Jean Cocteau (1889-1963) Correspondence Collection of approx. 63 autograph letters signed ('Jean') and 5 telegrams to his agent Lucienne Watier ('Lulu', 'Ma chérie', 'Ma fifille'), discussing the staging, filming and translation of several of his works, mentioning various artistic collaborators, his disputes with Jean Vilar of the Théâtre National Populaire and Jérôme Kilty (author of Cher Menteur, which Cocteau translated), and personal matters such as the decoration of the Villa Santo Sospir and financial arrangements with associates Jean Marais and Edouard Dermit concerning his house in Milly-la-Forêt, pencil and ink on paper, approx. 75 pages, in-8, New York, Santo Sospir (Cap Ferrat) and elsewhere, January 3, 1949 - December 23, 1962 Verzameling van ongeveer 63 gesigneerde autografische brieven ('Jean') en 5 telegrammen aan zijn agent Lucienne Watier ('Lulu', 'Ma chérie', 'Ma fifille'), over de enscenering, verfilming en vertaling van een groot aantal van zijn werken, verwijzingen naar verschillende artistieke medewerkers, zijn ruzies met Jean Vilar van het Théâtre National Populaire en Jerome Kilty (toneelschrijver van Dear Liar die Cocteau vertaalde), en persoonlijke zaken zoals zijn inrichting van Villa Santo Sospir en financiële afspraken met partners Jean Marais en Edouard Dermit over zijn huis in Milly-la-Forêt, potlood en inkt op papier, ongeveer 75 pagina's, in-8, New York, Santo Sospir (Cap Ferrat) en elders, 3 januari 1949 tot 23 december 1962 Collection of approximately 63 autograph letters signed ('Jean') and 5 telegrams to his agent Lucienne Watier ('Lulu', 'Ma chérie', 'Ma fifille'), discussing the staging, filming, and translation of numerous of his works, referring to various artistic collaborators, his arguments with Jean Vilar of the Théâtre National Populaire and Jerome Kilty (playwright of Dear Liar which Cocteau translated), and personal matters such as his decoration of Villa Santo Sospir and financial arrangements with partners Jean Marais and Edouard Dermit relating to his home in Milly-la-Forêt, pencil and ink on paper, approximately 75 pages, 8vo, New York, Santo Sospir (Cap Ferrat) and elsewhere, 3 January 1949 to 23 December 1962 Footnotes: Provenance Lucienne Watier archives; remained in his descendants Plus je m'efforce de travail sur les pièces moins j'y arrive': a long series of letters from Cocteau to his agent Lulu Watier (1897-1976) The correspondence covers almost the entirety of Cocteau's Santo Sospir years. In 1949, whilst filming Les Enfants terribles, he met Francine Weisweiller who had recently bought the house in Cap Ferrat. She invited him to visit, and he almost immediately started decorating the home; by late July 1950, he writes 'Je termine les murs de Santo Sospir'. Cocteau returned to the villa every summer and stayed there for almost eleven years. Included in the lot are three photographs Cocteau sent to Lulu of Francine with his lover and adopted son Edouard Dermit ('Doudou') on a boat, jokingly described as an 'ideal couple'. In another letter he recounts an unsuccessful evening with Francine - 'nous avons perdu nos chemises au Casino de Nice'. By 1961, coinciding with the end of our correspondence, relations between Francine and Cocteau cooled as she began a relationship with the writer and screenwriter Henri Viard Elsewhere, the letters demonstrate Cocteau's sensitivity to the practice of translation: both of his work into English, where he favoured Mary Hoeck as translator and mocks someone trying to translate the name Heurtebise in parts ('c'est comme si on traduisait Coc- par le mot Coq, et -teau par le mot tôt'), as well as his translations of the work of others (describing in 1950 Un tramway nommé Désir as his only translation 'de l'américain' into French, but later touching on his French adaptation of Jerome Kilty's Dear Liar) On the subject of his films, Cocteau awaits the reaction to Les Enfants terribles (released 1950) - 'si le film n'a pas de succès ca ne sera la faute de personne' - and is relieved when 'le film a triomphé en Allemagne et marche à New York'. More than once, he complains about the quality of prints; he considers selling an option on La Machine infernale; he is excited about the prospect of an event in Berlin to celebrate the anniversary of Orphée; and he regrets not being able to find a cameo role, presumably in Le Testament d'Orphée, for Madeleine Sologne who had starred in L'eternal retour. Perhaps the main subject matter of the letters, however, is Cocteau's theatrical work. There is much on his play Bacchus, set during the Swiss Reformation: he asks Lulu to obtain a book to help in his research on the subject, and expresses many doubts about staging it at the Théâtre National Populaire. Its director Jean Vilar, he complains, has big dreams but does not have the right ideas for Bacchus. The theatre itself at the Palais de Chaillot is unsuitable