June 17, 2010

Joë Bousquet : spiritual mentor of his time

Born in Narbonne, Joë Bousquet (1897-1950) was only 17 years old when he committed on the front of the First World War. He quickly became the most decorated officer of his regiment. But, in 1918, he is hit by a bullet which cut through his spinal cord. Incapacitated, he spends the rest of his life lied down, legs paralysed. He composes then numbers of poems in prose, develops an mystic and erotic aesthetic, literally using writing as a way of life. He exchanges long and fruitful correspondences and receives in his room, now a literary salon, his contemporaries : Surrealists, with whom he has a special relationship, André Gide and Jean Paulhan among others. Little-know figure for the general public, Joë Bousquet, however, was the advisor and confidant to an entire generation of artists.



Currently, the librairie Loliée offers :
  • Traduit du Silence. Proses. Paris, Les Cahiers du Journal des Poètes, série poétique N°65, 1939, in-12, covers. First edition. Copy on Featherweight paper.
  • La Connaissance du soir. Paris, Les Éditions du Raisin, 1945, in-4, in leaves, cover on pearly japan paper, publisher's case. First edition. One of the 150 copies on Marais vellum paper, this one reserved to the publisher's wife, Madam J Ricciotto Canudo, with a long hand wirtten dedication from the author.
  • Lettres inédites à poisson d’or. Traduction de Adriano Marchetti. Gravures sur bois de Giampiero Guerri. Cesena, s.é. (chez l’illustrateur), 1997, in-4, in leaves, illustrated cover, hard folder illustrated and signed by the artist. Edition illustrated with 2 original wood engravings numebred and signed by Giampiero Guerri. Limited to 99 copies. Text in French and Italian.