Lot n° 35
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60000 - 80000
EUR
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Result
: 58 500EUR
CIORAN Emil M. (1911-1995).
Autograph notebooks, 1973-1980; 18 notebooks in-4, about 2500 pages.
Very important unpublished set of autograph notebooks, which are like a personal and intellectual diary of Cioran, but also the laboratory of the books to come.
These unpublished notebooks follow the volume of the 34 Cahiers 1957-1972, published by Gallimard in 1997. Some fragments, here in first draft, will be found in Écartèlement (1979) or Aveux et Anathèmes (1987), but this diary, composed of aphorisms, philosophical reflections, daily life events (exhibitions, meetings, visits, walks), personal memories, quotations, reading notes, explosions of anger and mood swings, is mostly unpublished. A scrupulous observer of detail, a convinced misanthrope, Cioran multiplies his reflections on the passage of time, his fear of spoiling, his obsession with death...
He notes down his melancholy days, his sleepless nights or his dreams, his nightmares, his bouts of despair and his exasperation with imbeciles and intruders. He often speaks of writing as a symptom of his malaise - or, conversely, as a temporary remedy for his ills.
The pages of these notebooks are filled, front and back, with his handwriting in blue and red (sometimes green or black) ballpoint pen. The covers usually bear a Roman letter or number, and most bear the date of the first entry. Often corrected during the writing process, journal entries may also be marked with "X's", "?" or marginal lines, or crossed out. Dates are less frequent in the very last notebooks.
A, XXXV. 22 November 1972-21 July 1973. Spiral bound notebook of 162 in-4 pages (27 x 21 cm) and 1 in-8 page, red card cover.
On the cover, Cioran noted: "On June 17, 1973 I handed the manuscript to the publisher. On the inconvenience of being born". This notebook was used from November 22, 1972 to July 21, 1973. Two blank pages seem to indicate exceptional entries. Here is the first one: "The night of the 1st to the 2nd of May 1973. 3/12 in the morning. I am ill. Nothing is right anymore. My body (in this case, my stomach) no longer follows me. - How far can I go, until when?
My body is no longer my accomplice. - Alone with the silence. I am stuck.
But I still have hope, which I don't know what to do with. It's strange that I still manage to care about what. If only I could stop thinking about it! But it's my ailments that drive me to it"... The other blank page is opposite the entry dated June 17, 1973: "Today I gave the editor
De l'inconvénient d'être né. As I placed the manuscript in front of him, I had the impression of getting rid of a corpse. And besides, my visit was indeed to a gravedigger. - I toiled for more than two years on this manuscript, which is basically a collection of jokes. Some of them, however, are petrified cries. But who will hear them? - Will I start writing another book? I would like to. Provided I have the strength, and the desire! - For a few days, I had a premonition of an imminent explosion. Anguish and jubilation at the same time. If this sensation had become more intense, what would my reaction have been? Jubilation, it would have been out of the question"...
The notebook opens with an evening at the theatre for a play by Roland
DUBILLARD (Nov. 22), and telephone conversations with drunk Eugene [IONESCO]. Walks in the Jardin des plantes (the indifferent air of a llama inspires a reflection on detachment which will be taken up and reworked several times), in the countryside, in the Luxembourg Gardens, in the Beauce, in the Dourdan forest... Discussion with Georges DUMÉZIL (Dec. 23), the visit of three "countries" (Jan. 5, 1973), a program in which he contemplates himself as a "grimacing old man" (April 17), at the doctor's (May 18), torture at the dentist's, a pilgrimage to La Défense (June), the SOUTINE exhibition (June 11), a stroll with an occasional resident of Sainte-Anne's (June 12), a conversation with Henri MICHAUX (June 20)... He recounts his dreams and nightmares, alludes to some people, often designated by initials, notably X.; anecdote about his lecherous nonagenarian neighbour...
Reflections and aphorisms on fatigue, holiness, religion, style ("Holy concision!"), melancholy, pessimism, self-knowledge, lies, beliefs, death ("Death, obviously, is a solution. The only one, unfortunately"), Hitler, conscience, etc.
On December 15, he notes: "My royalties in France for a whole year amount to five hundred francs. If I were a man of honor, I would put a bullet in my skin. So I earn an average of 40 francs a month. I would therefore be the most
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