Jean Cocteau and the immorality of children's songs.

Jean Cocteau (1889.1963)

Autographed letter signed to André Figueras.

One page in-8°. Milly la Forêt. September 24, 1950.

" The 'Bibliothèque Rose' (a French children's book series) has worried mothers ever since Freud."

Using the immorality of children's songs as an example, Cocteau defends the very essence of the French language.

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"My dear Figueras, a beautiful and well-spoken thing is always beneficial to youth. The moral point of view is absurd. We would then have to remove from the children's curriculum those children's songs which are all double entendres and obscene . 'He runs, he runs, the ferret'; 'The baker has coins'; 'Do you know how to plant cabbages'; 'By the light of the moon' etc."

The "Bibliothèque Rose" series has worried mothers ever since Freud. They would do better to lament the new editions whose illustrations destroy the charm of the text. Yours, Jean Cocteau. Purity is a purity of matter, not of the form it is given.