, appears at the beginning, concerning the presentation of the list of Montherlant’s works.
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About the sale Letters and Autograph Manuscripts – Part II
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Auction time 10/14/2026 at 2:00 PM
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