Boris Vian (1920–1959).

A heavily crossed-out and corrected draft of a letter in which Vian responds with contempt to Guy Verdot’s scathing review of his play *L’Équarrissage pour tous*, which premiered on 14 April 1950 at the Théâtre des Noctambules. ‘I like to think that you devoted a little of that precious time of yours—which has already yielded such penetrating masterpieces—to me […]. You had an extremely interesting idea in this Franc-Tireur: I am referring to that operetta about concentration camps. I must admit, the idea appeals to me. And this is where I am going to take advantage of your kindness; I feel I lack the talent to carry out this daring undertaking on my own. May I, Mr Verdot, count on you to write the verses? […] “Don’t worry… if it’s a furnace (crematorium), it won’t be off-topic,” and he adds in a postscript: “You deplore, as we sensed, the artificiality of our final box of dynamite. This intrigued us and we propose to replace it with a real one”… 2139 Not in line with the original

Enclosed is a handwritten letter (2 pages, quarto) from Albert Ferreri regarding an exchange of jazz records. Vian makes a list of the records sought, among which are the names of Jerry Roll Morton, Dodds, Sydney Bechet, Ellington, Count Basie, Cab Calloway, etc.