CELINE LOUIS-FERDINAND (1894-1961)

Lot 89
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Estimation :
2000 - 3000 EUR
Result with fees
Result : 5 200EUR
CELINE LOUIS-FERDINAND (1894-1961)
MANUSCRIPT autograph signed and original DRAWING signed "LF Céline", with 21 drawings by Éliane BONABEL for Voyage au bout de la nuit, 1932; under shirt in-fol. (33 x 25.5 cm) yellow canvas, with flaps. Celine's first illustrations by a twelve-year-old girl, with her portrait drawn by Celine. [Éliane BONABEL (1920-2000) was the first illustrator of "Voyage au bout de la nuit. Young patient of Dr. Destouches at the Clichy dispensary, aged ten, she drew her portrait in a white coat with a stethoscope, which the doctor bought her. Later, after the release of Voyage au bout de la nuit, Destouches asks Dr. Bonabel if Éliane can illustrate her novel. The little girl then makes those 21 drawings at the end of 1932; Céline is delighted: "Oh well say, then I'll make you a preface and a nice cover". But Éliane doesn't appreciate her portrait drawn by Céline, and the project is abandoned. Having kept those drawings, Éliane Bonabel will publish them in 1998; she had illustrated in 1959 the Ballets sans musique sans personne sans rien de Céline]. On the top cover of the yellow canvas shirt, Celine wrote the title in Indian ink: "Voyage au Bout de la Nuit L F Celine Illustré par Eliane Bonabel". On the bottom cover, Celine drew in Indian ink the portrait of the girl, signed and captioned: "LFCeline / E. Bonabel". On the back cover, autograph manuscript of the preface, with erasures and corrections: "Adults are used to illustrate beautiful books for children. Here is little Bonabel who (at twelve years of age) illustrates in her turn the book for adults. We notice that she put a lot of mischief and some false modesty in it, even though she was very young. LF Céline". 21 DRAWINGS by Éliane BONABEL, in pencil and ink, 23.5 x 28 cm each. Typewritten list of illustrated passages, with references to the pages of the original edition. Photographic portrait of Éliane Bonabel at twelve years old (countertype)
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