258 - NERUDA (Pablo), 1904–1973.

NERUDA (Pablo), 1904–1973. An exceptional collection of letters from Pablo Neruda and his wife Delia del Carril addressed to the poet Jean Marcenac, documenting, almost day by day, the genesis of “The Captain’s Verses” and Pablo Neruda’s still-secret affair with Matilde Urrutia. In early 1952, Neruda found himself in a complex romantic situation. His relationship with Matilde Urrutia, which had begun a few years earlier, remained secret, while he was still involved with Delia del Carril—“La Hormiguita”—his partner since the 1930s. On January 18, 1952, Delia left Neruda to embark on a long journey to Gothenburg and then Buenos Aires; that same day, Neruda traveled to Capri, where Matilde Urrutia joined him and shared his clandestine stay. There, they lived primarily at the Casa di Arturo on Via Tragara before moving to Via Li Campi. It was precisely in Capri that “Los versos del Capitán” took shape—a collection of love poems inspired by Matilde, the first edition of which was published anonymously in Naples in July 1952. To keep their relationship a secret, Neruda and Matilde created a complete fiction around the book: he was “the Captain,” and she was “Rosario” or “Rosario de la Cerda.” In this correspondence, the signatures thus changed within a few months from “Pablo and Fourmi” to “Pablo and Rosario.” - [C.P.A.S. “Pablo and Fourmi,” from the Trans-Siberian Railway, September 1951], to Jean Marcenac. From the Trans-Siberian Railway “(which is moving),” Neruda describes the “orange-colored” steppes and “before us, the great China,” before concluding: “And the book? Love, Pablo and Fourmi.” - C.P.A.S., [Italy], January 18, 1952, to Jean Marcenac: “Sir, when? But when? Will you [?] the moon? Pablo.” The postcard depicts an old engraving of a stagecoach; Neruda mischievously added the initials P.N., pointing toward a horse, and L.A., pointing toward the coachman, J.M. pointing toward a passenger, and “E.’s [drawing of an eye]” pointing toward the female passengers in the front of the stagecoach. It is also signed by Delia, their friend the Sicilian painter Renato Guttuso, and his wife “Mimise.” - C.P.A.S., [Naples, undated, illegible stamp], to Jean Marcenac “and beloved Dédé” in green and midnight blue ink: “Amori / Pablo,” with a note signed in green ink by Delia reading “Amori Amori too,” along with an ink drawing of a fish, and the signatures of Fulvia Trozzi, Guttuso, Piera Guarino, Sara [?], etc. The postcard from the Grande Ristorante Renzo & Lucia in Naples depicts three people on a terrace gazing at Mount Vesuvius. Pablo wrote the names “Pablo” and “Hormiga” and “Dangerous Blonde” in green ink on it, detailing the dishes served at the table and pointing out “portable Vesuvius” with an arrow. - Autograph letter signed “Pablo,” January 22, 1952, Capri, 2 pp., large quarto, to Jean Marcenac, in green ink. Neruda writes: “I’ve been in Capri for four days; I’m calm and happy [...] There have been great battles for me; the Italians are great [...],” before immediately asking Marcenac: “What’s going on with *Los versos del Capitán*? Have you done anything?” Above all, he reveals that the collection has just been expanded: “We’ve discovered more of the Captain’s papers—it’s quite a bit, 9 or 10 poems that you must know,” adding that they haven’t been typed up yet. Neruda then takes the game of concealing the texts’ origin to the extreme: “That’s what Mrs. Rosario tells me—I see her here very often.” This “Mrs. Rosario” is none other than Matilde Urrutia, who had joined him in Capri and who would take the name “Rosario de la Cerda” in the fiction surrounding the collection’s publication. In the same letter, Neruda mentions Delia’s journey: “The Ant is traveling to the far north—Gothenburg. She will take a piroscafo [steamship in Italian] that will take her to Buenos Aires, where I will join her in April.” The letter thus strikingly juxtaposes “Fourmi”/Delia, who had left for the north a few days earlier, and “Rosario”/Matilde, who was with him in Capri. With a typewritten, unstamped envelope. - Autograph letter signed “Pablo,” Capri, January 24, 1952, 1 folio page in violet ink on stationery illustrated with an Asian motif; Neruda asks Marcenac for news about the project: “Tell me about the book, about your beautiful prologue (finished?), and the selection and the Capitan’s papers.” He mentions a stay with Paul in Saint-Tropez in the spring. The clandestine nature of the stay is further underscored by the precautions taken regarding his address at the end of the letter: “Casa di Arturo, Via Tragara, Capri. Not to be disclosed to anyone.” - L.A.S. “Delia,” January 24, 1952, Copenhagen, 4 pp., in-12 format, with envelope, to Jean Marcenac. On the same day, Delia writes from Copenhagen. She has just come from Italy and is continuing on to Gothenburg to board the ship that will take her to South America: her account corresponds exactly to the journey of “la Fourmi” described two days earlier by