119 - CELINE, Louis-Ferdinand: *Féérie pour une autre fois*. A large portion of the manuscript of this important work by the author, which he began in 1944 in Paris, continued in Sigmaringen, and completed in Denmark and France upon his return.

CELINE, Louis-Ferdinand: *Féérie pour une autre fois*. A large portion of the manuscript of this important work by the author, which he began in 1944 in Paris, continued in Sigmaringen, and completed in Denmark and France upon his return. An intermediate, incomplete manuscript with numerous corrections, additions, and cross-outs, its more than 1,000 pages reflect the writer’s sheer work ethic and perfectionism. Never satisfied, he constantly revisited his text to modify and improve it. Amid the turmoil of the war’s end and his exodus to Sigmaringen and then to Denmark, during his imprisonment in Copenhagen, and later in his reclusive life on the shores of the Baltic Sea, Céline never stopped writing. Having written thousands of pages, Céline did not retain all the passages or transformed them for the final version. Already perfectly in Céline’s style in form and rhythm, these parts of the manuscript are still heavily revised, with numerous additions, cross-outs, and corrections. With the help of his two attorneys (Maîtres DAMIEN and GIBAULT), his wife Lucette DESTOUCHES, and Roger NIMIER, these manuscripts were deciphered, reworked, and finally published by Gallimard in 1952. Each version contains numerous additions, corrections, and cross-outs; the initial version was written in pencil on both sides of the large in-8 sheets, while the middle section was already written in blue ballpoint pen on only one side. Note that on the back of 12 pages is written Céline’s text against Sartre, *A l’agité du bocal*. This is likely the first draft of this famous pamphlet, in which Céline—upon learning of Sartre’s attack against him—grabbed whatever sheets of paper were at hand to jot down, on the reverse side, the first draft of this important text. The text was written by “Furious Ferdinand” in a single sitting, with virtually no cross-outs. This complete text was first published in 1948 in PARAZ’s *Le gala des vaches* and by Lanauve de Tartas in 1948.