La Mort difficile. Paris, Simon Kra, [1926].
In-12 [177 x 125] with a frontispiece, (2) ff, 199 pp, (1) f. : paperback.
First edition: it is illustrated with a frontispiece portrait of the author.
Mention of "Second Edition".
Superb autograph letter signed on the full page :
To André Breton, // whose every book is // a legitimate defense // what will I say to // offer mine which // are so many arguments // against a // sentimental frivolity //. // My dear Breton, tomorrow // I'm leaving for a trip // (not far away) but I was // so ugly, these days in // Paris, that I didn't // want to impose to our friendship // unworthy words. Hence this // silence which is not oblivion. // With faith // René Crevel
Dada and then surrealist, René Crevel committed suicide on 18 June 1935. He had not managed to reconcile Breton and the organizers of the International Writers' Congress - in particular
Ilya Ehrenbourg, head of the Soviet delegation, whom Breton had slapped.
In a particularly inflammatory article, Marcel Jouhandeau accused Breton of being responsible for Crevel's suicide. "Nothing resembles a crime more than a suicide," he judged, after having reported René Crevel's words: "When I no longer believe in anything, neither in myself nor in anyone, I will still believe in Breton." The latter was to reply with a moving article entitled: On the death of René Crevel . The polemic makes the dedication to André
Breton even more endearing.
The copy contains a catalog of the publisher Simon Kra (4 ff. in-12), beginning with an autobiography of René Crevel. Tear without missing in the first leaf of text. Browned paper.
Provenance: André Breton (cat. 42 rue Fontaine I, April 8, 2003, n° 330).
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