34 - COCTEAU, Jean (1889–1963).

COCTEAU, Jean (1889–1963). 5 original letters or letter fragments, and 7 autograph manuscripts; 13 pages in various formats. Description: Draft letter to Jean-Louis VAUDOYER, administrator of the Comédie-Française, [March 1942], urging him to stage his play *Renaud et Armide* despite the slanderous attacks by journalists: “My life is that of a monk, and my work is beyond reproach”… – 2 letters to the publisher Paul MORIHIEN: “Except for the preface, my handwriting would have to be typeset; that would be the only way to produce a book without any imbalance”… ; “We’re working day and night. I’ve corrected the book that Jeannot [Jean Marais] is bringing you”… – Autograph letter, October 7, 1948, to a playwright: “Your play is lively and full of scope (for further exploration). Its humor is never fanciful—which I detest—it possesses a very warm and robust poetry”… Etc. – Text of a telegram to Jean MARAIS, in Ajaccio: “Terrible news has reached us; how can we help you?” Draft preface for the edition of *Quelques lettres de Max Jacob* [P. Morihien 1949]: “Max, like Proust, practiced the art of the lavish compliment, but he couldn’t resist a bit of playful banter. […] From this rustic disorder in the style of Max’s letters emerges an exquisite grace, an incredible freedom of spirit and hand”… – 3 pages concerning his screenplay adaptation of *Ruy Blas* for Pierre Billon’s film (1948): a rough draft of a scene between Ruy Blas and the Queen (Jean Marais and Danielle Darrieux) with sketches; on the reverse side are criticisms of his “poor script,” of the photographer Kelber, and of Pierre Billon’s direction; a note on his “work of simplification imposed by the cinematographer”; a note on the sets. – Reflections on communication in 1946 and in Racine’s time, on a poor English adaptation of *The Two-Headed Eagle*, etc. – Reflections on the word “escape” and the “logic of the unreal,” on “imaginative painting.” – Reflections on cinema (Noël Coward, Macbeth, Laurel and Hardy, etc.). Enclosed is the corrected typescript of a talk given at the Université populaire de la jeunesse on May 24, 1938 (21 pp., in-4); Cocteau stops making corrections on p. 4 and notes: “Alas, it is beyond correction—too full of misinterpretations and disorder.”