Alfred JARRY – Autograph letter signed to his friend Félix Fénéon. 1902.

Alfred JARRY (1873.1907)

Autographed letter signed to Félix Fénéon.

One page in-12°. Trace of a tab on the reverse.

[July 21, 1902]

Alfred Jarry sent his Gestes to his friend Félix Fénéon, at the Revue Blanche.

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"My dear friend, I missed the morning mail for my Gestures , but they will be finished in time for the 3 o'clock mail this afternoon. They should arrive at your home this evening at 8 o'clock. If you have the time to look through the magazine before you leave, I would be very grateful to receive a copy of the latest issue here, the one with Thadée Natanson's article on the Coronation. Yours sincerely, A. Jarry"

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Jarry published his first text in La Revue blanche in 1896. From July 1900 onward, his contributions became regular, notably with his "Speculations," a series of highly pataphysical chronicles inspired by current events. In January 1902, the series took the title "Gestes" (Gestures). Jarry explained it thus: "Under the title 'Gestes,' this review will henceforth contain, by our editors, commentaries on all kinds of visual spectacles. [...] All these gestures, indeed all gestures, are equally aesthetic, and we will attach the same importance to them."

The "gestures" whose dispatch Jarry announces here are the text "The King's Appendix," published on July 15, 1902, and devoted to the illness of the King of England, Edward VII, who had just ascended the throne. This is why he requests the article that Natanson had dedicated, in the previous issue, to his coronation.

Jarry and Fénéon held each other in high esteem. It was Fénéon who brought him into the Revue blanche, where he became his principal supporter and preferred interlocutor. For his part, Jarry had the deepest respect for the man he nicknamed "the one who silences.".