Alfred JARRY [Le Moutardier du Pape], no place or date [circ - Lot 20

Alfred JARRY [Le Moutardier du Pape], no place or date [circa 1906]. Autograph manuscript of 45 pages, small in-4 (200 x 153 mm), mounted on blank leaves, bound by Loutrel in supple midnight-blue morocco, slipcase. Precious autograph manuscript of the last work published during Jarry's lifetime: the only manuscript known to date entirely in the author's hand. It contains a few variants and some fifteen strikethroughs and corrections to the published text, and stops in the middle of Act II, Scene IV. It thus comprises just under half of the three-act work. Significant variants include the names of the Moutardier called, from page 10 of the manuscript onwards, Macaro, a name that will only appear in the cast of the published text; the Papesse is here again under her original name, Jeanne, which will later be changed to Jane. Act I, Scene II does not include the aria Un corset c'est très imprudent. The Scottish Guard chorus in Act I, Scene III has been shortened. The manuscript was previously known only through its description in the Expojarrysition under number 352 (see Jarry, OEuvres complètes III, Bibliothèque de la Pléiade, p. 765). The complete manuscript used for printing is almost entirely in the hand of a copyist. Close to the published version, it contains only additions by the author. It was consulted by the Pléiade editors when it was put up for public sale in 1983, as was a set of proofs corrected by Jarry and held by the Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal. Inspired by the legend of Papesse Jeanne, the project for Le Moutardier du Pape dates back to 1903, and precedes the adaptation of Rhoïdès' novel on which Jarry worked with Saltas during the winter of 1905-1906. The opérette bouffe, conceived in collaboration with Eugène Demolder, was to have been part of the Théâtre mirlitonesque collection, set to music by Claude Terrasse. However, the score never saw the light of day. Shortly before the author's death, the text was finally published in a luxury edition by subscription: "Vallette and his friends joined forces to publish this luxurious volume in a limited edition, embellished with a portrait by Frédéric-Auguste Cazals and various decorations. The subscription allowed Jarry to eat for a few months. Bibliophilia extended his life" (Alfred Jarry, The Carnival of Being, The Morgan Library, p. 151). Restorations to last ten leaves.