CAMUS, Albert.

£6,750 · Offered by Peter Harrington · No longer available

Typescript of his preface to Actualité: L'Espagne Libre, with a first edition of the journal. A hand-corrected typescript by Camus of his preface to the special Spanish issue of Actualité, along with a copy of the journal. L'Espagne Libre was edited by George Bataille and devoted exclusively to Spanish politics, economy, art, and culture. The typescript shows several significant differences to the published version, including the deletion of a large paragraph that is present in L'Espagne Libre, suggesting that Camus returned to and revised this text, or changed his mind and made further edits prior to publication.In the preface, written shortly after the Second World War, Camus considers the damage and horror of the Spanish Civil War: "For nine years now, the men of my generation have had Spain in their hearts... it was through it that they first experienced the taste of defeat, that they discovered, with a surprise from which they have barely recovered, that one could be right and be defeated, that force could subdue the spirit and that there were cases where courage had no reward" (our translation). The journal contains many significant pieces, including articles by Jean Camp, Maurice Blanchot, a translated version of a chapter of Ernest Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls (to which they gave the title "L'Odeur de la Mort"), and the short puppet play Retablillo de don Cristóbal written by Federico García Lorca.

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