VIAN BORIS (1920-1959).

Lot 189
Go to lot
Estimation :
15000 - 20000 EUR
VIAN BORIS (1920-1959).
Autograph MANUSCRIPT by Boris VIAN, Omar N. BRADLEY. Histoire d’un Soldat, [1951-1952]; 925 pages in-4 (tear to the dedicatory page ; the second page repaired with scotch tape, some pages frayed), in a cloth folder; in French. Monumental manuscript containing the French translation by Boris Vian of the Memoirs of General Bradley US General Omar Nelson BRADLEY (1893-1981), was one of the heroes of the Second World War. He published his Memoirs in 1951 under the title A Soldier’s Story (New York, Holt, 1951); the French translation by Boris Vian was published by Gallimard in June 1952; Boris Vian signed the contract on July 12, 1951. This is undoubtedly the most monumental of Boris Vian’s translations. According to the editor’s presentation: “The story of General Bradley is also the story of the war in Europe, and no one was more competent to tell it, than this beloved leader of his troops, this technician, one of the brightest of modern times. [...] One sees glimpses in his memoirs of the terrible responsibilities that accompany a commander-in-chief, and one also understands why General Omar Bradley is considered today as the first soldier of the United States”. It was also a «terrible responsibility» for Boris Vian to carry out this important task of translation, he the recognized antimilitarist (“Story of an asshole”, wrote Vian to his friend Claude Léon to whom he sent the book), who accepted to translate the work by challenge and financial necessity. He put the greatest seriousness as shown by the thick file of the manuscript of his translation (his wife Ursula recounts that Vian had cramps in his hands). The manuscript is in purple and blue inks, with abundant erasures and corrections.
My orders
Sale information
Sales conditions
Return to catalogue