Jean COCTEAU (Maisons-Laffitte 1889 - Milly-la-Forêt 1963). Autograph manuscript of the poem ''Cherchez Apollon'', 12 p. in-4 (275 x 215 mm) including title page, with TWO ORIGINAL DRAWINGS on two separate pages, (the first, second and fifth with ink stains). Several pages show splits, folds, tears, stains and weakened edges. The poem comprises 18 stanzas of 4 lines each, with numerous erasures and corrections in ink and pencil. This first draft of a major poem by Cocteau, composed in late 1931 or early 1932, presents numerous variants with the published text, the first four stanzas with changes in almost every line, the fifth and sixth significantly different, the seventh to tenth fairly close to the published version, the eleventh very different. The twelfth stanza does not appear in this manuscript, and the following stanzas are close to the published text, albeit with some unpublished variants. Cf. Pléiade, Cocteau p. 617, Cf. also N.R.F. Poésie/Gallimard, pp. 145-147 and page 223. Printed in Barcelona on September 15, 2015. The manuscript shows the author's creative process, often under the influence of opium. The poem was dedicated to Nathalie PALEY (Madame Lucien Lelong (1905-1981), a beautiful, elegant young woman of the world whom Cocteau had met at a performance of Le Sang d'un poète, with whom he is said to have had a love affair in the spring of 1932. Attached to the manuscript: Jean PAULAN (Nîmes 1884 - Neuilly-sur-Seine 1968). French writer, literary critic and publisher. Editor and manager of La Nouvelle Revue française. - Autograph letter signed "J. P." Paris mardi s.d. (1932), one page in-8 on N.R.F. letterhead, 43 rue de Beaune Paris (VIIe). Small paper losses, outside text. To inform her of the enthusiasm of readers who have just discovered the poem: "Pour Cherchez Apollon, je n'entends qu'éloge et enthousiasme. Lothe, Benda, Gide, Supervielle. People sometimes want to recite it to me (I already knew that). I am yours affectionately, dear Jean. - L.a.s. "J. P." Paris mardi s.d. (1932), one page in-8 on N.RF. letterhead. Paris (VIIe). Small chips, folds and tears. Concerning the desired rectification of a verse: "I find your verse very good as it is... ". - Bon à tirer of the manuscript, consisting of 4 printed pages in-8°, recto-verso, standing on a single yellow sheet. The text, printed by F. Paillart in Abbeville (Somme), features numerous handwritten corrections by the author in black ink. Bon à tirer dated May 5, 1933. Exhibition: - Center Pompidou, "COCTEAU", November 25, 2003 to January 5, 2004, listed under number 107 C and described as "Jean Cocteau, Cherchez Apollon, manuscrit avec achevé d'imprimé". Provenance: - French private collection Erotica Monsieur X Expert: Mario MORDENTE

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