André BRETON. Lot n° 40

Letter addressed to Philippe Soupault. [Paris], Wednesday, February 11, 1920. Autograph letter signed "André", 2 pages in-8. Enclosed, from the same: Dada. Without place nor date [Paris, February 11, 1920]. Autograph manuscript signed "André Breton", 1 page in-8. Important letter addressed to Philippe Soupault, accompanied by an autograph copy of André Breton's Dada manifesto. The manifesto appeared in issue 13 of the review Littérature under the title "Géographie Dada" published in May 1920 (pages 17-18): it is here simply entitled "DADA". Hot report of the eventful Dada evening of February 7, 1920 at the Club du Faubourg. From the outset, Breton reassures Soupault about Tristan Tzara (who arrived in Paris in January): "He is in every way worthy of our trust." Then he recounts the events of the evening. "The session at the Faubourg was full of surprises. We "explained" DADA, Tzara, Ribemont-Dessaignes, Aragon and me. When the talk was over, Raymond Duncan who had spoken before us (of something else) stood up and declared that nothing more beautiful had happened in Paris to his knowledge. Various movements." Then came the speeches of the various speakers... Breton points out in passing that the magazine DADA has taken off ("all the issues brought in sold out in a minute"). And he adds: "To fix you a little, I'm sending you the few words I spoke." "On February 19th, at the Volkshochschule, the DADA Contradictory Evening. (Are you coming?) Yesterday, Tzara, Éluard, Fraenkel, Aragon, Ungaretti and I visited Duncan. We owed it to him. Then we went to the Ballets Russes; I left Tzara, Aragon and Éluard abruptly at midnight when a man of a certain age, met at the Place de l'Opéra, guided us to "a charming place where, with a bottle of champagne for four, we could see pretty girls". I disappeared around the corner as if by magic. [...]. Come back. André." In postscript, Breton notes: "In your absence, I t